All Men Are Not The Same

A Smile He Recognised

"Oh no! Where has it disappeared?" Maddox shrieked as he plunged his hands inside his pockets, furiously looking for something. "Oh God! What do I do now?" he muttered with a deeply grieved look on his face.

"What happened little boy?" asked the door-keeper who has been watching the worried little boy for quite a while.

"I...I lost my student ID," Maddox mumbled. "I brought it with me to get access to the cancer ward. Now I can't find it," he went on as he rummaged through his little purse anxiously and gave a quick glance at his wristwatch - the wristwatch which was gifted to him by Miranda the day he turned ten, and that was three months ago.

As Maddox only had bitter memories about his seventh birthday, Miranda wanted to give him a sweet memory for his tenth one. The little boy still refused to celebrate his birthday but he happily accepted his mother's gift as he knew that she bought it for him with her hard earned money.

"Who are you going to visit in the cancer ward?" the man standing at the door asked.

"My...my mother," Maddox replied in a low voice. "Please Sir, allow me in. I need to meet her. I have not seen her for days. It's getting late. Please let me get inside even if it's just for a five little minutes."

Upon hearing the little guy's pathetic voice, the door-keeper's face softened and he asked, "but are you at least twelve?"

"I am twelve Sir! Just turned twelve," Maddox lied.

"Hmmm, what's your name? And birth date?" the man questioned doubtfully.

"Maddox. Maddox Howard."

"And your birth date?" the man repeated.

"12 July 19... 1988," the young boy replied confidently as he made a quick mental calculation to prove his age.

"Ok, noted. You can go inside. The female cancer ward is at the end of the corridor, to the left," the uniformed man instructed, gesturing with left his arm as his right one held the door leading to the corridor open.

Maddox's little acting helped him keep his promise which he made to himself the night before - that of visiting his mother no matter what. He may have pretended that his ID was lost but his feelings were genuine. He was yearning to see his mother.

Maddox hurried along the corridor, eager to see his beloved mother. He felt his heart beating faster as he laid his eyes on the panel indicating the room he was looking for. The bold white letters  written on a dark green background made his heart skip a beat - "CANCER WARD". He entered breathlessly, his eyes scanning the whole place. They were searching for one face. The face of that lady who meant so much to him. But, she was nowhere to be seen. Maddox turned around, looking at each single person in that room, but he could not find Miranda. His heart thumped louder in his rib cage as a feeling of suffocation engulfed his throat.

Maybe I have come to the wrong room. Mum must be in another room.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard a voice calling his name. A weird but familiar voice. He remained idle for a moment and listened carefully to make sure that he was not making up things in his mind. He then turned around but was disappointed as he did not find the person he was expecting to see. With his head bent down in grief, he moved towards the door to exit the room.