The Early Goal

Children Short Story with Moral – The Early Goal
Photo credit: earl53 from morguefile.com

A little snow fell last night. The steps of the house are a bit wet and slippery from the snow. A boy of thirteen comes out from one of those small houses and then closes the old hand made wooden door behind him. He carefully steps down as his worn out leather shoes fall briskly on the wet snow. A blue mist has spread across the atmosphere and it is still dark and cold. The boy pulls out an overcoat from his satchel and wraps it tightly around his skinny body and then glares at the uphill town for a moment whose tiny lights struggle their way across the thick fog.

Suddenly two children, a boy and a girl perhaps of four and six respectively, burst the door open and wildly run towards their brother to wish him good bye. Unfortunately one of them slips his leg and falls flat on his face. But he bravely stands up without a cry. His upper lip cuts open and it starts to bleed. His big brother gently wipes it with his overcoat’s sleeve and then wishes them both good bye.

The wind grew stronger and colder as the boy struggled his way across the snowy path towards that uphill town. After a while he reaches a public park which was located at the entrance of the town. He thinks to take a break and eat his breakfast there. He sits on a near by bench and takes a veg roll out of his satchel and then suddenly memories of past flood across his mind, when he and his father along with the family used to have the veg rolls in the breakfast. But things had changed, his father passed away leaving the family responsibilities on the boy’s young shoulders. He takes a bite of his food which was utterly delicious. His mother had put all her love in it.

A dog wagging his tail approaches the boy and his eyes ask him to share his food. The boy shows some mercy and gives away half of it and the animal merrily enjoys the bits of the treat. He checks the horizon to see the faint rays that had started to ignite the dark sky. But the clouds block the light and cover up the sky to make it black. The boy hurries across his way, hoping to reach his destination before it rains. He thinks that he had made his mistake to have stopped but he was glad to have fed the dog and consults his heart that it was worth stopping. It started to rain and the boy was drenched thoroughly.

He shiver sand shakes the cold air warm around him. The boy was freezing but he couldn’t stop. He shrinks and wraps his body in the overcoat which gave him warmth until it was completely wet. After sometime the clouds clear out to reveal that the sun had completely risen. He reaches a bungalow which was probably his destination. His eyes were filled with delight. He turns back to look at the town clock and ensure if he wasn’t late. He enters the big metal gate and then knocks the well-furnished door. A voice of Lady Calls from inside –

“Who is it?”

“Your servant ma’am.” The boy replies

“Come in! Lad” the women calls out again and the boy enters the bungalow

“Take here is your reward for coming early and your month’s salary too three hundred plus bonus twenty rupees.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I am grateful to you.”

And then boy starts to do his daily work. Things had been better for him and his family when his father was alive. He used to go to school and his father owned a shop until it was blown by a terrorist attack and his father died with it. Now it is his small brother who studies in a government school and he hopes that he will change things for his family. That’s the only hope why he works and pay his small brother fees, Rupees one fifty per month, the rest he gives it to his mother and the bonus not for him but for the needy.

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