The Sad Little Boy
e stood in the corner of the playground, all alone, staring into space,
there in body but not in soul. The other children were running around
laughing and shouting noisily, without a care in the world. A small girl
walked up to him and offered him a sweet; he hardly noticed her at first, but
she insisted; he turned towards her and sadly shook his head. So the small
girl shrugged her shoulders and ran off with one of her friends.
He was alone again with his thoughts.
Suddenly the school bell made him jump into the present. He made his way to his classroom, sat down at his desk, got out his English book and started to write. The other children in the class were noisily throwing pencils and rubbers around the room: all went quiet as their teacher Mrs. Davies came in and told them to sit down. It was only then that they noticed Mrs. Davies was not alone. Another lady was with her. All the children were curious except for the sad little boy; his face paled even more and he felt his heart pounding. Mrs. Davies's face and voice softened as she spoke to the sad little boy. She explained to him that the lady was Mrs. Smith and that she wanted him to go with her. He quietly put his work away and carefully put his chair under his desk. The other childrens eyes followed him from the classroom.
Mrs. Smith took him to the rest room and sat him down. She explained to him that she was a social worker and that she had just come from the hospital that his mummy was in. "Did you know how ill your mummy was?" He nodded his head; his mind started wandering again. He remembered the last time he had seen his mum.He had hardly recognised her, her face was so haggard and old. She'd tried to cuddle him but she was so weak and it caused her so much pain that he hadn't wanted her to. Her eyes were the same but the pain in them was obvious. Later she had tried to talk but he couldn't understand her hoarse voice. His fathers face was full of concern and anxiety. "Mummy will soon be better," he'd said. But all the little boy could think of was the pain that she was going through; there was nothing he could do to make it go away. He stroked her face gently; it was wet with sweat, so he got a tissue to wipe her face. He knew she wasn't going to get better. They thought he was too young to take it in, but he knew and he couldn't bear to see his mum like this any more.
That had been yesterday.
The voice of Mrs.Smith crept back into his thoughts bringing him back to reality. She was saying that his mummy had died peacefully with his daddy holding her hand. He must be very strong now for his daddies sake as he would need him more than ever now. The sad little boy felt that a great crushing weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He still felt sad but he was comforted by the thoughts of his mummy up in heaven with all the angels. All the pain and hurt had gone; her face smiling again like it used to.
He could cope, yes he would cope.
