Nomi Shira

“But Dad…”

The child stood, forlorn brown eyes, a magnet for connection; he stood in his striped cozy sweater. The large sloped white walls, embellished with fanciful awards testifying to his parents kindness, swallowed him up. His dad, barely giving him a glance backward, nodded to the Charity Fund Award CEO as he closed the large oak front doors with their crystal glass designs embedded within them.

He was raised in a home – or more accurately, a 15 acre, lush thick green field with a castle like gray and beige mansion in the middle. Boy, did he have it all: or rather, boy, was he told he had it all. Dinner was served by the blonde maid in an apron who wore her hair tight up in a bun and did nothing but smile with her perfect white teeth.

He sat on the shiny wooden floors, the beam of sunlight streaming in and hitting half his face, leaving the rest in shadow.

And he went on a rampage. Fury consumed him; his eyes shot fire, but the fire of pain, not the fire of revenge. The toys saw no shelves and there was, within minutes, a no longer visible gray carpet: everything was out. He grabbed Daddy’s hammer from the black and yellow tool box hidden in the tall light wooden cupboard in the small gray shed. He grasped the hammer with his small red fingers, and one after another – smash, smash, smash… and with each toy dissembling into many small sharp pieces, the image of his mother grew stronger in his mind.

His mother came home, and naturally, was furious. Her bright pink lips quivered and her beige hat tilted, completing the look with her glaring gray eyes.

“I’ve got you – I’ve got you everything!” she sputtered, spit flying into the chaos of a room. The sunlight streaming through the tall windows cast slightly scary shadows on her contorted face. “I’ve bought you every single toy out there you’d like – and now! And now they’re broken?”

The child’s light, precious features softened; his round soft cheeks quivered slightly as he spoke words from his heart, words beyond his time.

“I – I don’t want the toys. I just want you, Momma.”