May. 21, 2009 - Carlos' Story
This is a story I wrote, based on a true story I heard. I have considered publishing it one day as a children's book, with illustrations. I don't know if that will ever happen, but it is a dream....
There once was a young boy named Carlos who lived with his mother and his younger sister on a mountain just outside of a city in
Each day six-year-old Carlos would rise early in the morning, tuck a soft flannel cloth into his back pocket, leave his mother and sister in their tiny shack, and run down the mountain and into the city streets.
The city streets were always bustling with activity early in the morning. Carlos loved to watch the people hurrying on their way to work. He hurried too, on his way to the train station.
Here he saw many kinds of people. He saw men and women, fat people and thin people, tall people and short people, young people and old people, people with very dark skin and people with not-so-dark skin. Some people were dressed up and carrying brief cases, some young people were wearing sneakers and carrying bookbags and others were dressed in casual clothing and pulling large suitcases behind them. Sometimes he heard people speaking in other languages.
Carlos often wondered what it would be like to be one of those people – a boy on his way to school, a man on his way to the office, a family on their way to vacation. Carlos looked down at his own attire. He wore the same clothes every day, for indeed, they were the only clothes he had. His pants had gotten far too short the year before, and had also gotten holes in the knees, so his mother had torn them off for shorts and now he could wear them a third year. His t-shirt used to be a pale yellow color, but now it looked more like brown from constant use and infrequent washing. And his feet were bare.
It had been a long time since he had had shoes to put on them. He could remember several years back when his father had brought home a lovely new pair of sandals for his feet, but it had been a long time since he had outgrown them. His sister had used them after him, but she also had outgrown them and now wore bare feet every day.
Carlos settled down on the floor near the entrance of the train station and watched. Next door was a little café with a bench outside it. Many times the business men on their way to work would stop at this little bench to read their morning newspaper before beginning their work day. Carlos would watch for one of them.
He did not have to wait long, for presently a gentleman in a business suit sat down with his paper and began to read. Carlos approached and asked the man through his paper if he would kindly allow him to polish his shoes. The man briefly replied that that would be fine without once lowering his newspaper to look at the little boy with the soft flannel cloth tucked into his back pocket.
Carlos set to work immediately. He worked as quickly as he could to bring the gentleman’s shoes to a brilliant shine. Carlos had been shining shoes every day for the last two years since his father had died and he had gotten quite good at it now. He felt very confident of his ability to satisfy his customers with both his speed and the sparkle in their shoes, every time. Indeed, his very life depended on it, as well as the lives of his mother and his sister. For each day with the meager coins Carlos received from shining shoes, he would buy a little bread to take home to his mother and sister in their shack in the mountain. If he shined no shoes, he could buy nothing to take home to his mother and sister and they would have to go to bed without eating anything at all.
So, Carlos worked very hard to make sure his customers were completely satisfied with their shiny shoes, and this gentleman was no exception. In a mere matter of minutes, Carlos had finished the job and quietly told the gentleman that he was through.
Now, for the first time, the gentleman lowered his newspaper and looked at Carlos. His eyes were kind as he looked into the boy’s face. It was a dirty face, whose eyes were dull, and whose cheeks were rather hollow, not round and ruddy as a six-year-old boy’s should be. The boy seemed to be very proud of the job he had done on the shoes, and yet he was too timid to look fully into the gentleman’s face.
The kind gentleman reached into his pocket for some coins to give Carlos, while he wondered what else he could do for the boy. It seemed such a shame for so little a boy to have to be out working this way. He looked down at his freshly polished shoes and they truly shone in the early morning sunlight! A fine job Carlos had done!
And then, as he saw his own shoes shining in the sun, he looked also at Carlos’ feet which bore no shoes at all and the gentleman felt a sharp pang in his chest.
He asked Carlos his name and handed him the few coins. The hint of a smile played on the boy’s mouth as he thrust the coins into his pocket. Then the gentleman gave him a kind pat on the shoulder and went on his way to work, but he did not forget about little Carlos. Truth be told, all day long, Carlos was on his mind.
The next morning, Carlos tucked his soft flannel cloth in his back pocket once again, left his mother and sister in their shack, walked down the mountain and into the city streets all the way to the train station, sat down in his usual spot and waited. Whose shoes would he polish today?
Carlos lifted his eyes and there, across the street, he saw the kind gentleman from the day before. Soon he was approaching the bench in front of the café next to the entrance of the train station. Perhaps he was planning to sit there once again to read his morning newspaper before heading off to work. But he did not sit. As he got closer, he scanned the street to the right of the café, and then to the left. He seemed to be looking for something. Carlos wondered what.
