King of Nothing

Then (14)

This time it was just my daughter and I walking along the street, on our way to school. We lived deep in the city so it was quite busy in the morning especially when we were trying to move around during rush hour. 

"Stay close to me, Sarah. We don't want any of these filthy bums stealing something off of you." I said. I laugh at this now, because of the irony of it all. Now, I am one of those filthy bums I warned my daughter of those couple years back. 

We walked briskly, trying to get to her school as soon as possible. But then Sarah left my side, sprinting to the curb of the street. I was so worried she would get hit by a car or something, so I sprinted after her, trying to bring her back to safety. 

I saw her reach her hand into the sewer, and then out came her hand clutching something. She held a one-hundred dollar bill. "Daddy, look! Look what I found." She was eleven at this point, but she was still young, innocent, and most importantly, still my baby girl. 

So I whispered to her, "Quick, stuff it into your pocket and lets jet before anyone else notices." Sarah shook her head foolishly. 

"No, silly. That's not being too kind, is it? In fact that's selfish. You have to share the love you want to be given."  Then she walked over to the bench and stood up upon it. 

"Hello? Yes. Everyone, I have a question. Do any of you know who dropped this bill? Was it yours? Did you see the person that dropped this?" She went at it for ten minutes straight and all I could so was sit there in astonishment. My daughter was twice the person I was. 

Everyone just walked past her, ignoring her plees for help. So I jogged over to the bench and said, "Okay no one wants it, so it's yours. Now lets get to school." That was all I wanted. 

"What on Earth would I do with a one-hundred dollar bill? Waste it all on Tamagotchi's? I have everything I need, and I desire nothing more." Sarah was still plump, and it was hard for her to run for a long period of time, but she did it anyways, and ran down the streets until she found the first homeless person. 

"Get away from him!" I shouted. 

"I don't think that's necessary, Daddy." Sarah grinned and handed the homeless man the one-hundred dollar bill. "Here you go. I hope this helps you." 

The man started to cryn and he thanked her like a million times. 

That was when I realized that I shouldn't be frustrated with my daughter, because I had witnessed something beautiful. Sarah was being down-to-earth, selfless, and kind. That was who she was, down to the core, and it was the kindest thing I have seen someone do in a long time. Compared to her, it made me realize how bad of a person, (rotten to the core) I was, and maybe still am today.