The Wish List

The Extraordinary Ordinary

"Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny."

~C. S Lewis

"Would you like more, dear?" Sienna questioned Ty, her eyes narrowed at the man beside me. He stared at empty plate, a sheepish look on his face.

"If Alyssa doesn't w-"

"I'm fine." I said, offering a warm smile, "You can give him the rest, Sienna." I watched quietly as Sienna took his plate and headed back into the kitchen. My eyes raked over Ty's face as he stared at the fork on the napkin below him, almost as if it'd been a long time since he'd used something other than his bare hands to feed himself. 

"Thank you." Ty breathed out when Sienna set his seconds in front of him. I took my dish to the sink, shutting my eyes and grasping the edge of it as I tried to catch my breath. 

I hadn't ever seen anyone eat as much as Ty just had. The man had been starving for so long that the second he saw real food, it was as if some sort of switch had flipped on in his head. What he had said back on the street started to replay in my head, breaking my heart even further. I really had no idea what everyone on that street went through on the daily. I'd always been beyond blessed and had taken for granted having a nice warm meal before me.

"Thank you, Alyssa." Ty repeated a few minutes later when he set his dish in the sink, "For everything. But I better. . . I better get back home." I felt a lump form in my throat at his words, at the fact he was referring to a dirty, old purple box as his home.

It was about thirty degrees outside and looked as if a storm was blowing in. How was I supposed to let him go back and sleep in this?

"You can stay if you want." I said quietly, "It's such a big house and nobody is living here right now besides me. Plus it's  really cold outside. I don't want you to have to sleep out there." He only shrugged, running a hand through his damp hair.

"I'm used to it. Sometimes it doesn't even effect me." He mumbled, "Do you think. . . you know what, never mind." He shook his head and started to walk away. I followed him out of the kitchen, confused.

"What? What were you going to say?" He waved it off as if it wasn't a big deal.

"It's fine, Alyssa. You've already done enough." I haven't even come close to it, is what I wanted to say but decided to keep my mouth shut rather than speak up. After a few minutes of trying to figure out what it was that he was going to ask, it hit me

"Your daughter." I guessed, "You want to talk to her?" He nodded, looking  genuinely shocked.

"How did you know?" He whispered.

"It's the first thing I'd do if I was able too." I grabbed my phone from the kitchen and unlocked it before holding it out to him.

"Are you sure?" He looked so grateful I wanted to hug him. 

"Positive." I answered with a smile. He dialed the number and walked into the living room, the phone pressed against his ear.

"He's a sweet boy." Sienna commented from behind me, "He doesn't deserve any of this." I nodded in agreement.

"Nobody deserves to live on the street, Sienna." I could hear my voice catch in my throat as Ty's head perked up.

"Mom? It's me, it's Tyler." I watched as he started to pace the room, his free hand buried in his hair.