Nobody's Child

There was a time in my younger years that I thought life is so simple, and everybody was happy. I was wrong. The bitter truth was that the world is a better place for those who have the means to have a better life. Sadly, not everyone is entitled to that better life, and indeed it was sad.

High school life then was all about prettifying things, crushes, what club to join, what sports to play, favorite teachers, movies to watch, songs to listen to, and a hundred things. It kind of makes you smile when you look back and see the things that you did, and realized how simple it was to be happy.

One typical day after our flag ceremony, while standing in the early sun of the morning, our principal made an announcement. As part of our extra curricular activities, we will adopt a brother or a sister from a neighboring public school. That kid will stay with us, in class, for the whole month. There was groaning amongst the student, and I even heard someone say, "What!? We are going to baby-sit?"

The day came when the kids arrived. Our class chose a boy named Leo, he was a very quite kid, he doesn't talk much, and he seemed bored. If most of us were not happy with the idea, the kid seemed to share the very same sentiment. He looked at us as if we are a crazy bunch of people with nothing else to do.

Everything was working out fine halfway through the month. We attended to his needs, we gave him toys and clothes and we played with him. Little-by-little he seemed to look so happy. Then one day Leo just stop coming to our school. Our teacher said that his mother is sick and he is needed at home. Nothing was said much, and everybody seemed okay with it.

After a week, we started to miss the kid. We miss the way he hovers behind our back when we are taking notes or whatever it is that we are doing. We miss the way his eyes lit up every time he sees us. So after a short deliberation, we decided to visit him. We arrived at his home after school, and found his mother in front of their house (more of a shanty). We were surprised because she doesn't look sick to us.

She greeted us and said that Leo was out running an errand for her. She looks as if she was expecting us. She said that she was not sick, and that Leo begged her to say that, because he didn't want to return to our school. We were hurt, but his mother quickly said that it was not because he didn't want to see us, but because he didn't want to miss us so much when it was all over. She thanked us and said that it is much better for everybody if we just let it be.

We never saw him again after that. We just thought that indeed it was better for all of us. We cannot offer anything to him, other than a short lived fantasy world that is bound to end after one month.