As You Sow, So Shall You Reap

There is an adage, "As you sow, so shall you reap." But I can tell you now that that is not true. Some people, some people like me, mother, and father, are admirable people. We never did anything wrong, we were always polite, we never fought, we weren't selfish, we weren't arrogant. So, why did we suffer every day?

I ran as fast as I could, not stopping to take a breath. My legs pumped faster and faster. I skidded to a stop when I saw the train ticket machine. Tapping my foot in impatience, I waited for what seemed like hours for the man in front of me. My thoughts wandered to my father, and how he must feel in heaven, watching me.

If he was content to be separated from this deceiving world. If I would still be stuck in my plight if he was alive. A tear slid down my cheek as I reminisced all the times I had with him, climbing on his shoulders, sitting in his lap, painting pretty pictures of him. A pang of sadness struck me. Why? Why had this happened to me? Why was God this cruel? I hadn't realized the moisture in my eyes was now flowing freely like a river down my face. I sniffled softly and wiped my eyes half-heartedly.

A lifetime later, the man turned and left. I hastily gathered what few dollars I had left, put some in the machine, and crammed the rest in my worn out wallet. I clutched my tickets and in a flash, I was at a small bench in front of the station. I took deep breaths to calm my excited self.

Looking over to my left, I saw the man from earlier sitting next to me. We stayed like that, in silence, for the next couple of minutes. A sudden movement catches my eye. I see the blurry streak of a silhouette running. It seemed to be holding a rectangle. I looked closer to see it was the man's wallet.

Without thinking, I jumped up and chased the thief, catching him by the back of his shirt and getting the leather wallet back. Panting, I slowly jogged back to the man and hand it to him. I had expected a small thank you, a head nod, or even silence. What I didn't expect was a very tight hug. He squeezed me, arms crushing my ribs. Surprised, I stayed frozen. When he finally pulled away, he had a large grin on his face, his happiness so contagious I had to give a small, timid smile in response. Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked away. I turned too, biting my lip to stop the smile from growing. Immediately a tsunami of guilt crashed over me.

How dare I feel happy with Father dead, and Mother dying? Another part of myself countered that by pointing out how there had to be some light in my life, and how Father would want me to be happy. I kept walking towards Mother, a slight spring in my step. My spirit was lifted, even more, because it was the first time in ages that I was genuinely happy. When I reached Mother, I grinned.

"Mother, look! We have enough money for food and water! We haven't had proper food in so long! Oh, and you will never believe what happened! I saved a man's purse, and he hugged me!" I gushed like a 4-year-old.

She frowned at my last sentence."You know Father's credo was to never trust anyone."

I just smiled sadly. Father had always been protective of us. After all, we were the 2 most important people in his short life. The heartache resurfaced, and I took a deep breath to control my oncoming tears. Suddenly, an onslaught of images took over my vision.

It was dark, with clouds completely obscuring the blue sky from view. However, only 2 rays of pure sunlight shone through. I smiled, that represented my life perfectly. It was dark and gloomy, but there were two points of happiness. My parents. They were the only things that made my life worth living. I stared at those two thin light beams for what seemed to be hours but was probably only seconds. My eyes were transfixed, I simply could not tear my eyes away. Nor did I want to. Two holes in the clouds didn't seem like much, but its incredible beauty was in its simplicity.