Little by little

“Please don’t do this!” She begs him, but he doesn’t listen. He never does. His fist smashes into her cheek. Do you feel like a man when you push her around? Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground? She stays on the ground. If she gets up, he’ll just put her down again. She swallows a mouthful of blood. As he walks away she whispers “Louis… how did you turn into this monster?” He stops cold. He heard her whispers. She’s going to regret she said that. He turns around with evil in his eyes and walks over to her body…

*********

In another time and place, an alarms beeps at the crack of dawn. A little boy quickly stops the alarm. He doesn’t want to wake his parents. It’s Mother’s Day and he’s going to attempt to give his parents breakfast in bed. He smiles as he shuffles to the kitchen. He can already see his mother’s smile when he walks in there with a tray filled with goodies. Softly he taps an egg against the side of the pan. His mother does it so easily, but it doesn’t want to break when he does it. He taps a bit harder and the egg starts to crack. He forces his thumbs into the crack and pries it open spilling some on the stove. The next three eggs go a bit easier, but he still has to fish out the bits of egg shell from the pan.

He places some bread in the toaster and turns on the kettle. It’s going better than he expected. He adds some coffee, milk and lots of sugar into two cups. With his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth, he picks up the kettle and carefully pours boiling water into the cups. When everything is ready he picks up the tray and walks carefully to his parents’ bedroom. When he pushes the door open his mother greets him with a smile. It’s more beautiful than he pictured it. He walks over with his little chest sticking out and hands her the tray. She smiles, gives him a kiss and whispers “I love you, Louis…”

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How did the boy become the man… the monster? Little by little… without him realizing it. We don’t understand the impact our thoughts, actions and words have on us over the years. Little by little we accumulate pieces of who we are. I believe there’s a (potential) monster in each of us screaming to take over. When you shun someone, you might pick up a piece of you. A piece you don’t want.

I believe we all have a (potential) angel inside us. You might see someone who’s a bit down. You don’t know them that well and don’t really want to go talk to them. Do it anyway! It might seem insignificant; but it makes up who you are. It’s a small step on a journey that’ll blow you away.

Make sure you love who you are. Pick up all the right pieces!