Dear Grandma

A story about a grandmother and her grandson.

One beautiful morning, the wind was a little cold; the sun was rising; the sky was blue and the clouds were painted pink. It was such a scene when suddenly, a cloud of dark smoke from below covered this beautiful display. It was a cloud of smoke coming from burnt tires. A little boy was burning tires to remove its steel wires.

In a scrap shop nearby, the little boy was carrying his sack of metal scraps.

"How much?" the little boy asked.

"20 pesos," said the weighman. "what? Got complaints? Go to another shop then!"

"I'll take it," replied the little boy.

As the little boy walked away from the shop, the weighman continued his disturbed nap.

"Lola, I'm home," said the little boy as he entered their little house. 

"Goodness, child, I was looking all over for you," said the grandmother. "Where have you been?"

"Here, lola," said the little boy as he gave the 20 pesos he earned from weighing metal scraps.

"My dear, I appreciate that you are trying to help me," replied the grandmother, "but you really don't have to do this. I want you to focus on your future."

"But I don't want to go to school, lola. I want to help you. I don't care about my future. I care about you, lola".

The grandmother looked at his little boy intently. She could see that the boy was sincere with what he said.

"The people from the social welfare department talked to me yesterday," said the grandmother, "they said that if I can't provide you education, they'll be taking you with them."

The little boy was silent.

"My dear," the grandmother continued, "I don't want to be away from you. You know how I love you. Ever since you were a child, I have loved you. But I can't provide everything you need. I can't provide you with a better  future."

"I have everything I need," the little boy replied after a while. “I have you, lola. I don't care about my future. I care about you."

The grandmother was touched by her grandson’s words. She embraced him with all her love.

"My, boy," she said, "I love you, too."

The grandmother does the neighbours' laundry. Most neighbours trust her because she does her job well. The little boy, after his little works, always come to help her. This is how the little boy and his grandmother spend most of their days.

The two looked so happy together, look so inseparable that if an artist would look at these two creatures from afar, he would have painted them a million times; for the happiness emitting from them could not be contained in one canvas.

"I guess we're done for today, lola," said the little boy, as he piled the clothes in his little pale.

"I guess so," said the grandmother, smiling. "Thank you for helping me out."

As she was about to stand, the world around her stirred as if it was flowing like the waves in the sea. She did not know what happened. Everything went black, and all she could hear was the muffled voice of her grandson, crying "lola! lola!".

"You're lola needs to rest," said their doctor neighbour. He was not a real doctor, but profess to be one since he attended medical school for two years.

"Her body needs to rest for quite a time," continued the doctor. " I think she overworked herself. Her back needs to be checked immediately or it might get worse."

"What's going to happen to her?"

"She might not be able to stand for a few days, but she needs to be checked immediately or else, she might not be able to walk the rest of her life."

The little boy looked at her grandmother, sleeping quietly. Then he remembered what her lola told her about the social welfare people. He is going to be taken away if her grandmother could not provide him with a better future.

"I'm going to have a better life," he thought to himself. "But who's gonna take care of my lola? No. I will take care of her. I will not let them take me away. I will work hard so they can't take me away from my lola!"

The musings of a child are the most honest of all human musings - free, innocent, unaware. So is the little boy's; free, innocent, unaware.

The little boy spent most of his days scrapping metals, doing errands for neighbours and sometimes, begging on the street. Nobody else is there to help them. His father left after knowing her mother was pregnant. His mother left for abroad after he was born to support her child, but was never heard of ever again. All the little boy have is his grandmother. That is why he is doing everything he can just to be not separated from everything he has.

"Please don't work yourself up too much, my dear," said his grandmother, lying on the bed, "I don't want you to end up like me."

The little boy smiled and said, "Don't worry lola. I am strong enough," he said while showing his little biceps. " I can take care of you. I can take of us."

The grandmother had no doubt that the boy meant what he said. But she knew that it was impossible.

"My dear, I think the social welfare people can take better of you."

"No! Lola, please don't say that. I love you, lola, you know that. I know you love me too. We can take care of each other better."

The grandmother looked at her grandson and she saw the sincerity in his eyes. They reminded her of her late husband. He was the sincerest person she had ever met; the most faithful of them all. 

"Please don't let them take me away, lola," said the little boy, giving his grandmother a lily flower.

"I remember you telling me that grandfather used to give you this. That's why this is your favourite flower. I wished I saw what grandfather looked like. Is he handsome like me, lola? lola?"

The grandmother looked at her grandson with tears. 

"Oh, my child," she said. "I love you."

"I love you, too, lola," the little boy replied, embracing her grandmother.

While the two were showing their affection to each other, a knock was heard on the door. It was a woman from social welfare.

"Good day, ma'am," said the woman, "have you decided on what to do with the child?"

"I will not go with you," replied the little boy, "I can take care of myself, I can take care of my grandmother."

The woman was surprised by the little boy's reply. Then proceeded, "little boy, you don't understand..."

"I understand," the little boy cut the woman. " I understand everything. I don't need education. I don't need your help."

"My dear," said the grandmother to her little boy, "please give us a moment."

The little boy kissed her lola and said, "Yes, lola."

"Don't go far, okay?"

"Yes, lola," answered the boy, going out of the house.

One beautiful morning, the wind was a little cold; the sun was rising; the sky was blue and the clouds were painted pink. The grandmother was now able to stand and walk (though not well enough since she did not go to a hospital).

The little boy took her grandmother to a little walk outside. The two walked together like they were the people in the street. It was such a beautiful scene to look at. The two looked so happy together, look so inseparable that if an artist would look at these two creatures from afar, he would have painted them a million times; for the happiness emitting from them could not be contained in one canvas.

When they arrived at the public market, the little boy told his grandmother to stay in her place.

"I am going to buy something," he said.

He was planning to surprise her grandmother to congratulate her on her recovery.

While waiting, the grandmother was thinking about the social welfare woman's offer. But she knew that her little boy will never approve of it.

So she took advantage of her grandson's absence to make her plan.

She saw a car fast approaching. As she stepped out of the sidewalk, she said to herself, "I'm sorry, my dear, but this is all for you."

She was about to rush into the car when the driver suddenly stopped.

"What do you think you're doing, old lady?!" shouted the driver angrily. But she did not hear him.

"If you want to die, go die somewhere else," the driver continued and drove off.

Her hands went cold. He felt her knees shaking. She was breathing fast.

She felt cold as if she plunged herself into a sea of cold water.

Then she woke up from her daydream and proceeded her plans.

She saw a truck approaching.

"This will be it," she said to herself. 

As the truck came close, she threw herself into the street.

Then she heard a loud noise. 

As she looked at the sidewalk, she saw her little boy, her grandson, her love, crying and shouting something she could not hear but something she could read as "lola! lola!"

Her little boy was carrying a bouquet of lilies and to her surprise...a school bag. Her little boy was ready to go to school. 

"He had earned enough, of course," she thought to herself.

She wanted to get up but it was too late. The wheels are already crushing her body.

Tears fell. 

Then everything went black. 

Everything went silent.

note: 

Lola means grandmother in Filipino

20 Pesos is equivalent to 0.38 USD as of 5 Jan, 12:16 pm