Short Stories » The Wooden Bowl

The Wooden Bowl

It was a beautiful family of 5. The family had a weak and old man, a man and a wife, and two children, a boy and a girl. The old man was the head of the family and he had only one son, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.

The family had a lot of fun and enjoyed the life at its fullest. As a family, all the five used to have dinner together, every day.

As days passed by, the health of the old man gradually weakened. His vision became very poor, he wasn’t able to walk without support and his hands and legs started trembling.

One day, while serving dinner, the old man whose hands and legs shivered and who couldn’t see properly, spilt the food on the table. With shaky hands he wasn’t able to eat properly, the food dropped on the table. He let the glass of milk fall on the table cloth.

His son and daughter-in-law were completely annoyed, as he messed up the dinner. It was repeated the next day as the old man couldn’t help himself.

The son was irritated and his wife told, ‘I can’t bear this anymore. He spoils the dinner time. We should do something.’ The son agreed.

They set up a new table and chair in the corner of the hall and made him sit there to have food. The old man wasn’t able to hold the plate or glass, and he broke a few pieces of utensils. His son gave the old man a wooden bowl as it wouldn’t break.

While the rest of the family seemed to enjoy the meal time, the old man was in tears as he was having his food alone. The old man used to recollect the happy memories of his family and hardly tolerated his current situation.

The days passed by and the old man died calmly. After funeral, they were cleaning the home. The five year old boy uttered a few words to his elder sister, and the little girl said yes.

They were searching for something and it was noticed by their parent. The man asked the children ‘What are you searching for?’ The girl replied, ‘The wooden bowl which the grandpa used to have food!’

He asked, ‘But why?’

The woman told, ‘They would preserve it in memory of their grandpa!’

The children got the bowl!

The boy asked his father, ‘Dad can you buy one more bowl like this?’

Surprised by the question, he asked ‘why son?’

The girl replied, ‘see we have only one bowl. If you and momma get old, how will we feed you both with one bowl? So I asked you to buy another one for momma!’

The elders realized their mistake, but couldn’t get the forgiveness from the deceased old man!

Our acts follow us!