The Question

“Excuse me sir!! Excuse me sir!! Can you give me my ball please? “ The man stops and starts to look around he then sees the young boys ball trapped just under the chassis of the car next to him.

He kneels down to pry the ball loose. He gets back to his feet, brushes off the dirt from his trousers and walks over to the young boy. He seemed very young the man tried to guess the age of the boy but it was difficult. He presented the ball to the boy. The boy replied politely “Thank you sir“The man responded “You’re welcome“

He asked the boy “Where are your parents? “The boy pointed to the house at the corner of the street and said “I live there, mom is there. “ The man acknowledged and asked him to go back that way, and play where it is safe. The boy then walked alongside the man in the direction of his own home and conversed with him.

He asked the man “Where are you going? “ “I am going to work” the man replied. Like any young child the questions came in flurries. The man stopped the boy in the middle of his barrage of questions, then said to the young boy “Didn’t your parents warn you about talking to strangers“the little boy nodded and replied “But you are not strange. “

The man smiled and for a second; remembered what it felt to be the same age as the little boy. So innocent and everything was just as we wanted, we were safe in our own little bubble. We had no cares in the world everything was provided for us by our parents, we did not know about bills, work, and money and how it was made where it came from, all the securities and seemingly important stuff meant nothing in the eyes of a child. All that mattered was how long they could play outside for and what all the things in the world where and how they came to be.

So he decided to ask the young boy questions “How old are you? “The young boy replied “6“. He then asked the boy another question, now feeling like a kid himself again. “What’s your view on life? “ The boy shrugged his shoulders because he did not understand what the man meant. “Ok”, said the man “What do you want to be when you grow up? “ The boy’s eyes lit up. “I want to be a pilot“the boy responded,

“Why?” The man asked “So I can fly high in the sky and see the whole world. “The man smiled.

The boy then asked the man the same question “What do you want to be? “ Thinking he was talking to a child in the playground at school, the man then hesitated.

Froze because he knew that he had let his dreams pass him by, he had realized that he let others influence his decisions. People telling him he can’t do this because they were unable to achieve what dreams they set for themselves. Friends and strangers making things harder by telling him he was naive to think that he can do that and also himself for believing in them.

His dream was dead before he could even get started. He gave up on himself and therefore gave up on his dreams, causing him to become more and more disappointed with his life. Unsatisfied with all that he had achieved because to him it seemed that he hadn't achieved that much at all. All of this because he did not follow his heart. Or as children see it dreams.

He was 32 year old man, no wife or kids, never married. Who was working shift work in local warehouse and on his off days he was working in a Mini Mart making all he could just to pay bills, rent and save for things he didn't even need in the first place. He only bought them to fill the empty void in his life.

The more he thought of things the more he started to think about everything in his past. I used every minute of every day in order for me not to return home alone to an empty place.” he thought to himself “A house is not a home if no-one is there waiting for you.” well that's what he always believed.

He began to think, “What if?” And this is the biggest mistake a person can make. As this causes more doubt, we just have to accept the “what is” and “This will enable us to improve our fortunes by expanding our knowledge and believing in ourselves, which in turn will then open new doors that will lead to better opportunities.” He thought all of this in a split second because of one simple question from an innocent child.

The man looked at the 6 year old boy and said “I wanted to be happy. “ The boy was confused. “What do you mean sir? “ “There is no fooling you is there? “ He said, “I wanted to be a Doctor so I can help fix people when they were broken. “ The boy looked at him puzzled and said “We do not always have to fix things that are broken. “ The man was baffled at the young boys response “Why?” he asked the boy then said “Sometimes things work better broken.“

The man paused for a second trying to think of something to say. He was speechless he couldn’t find any words to counter that phrase from a 6 year old mouth “He was just silenced by a 6 year old.“ he thought to himself, he asked the boy his name the boy responded “Jalen“ “Well Jalen, My name is Antwone nice to meet you.“

After which he said goodbye and left the young boy play happily in his own little bubble.

Reviews

[ScarlettTheDreamer]

This is a beautiful and unique setting. Starts with a modest and gentle tone. Love it. A little suggestion: always type the numbers out in words and start each new dialogue in a new line. that way its easier to read. can't wait to read more :)