A Boy Made Me Smile

It was a no extraordinary Sunday when my father invited me for a quick snack at the mall. After which, we just had a decent walk around and immediately went to the area where our car was parked because we had to pick up a cousin from my classmate's house nearby. While I was few steps away from the car's door, a kid came up smiling while he approached me and uttered (in our vernacular) "Kuya, tage ako pagkaon. Waray pa ako kaon." (He was asking for food and he haven't had a meal yet.) I honestly don't know how I'd respond but I asked him instead where his parents were, "Hain man imo mama? imo papa?". Then the kid answered back avidly while pointing to his slender chest, "Hi mama may sakit ha baga" (Her mother is sick and suffering from a lung problem.) Then he continued as if he was homelike telling stories to me, "Hi papa pedicab driver pero pirme naghuhubog." (While his dad is a pedicab driver and was always drunk.) Carefree he is, he had so much to tell - from the assignments he did at home, that he only had one notebook for a number of subjects he has and the fact that he had to borrow pencils from his classmates just because her mom can't buy him...not even one. Now, that was seriously disconsolate. I didn't articulate a thing. I was having a second thought on whether I'll give him money-or-what because I was actually under the impression that this boy who's in front of me might be one of those kids who'll either spent their last penny for illegal inhalants or gamble them with other children. I resisted not to. Just a second when I was about to close my door, I overheard him saying "Thank you po" in a lighthearted tone. I took a glance over him. He was smiling from ear to ear because an old lady gave him a five peso coin. I can say, he was content. 

Slowly, my dad started maneuvering the car away from the parking lane. Then I noticed again the boy pacing towards my door while waving his both hands bidding farewell. He was wearing that sanguine smile while saying, "Bye po! Ingat po kamo (Ingat po kayo)." There and then, my heart skipped a beat and I honestly felt this indescribable feeling. This kid got some refinement and cultivation I've never encountered from any of those kids who ask for alms. He just earned my respect. *Smiles*  It stuns me to see somebody at his age to have a positive disposition amidst life's misfortunes. I then asked for coins from my dad but he refused to. We were almost at the corner when I had the car stopped and called the little boy. He came running and with both palms open, he accepted the little amount I have to give. I heard his voice again, "Thank you po kuya!."

It seems like I'll have to reconsider calling this day extraordinary.  A stranger... a boy just made me smile. I just wish I could still see him when I get the chance to go back. I told him I'm gonna give my pencils to him so he does not have to feel troubled anymore.

To the kid who made me smile, 'til we meet again.  :)

Child's Trance

"I saw a downcast boy on a patchy portrait with eyes seemingly crying for emancipation. I was far-off thinking the lad must have felt fragmented. Or, well, he must be a captive of something he was not mindful of. But then, one thing was certain - a sense of incompleteness was past palpable. Thereafter, the boy came mumbling a familiar name. Just what I thought,  he was sifting through her mother - a lady gone astray at a young age. Naive and sanguine he was. Woosh...then came nothing. Fuzzy. Next thing I know, I just slipped into a child's trance."