The Dying Child

    It was seven in the morning. Aiden rushed to the hospital after he got a call from the hospital saying that his wife was going to deliver their child. He ran with a smile on his face thinking about all the good things he wanted to do with the child. Playing soccer, go camping and have a walk by the beach after playing volleyball.

As soon as Aiden reached his wife’s ward, he heard a cry and it was like music to his ears, but as he opened the door, his wife’s face seemed to be stressed out. He walk towards his wife with his smile still on saying; “Clara! What’s with the face? Shouldn’t you be happy?” Clara then started to cry and told him about their child’s sickness. After listening to Clara’s words, Aiden said, “That doesn’t matter. Let’s not give up hope. Let’s just endure it like any parents would do. Maybe we should name him Faith because he will be our faith in life.”

Faith was a kid with a hole in the heart. He was not as perfect as other normal kids. For eleven years, he went through a lot of hardships. He endured the pains alone though they were there with him. The age where he should be with the kids on his own age instead he befriends the staffs who always stood beside him. He was familiar with all the staffs’ voices as he felt like the hospital was his own home. “How are you today?” This was the sentence that he heard every day which sometimes made him feel lonely. He was envious of other kids who goes to school and made new friends but all he did was lying on the bed, taking pills and awaiting for new patients entering the ward.

Faith too would like to go to school. Being someone who is helpful to others. He usually said to himself, “Why do I always be so helpless? Am I a burden? Should I just die now?” Little did he know, his family had thought about it too but it was weird how they never give up on him because he had always been heavy for them to carry on their shoulders but yet he had always been the torch of the family, shining in the dark.

Since young, Faith had a dream about walking on the aisle with his parents. So his parents made his dream came true. They brought him outside and help to change into a nice tuxedo. His parents also set up an aisle along the hallway and invited many people to come to be the spectators. Faith could not help himself from feeling the joy yet he could feel it was the time. They removed his oxygen tank. That was his first time breathing the air around him. His parents were besides him. They accompanied Faith walking down the aisle. The staffs smiled and clapped. Faith indeed had some troubles where he needed a lot of effort breathing on his own. He grabbed his parents’ hands tightly when they reached on the altar. “I just wanted them to be happy. That’s all”, Faith said. They took a picture together before Faith collapsed. The wedding-to-be place was now for his funeral.

Written by,
Younka, Kumudiini, Jacky, Shayistha.