DIGITAL ART by Xavier Kent Ronan Paunil
I was used to waking up to the blaring whimper coming from next door. I wasn't complaining though, he always woke me up early in the morning, so I was never late for school.
It was deafening, that cry. It has always made me feel uneasy, even in the comfort of my bed. How can a little kid like him suffer from hunger and weep like the world's ending anytime soon? If our future is our children, then why are we letting them suffer?
That kid, he's Alfred. With a frame too small, so thin, yet he is the sweetest and most loving person I have ever encountered. He wears torn clothes that make others look at him in disgust, as if they don’t gawk at models who also flaunt torn clothes. He’s a kid, for Pete's sake!
His mother's in jail for stealing some medicine and diapers for his younger sister, who died a year ago. His dad left them with his sick grandma. His older sister is working as a prostitute—yes, it is disgusting for others, but I understand her for that. I am no longer tolerating it, though, but as a kid, I didn’t know what I should think.
I often see him crying outside their house, asking for food and help, but no one, no one other than me, was willing to help him. Those little things that I did for him were because of the fondness I have for him.
One day, he came up to me, hugging his dad's worn out clothes, and asked me if he was really loved by his father... with his quivering voice, that almost made me lose my mind.
He's only 2 years old, but he's the most ambitious kid I know. He often tells me that he wants to become a chef someday. He wants to cook for other kids' hungry mouths for free. But it saddens me that he can't even go to school. They don't have the money for it, and his sister? She's paying off the debt their dad left them.
I was only 12 back then, I'm 16 now. While Alfred's probably 6 now. I never saw him again after his lola died and he was brought to an orphanage.
I just hope that he's in a better condition right now. I hope he's going to school, I hope he gets to eat delicious food three times a day, I hope he has good clothes to wear now, and I am hoping that someday he'll come back and tell me, "Ate, chef na ako."
I just hope that no one else is being woken up by his cries.
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