The Little Boy

“The Little Boy” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Mishaartiny Moorthy, Kulim Secondary School, Malaysia.

The Little Boy

The whole landscape was bathed in the warm glow of the sunrise. High sunlit clouds drifted across the clear blue sky. The tall green palm trees swayed to the gentle breeze in the warm tropical sunshine. Dew on the blades of grass sparkled like diamonds in the sunlight. The weather was just perfect for a nice morning walk with my pet dog, Coco.

As I was walking with Coco, I admired the environment. To saw people exercising, jogging, playing and talking happily was such a pleasure to my eyes. I saw many of my neighbours carrying out several activities at the park. I waved at all of them and greeted them with a big warm smile. They were happy to see me and Coco too.

For a change, I thought of strolling around the outskirts near my house. My friend said she lived somewhere there, but I’ve never been to her house before. So, I thought of paying her a surprise visit with Coco beside me. She would love to see Coco, as she loves German Shepherds.

While walking down the pavement by the roadside, I was searching for the house of Alina, my best friend. Suddenly I found a young boy, probably around the age of five or six, sitting under a tree with no one around him. He looked very sad and his eyes told me that he needed help. So, I walked to him and asked him who he was and where was his house? I felt I should render him some help.

The little boy did not say anything, he just pointed at his knee. To my surprise it was bleeding uncontrollably. I panicked. All I had was my handkerchief. So, I tied my handkerchief around his right knee immediately. I wanted to take him to the nearby clinic, but he refused to follow. I became more worried when I found out that he couldn’t even walk. He was crying in pain. It was heart-wrenching to see the little boy suffer with that bleeding wound on his knee. So, I decided to call my cousin sister who was at home cooking for her husband and children. I felt bad for asking help from her, but I had no other choice.

Ten minutes after I called her, she arrived. We carried the young boy into the car. For some reason, he did not want to go to the clinic, but we forced him to, because we were worried his bleeding wouldn’t stop. My cousin sister drove as fast as she could to reach the clinic.

When we arrived at the clinic, the nurses helped us with the boy. They carried him into the doctor’s room by a stretcher. Immediately, the doctor started checking on the boy’s knee. My cousin and I were very tensed about the boy’s condition. We didn’t even know his parents’ contact number to call them up and inform them about their son.

Finally, the doctor who is our family friend came out of his room. He informed us that the boy had a fracture and severe scratches on his knee. He said the child will recover soon if he’s given proper care and attention. After a while, my cousin and I decided to take the boy back to his home. He did not cry. So, we asked him for his address.

We were shocked to hear a painful answer from him. His reply was “I am an orphan. My parents just passed away two days ago. So, I was sent to my uncle’s house. My uncle abused me and pushed me down to the road. I felt down and got injured badly. He didn’t want to adapt me, so I was chased out of his house. Now, I don’t have a house to live in. Where am I to go?”

The poor little child started to cry again. It was such a pity to see him cry. It was so clear that he was filled with agony. So, my cousin and I decided to take him to our house. I promised to look after him until he recovered completely.

The boy was under mine and my parents’ care for nearly a week. Then we planned to take him to an orphanage to be taken care of. My family send him there with the hope of someone adopting the poor thing. He is such an innocent child and needed plenty of care and love.

We said goodbye to him and decided to leave the orphanage. As we were about to leave the place, the boy hugged me tightly. He thanked us for the help. We were so touched by his words. As I stepped out of the orphanage, I prayed that the child would eventually find a loving home.