Just then, his eyes settled on Carlos. The kind gentleman smiled and walked right toward the little boy sitting on the floor at the entrance of the train station. Carlos wriggled. It made him feel uncomfortable to be approached this way. No one had ever paid any attention to him sitting there on the floor of the train station and he wondered what this man was going to do? But, there was a quiet kindness about the man’s face that restrained Carlos from running away. He waited there until the man squatted down right in front of him.
Carlos did not look up. He felt too shy to look into the man’s face. His mother had always warned him to not trust strangers. What would the man say to him? Maybe he was not happy with his shoe shine and would want his coins back from the day before?
The kind gentleman said, Buenos Dias and gently lifted Carlos chin so that he could smile into his six-year-old face. The warmth of the man’s smile dispelled any fear that Carlos felt about the man’s approach. Then the man reached into a bag he was holding in his other hand and pulled out a beautiful pair of tennis shoes, just Carlos’ size!
Carlos’ eyes grew round as saucers. Could they really be for him? He had never had a pair of tennis shoes before, in all of his six years! And these were just so lovely, indeed, the loveliest pair of tennis shoes Carlos had ever seen in all of his life. The man was talking to him, but he barely heard what he was saying for his excitement over his new shoes – his very own pair of brand new shoes!
Next, the man pulled out a small package of socks, opened it and handed one pair to Carlos, asking him to put them on and try his new shoes on for size.
Carlos snapped out of his daze and excitedly began to pull on his new socks, the very first socks he had ever owned, and next his very first pair of brand new tennis shoes. He believed he had never felt such joy in all of his life. And they fit perfectly.
The man helped him get his shoes adjusted and commented in a calm voice about how handsome Carlos looked in his new shoes and how happy he was that they fit him nicely. Then he bid Carlos a good day, told him that he hoped to see him here again, gave him another kind squeeze on the shoulder, and turned to go on his way to his office.
Carlos watched the man walk away, on his way to catch his train, and thought. He looked down at his new shoes and as he did, he could almost hear the words that his mother told him daily in his head: “Jesus te ama, Carlos. Jesus loves you. Don’t ever forget that, my son. Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you…..” And once more he looked up at the man on his way to the train.
Then suddenly he was up and running, running in his new tennis shoes toward the man on his way to the train. He felt as though he were running on clouds in his new shoes! In a flash he caught up to the kind gentleman and tugged on the sleeve of his business suit.
The gentleman turned around and saw Carlos standing there with an earnest look on his face. “Yes, mi hijo?” the gentleman asked.
Carlos looked into the kind face of the gentleman fully for the first time and asked, “Señor, I was wondering, are you Jesus? My mother always tells me that Jesus loves me. You gave me shoes today, so I know that you love me. So, I was wondering, Señor, are you Jesus?”
The kind gentleman’s heart was pierced by the earnest expression on the little boy’s dirty face as he waited expectantly for his reply. He put his hand kindly on Carlos’ shoulder and said, “No, mi hijo, I am not Jesus. But Jesus does love you, and I can tell you all about Jesus’ love.”
And the gentleman proceeded to tell little wide-eyed Carlos all about the Jesus who loved him, so much that he gave his own life for him and wanted Carlos to live forever with him in heaven. In fact, He was there now, preparing a mansion for Carlos to live in! Not only that, but He also wanted to live in Carlos’ heart, so he would never be alone again.
Carlos stood wide-eyed as he listened to the story of Jesus for the first time. He always knew that Jesus loved him, but he did not know who Jesus was.
After a few short minutes, the kind man explained that he really must be going to work now, but first he prayed with Carlos, and Carlos asked Jesus to come and live in his heart. Then the gentleman promised to be back again to speak with Carlos, and he was off.
Carlos went back to his usual spot and sat back down on the ground to wait for his first customer just as he did every other day, but today was not like every other day. His black eyes shone just like the shoes he polished as he looked down at his very own pair of brand new tennis shoes and thought about the Jesus who loved him so much that He was preparing a mansion for him in heaven where he would live forever and ever. He would never be alone again!
“…Inasmuch as you’ve done it to the least of these my brethren, you’ve done it unto me…..” ~Jesus
Comments
Jun. 9, 2009 - Untitled Comment
Posted by MamaMahnken
Elizabeth! That was really good! If you do get it published, I'll buy one. Or a few... :)
