The Man Who Begged

His foot tapped anxiously as his slender fingers twiddled. His hands remained inside his warm jacket to hide the fact that he is occupied by his loathing of the dark. Although he and his family spoke light-heartedly, he imagined the darkness slithering around him, hissing, ready to bite at any moment. The prospect of the venom injecting into his veins when least expected, was one he was all too familiar with. He and his family laughed and ate their freshly ordered food. They ate unknowingly, unconsciously; they ate ungratefully. The family tried to fool themselves into thinking they were grateful, but they shoveled the matter into their digestive system as if it were a competition. The idea of even tasting the food was lost on them, as even if they ate slowly, they were too far gone in the act of conversing, and moreover their unique, constraining thoughts. The two parents sat awkwardly, choosing conversational topics to fill in the void of the situation. The son, still, sat anxiously, whipping his head back and forth. He spoke to his younger brother, but the darkness still crept behind his back ready to choke him. Every sound was a threat, every person was a nightmare. 

In time, the family finished their food and stood up to climb into their ride home. They walked the narrow, shadowed pathway besides the establishment, and on the other side, they were met with a shadowed man. The man was covered by the absence of light, and only the slight glint in his eyes could be seen. A deep, meek voice rose from the man, "Excuse me, sir?" He directed this question at the son. The son backed away, but the man spoke to him regardless of this indecency. "Do you guys happen to have any money? Or, any food with you? My house recently, well, it recently," the man couldn't finish his sentence. The man was tall in height but small in demeanor. The son turned to his father, the father stepped up. "Would you like food from there?" he pointed at the restaurant they just received their meal from. "Really?" the man exclaimed, tears forming in his eyes. "Yes really, I'll get you anything you want, man." The man was not one of a hard shell, but any facade that could have possibly been put up was brought down. "Son, come here, what's your name?" he asked the one afraid of darkness. "Thomas," he replied slowly, as if he just learned his name. "I can't just take your money, let me exchange with you." He lifted his mangled backpack off of his shoulders. He crouched on the floor, peering at the contents inside. 

Thomas slowly and discreetly peered into the bag. The rugged bag was mostly empty besides a few trinkets taken from the homeless man's old home. These trinkets were those the man grabbed quickly, and cared enough to grab before the fire consumed his shelter. The items meant much to him, but the idea of getting food was one he couldn't help but repay. "Come here, Thomas." Thomas wearily crept toward the man. "My name is Vernon. What your father just did for me is something I can't ever truly repay, but please take this as a start." Vernon pulled out a small record and put it gently in Thomas's hands. No words were said in the act of the exchange. Vernon went with Thomas's father, looking back longingly before leaving the record behind for good. The record was scratched and therefore unplayable, but it radiated a homely aura. The grooves, the scratches, the clear usage of the record; it was alive.

Thomas held it in his hands and his heart beat like a row of drums in a marching band. The shadows brought a gift of light. The man, the man who begged, became his savior. The man who begged gave him the greatest gift of all. A tear rolled down Thomas's face and into his mouth. He wiped away the proceeding tears with his wool sleeve. The food in his belly became something of a gift, and the darkness became something more bright. The slithering snake, now illuminated, wasn't a snake at all. For what was there to fear, when kindness resides in the depth of darkness? For what was there to fear, when even a man who begs, is a man of honor, dignity, humbleness, and love?