A Gift From Me

Chapter #1

A GIFT FROM ME

By: Internal

Chapter 1:
The Boy and the Farm

2009, Bansalan, Philippines

The wind blew over the grass in a calm, peaceful way, toying with the leaves of trees. The sun was at its peak in the sky. The sky was blue, with moderate clouds. The smell of grass and nature fills the air with the sounds of birds singing and chattering as the farmer harvests vegetables from the ground with his two sons who were helping him up.
The farmer Llyod, is a father of two boys, Ash and Julian. Ash was his first born, which was 12 years old during this time. Ash's little brother, Julian was 10 years old. They live together in a tiny home by the farm.
The eldest, Ash had dark brown hair and brown eyes, while Julian had black hair, but also with brown eyes.

"Ash, help me load up the carriage."

Lloyd says as he loads up the carriage. Ash ran over to help his father.

"Yes, dad."

Ash says as he picks up the harvested vegetables and loads it on the carriage. They took the vegetables to the farm's owner, which was their boss. The boss then paid them a maximum of 150 pesos per day. It wasn't much, but it's all they had.

That night, they got home after helping Lloyd with the farm. Their house was a small one-bedroom home, made of bamboo and unpolished concrete. They didn't have electricity.
Their mother, Alice prepares dinner for the four of them to eat after their work.

"Boy, dinner's ready, come now."

She calls out for her two sons. Ash and Julian went to the table. Their eyes lit up as they saw sardines on their plates.

"Yay, sardines!!"

Julian says excitedly as he sits to eat. Julian starts to munch on the food like he hasn't eaten in days. Ash followed as well and sat on the chair and started eating.

"Make sure to wash your dishes right after, okay?"

Alice says as they ate. The two boys nodded their heads as a response. They later wash the dishes outside where they had a hand water pump. After that, Ash approached his mother to ask for something.

"Mom?"

His voice, soft and warm. Alice turned to him curiously and responded.

"Yes, dear? What is it?"

"My school says we should pay Php50 for our classroom project."

As Ash asks for money, his father, Lloyd overhears this from the livingroom. He enters the room and says:

"Ash, didn't I tell you to just stop with this education thing? You can't go anywhere with that. Instead, you should focus on helping me at the farm."

Lloyd says with a smile. Ash sadly looked at his dad. He desperately wanted to finish school, so him and his family wouldn't live in poverty any longer.

"But dad, I want to graduate. Maybe then, I'll get a job and help you more."

Ash says, trying to argue with his father. Lloyd just laughs it off as a joke and says:

"You already have a job. You're a farmer just like your old man. You can't get any better than that."

Lloyd laughs as he pats Ash's head, clearly not taking him seriously. Ash, however was determined to graduate some day. His mother looked at him before secretly handing him 50 pesos as Lloyd left the room. He smiles and hugs his mother before running off to bed.
The next day, The bell rang after class hours. he packs up his stuff. Before he could go out, his teacher called for him.