Checkmate

Little Guy

I mustered all my courage trying not to break down, I thought I wouldn't encounter this my whole journey. I said while lowering myself to his level "Hey little guy, what's your name?" He responded " My name's Harper mister. I seem to be lost may you help me find my way home?" Sure I will I said. I took his hand and walked him down the path. He told me his mom would get mad if she found out that he's not where he should've stayed.

I told him not to worry as I'll get him home safely. Harper said "Mister you know I live in a place with a lot of trees and pets. We have pigs, ducks, chickens, oh and birds. I help my mom harvest fruits too. Oh oh and we have horses, I ride the small ones of course since I can't reach the big ones. I also feed our ducks. Oh and the other day I was chased by a chicken, I tried so hard to get away but it was fast my dad had to run after me to grab the chicken." I was smiling the whole time seeing how happy he was. So I told him " Oh buddy, you'll have much more fun once you get home, maybe you'll get chased by a chicken again and I chuckled."

"I hope not mister, that was tiring." He said followed by a laugh. He then asked "Are we still far away?" I said " No, no, were close." As we approached the light, I saw someone familiar, wait, Lexie?! I shouted, to where Lexie shouted back a "Hello!" The little guy let go of my hand and ran to Lexie excitedly "Mom!" I told Lexie "You never told me you have a son nor did you tell me you lived on a farm." She just laughed and said " Yeah, I guess I never did."

Out of curiosity " So, what happened?" I asked, she said her son had a weak heart when he was born and wasn't expected to live for more than 4 years, however he lived till 6 when his heart gave out and followed his mother after a couple days. Lexie followed to say "Thank you for keeping my son company, take care." Then they turned around and walked towards the light. Harper looked behind and waved then said "Goodbye mister, take care." With a smile still on his face from seeing his mother.

As I walked back, I thought, I never would've expected that I'll see a little guy ever. However I guess i should expect it more now. It pained me to see a little one lose his life ahead to an illness. However I'm also happy that he got reunited with his mom, Lexie. He was happy to see her and Lexie was happy to see him. I guess this is also a part of this journey, seeing how innocent young minds are, how much they appreciate the little things like feeding ducks, seeing their mother, or happiness from being chased by a chicken.

At his age only being chased by a chicken made him tired, which is very different from being an adult. As an adult you'll have many responsibilities, and the stress from the responsibilities. Also the exhaustion. However there's also the freedom of being alone with friends on a road trip.

But now, Harper can't experience what I did, which makes me glad that I've experienced growing up, and having road trips with friends. I went through the stress of High School. But it makes me think of what I'm missing out in medical school again, I would be graduating this year if I hadn't been taken too early.

I saw pup sleeping so I went ahead to the lake to sit by it and lay down on the soft grass and watch the clouds like I used to with my family. How I miss them, I wonder if they miss me too. I then imagined the clouds to look like their figures, our figures hanging out together. Sitting by a campfire at night by the sea and playing beach volleyball during the day. The nostalgic scent of roasted marshmallows also came back to me. We loved roasting marshmallows especially on camping trips. Also the scent of melted butter on popcorn when we went to the movies, which was almost every week before I was admitted.

We travelled and went to the movies a lot because we wanted to make the best out of our time before medical school. I never expected to pass before it, I was given 2 years max without treatment, but oh well, clots happen. A couple minutes later I fell asleep. I woke to pup licking my face because she wanted to play. So I grabbed the stick we usually used and threw it to the water. While we were playing, it came to me. Why did I never think to adopt a dog when I was alive? I never knew how much a dog could bring you so much happiness. When we were done playing, and she ran around to dry off. I went to sit by the lake again.

She then sat by me wagging her tail. A few minutes later I was shocked to hear a twig snap behind us then pup went to defense mode. It was a woman, she sat by the lake with us.