The eyes of hope

Introduction

I was walking carelessly down the street when I noticed one man different from the others. What made him different wasn't a nice suit and tie, branded shoes, or a modern hairstyle. No, it was just the opposite.

He was an older man, I would say by the appearance he was about fifty years old. The oval face was elongated by a black-gray unshaven beard that merged with long, slightly curly black hair. His brown eyes on his wrinkled face radiated sadness and melancholy. He wore a worn black hat, which protected him from prying eyes and the weather. He was sitting on a cardboard box, leaning against some lonely house wall in some old gray cloak. He held a bottle of some alcohol in his left hand and would take a strong sip from it every few minutes. At first glance, you would say that he was just a bum, a drunk. 

But how foolish you would be. This is just another proof that nowadays, people do not look beyond their nose. If any of the passers-by approached him, they would notice that he held something in his right hand. He held it tight as if his life depended on it. It was a photo. He would look at it, put it away, take a sip of a strong drink, and keep looking at it again. Curiosity overcame me, and I decided to reach out to that man. First, to find out who it is in the photo he keeps so carefully, and second to hear what kind of life story his soul carries.

I approached him slowly, but he did not notice me. He still stared at the photo without taking his eyes off it. At one point, I saw a tear slide down his face, but he wiped it away very quickly. With that tear, I noticed something else. It was a glimmer of hope in his eyes—the hope he had for the person in the photo. Even though I was almost in front of him, he still didn't notice me, so I had to cough. 

Then he looked up and realized he had gotten unexpected company. I could finally see the photo clearly up close. The photo showed a girl of about 6-7 years old. She had long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes that were hard to take your eyes off because it looked like she was looking straight through your soul with them. But the one most significant detail from the picture was a smile that spread from ear to ear. It was a real genuine child smile, which adults rarely have today. 

When the man noticed what I was looking at, he quickly removed the photo and glared into my eyes. I sat down next to the man and patted him gently on the shoulder. His angry look was now replaced by a confused one as he wondered why someone in such fine clothes would sit next to him on the cold concrete.

He concluded that I was probably missing something in my head and took another sip, as I noticed, of cheap whiskey. I decided to break the silence and asked him who the girl in the picture was. He shot me a look and replied rudely, " Who are you to ask that?" 

But I didn't let that prevent me from asking more. I kept talking. I said to a strange man that I was interested because I think she is his straw of salvation, to which he looked at me and replied that he had no salvation for a long time.

 "Anyone who wants can be saved. It's just important to have a desire. "I replied, and he mumbled something to himself in his chin.

"Can you tell me your story? I think there's a lot more to you than people see. "

He looked at me in surprise. "I'm not sure what's wrong with you, but since I haven't spoken to anyone in months, I'll tell you. But I have to warn you right away, it's not a pretty story at all. "I nodded, and he started."I started drinking two years ago. Before that, my life was perfect. "