Blog 5: Crumbs Of The Future

 

A small piece of bread found itself continuously bombarded by water and ducks desperate for a sliver of wheat. A man on the bridge was the source of this bread, throwing it into the sea as a point of comfort. He didn’t have to think about his ambitions or self-worth or even himself in these moments, he could just allow himself to be lost in the moment. He found an almost instinctual joy from watching these ducks throw themselves over scraps. He was so lost in the moment, that an old man standing by his side went unnoticed until the man asked him a question.

“Feeding the ducks, huh?” the old man bellowed.

“Yeah” he responded quietly. “It’s sort of a hobby of mine, I guess.”

“I hear you.” The man hadn’t heard it at first but the second time he registered the old man’s voice as gruff and proud, despite his old age.  “Here, let me try”

He obliged, giving the man some stale bread, him dunking it into the water almost immediately.

It gave them a sense of shared joy, watching the ducks flock toward the bread. The sun was down, leaving a cool wind behind them.

“Hey, old man” the man blurted out. “Does life ever get to be like this?”

“Like eating stale bread?”

“No, not like that. Something more freeing, less exhausting. Just inner peace and no heartache?”

“Hmm, I wish. Even in my old age, you still struggle day to day”

“Oh? I just hoped there’d be more to life than always fighting for something”

“Yeah, but even the ducks are fighting over the bread”

“Should we join them?”

*Laughs*

“What I’m saying is that life will always be a struggle, it’s just the way it is”

“But?”

“But that doesn’t mean that’s what all life is. It’s varied. Hope you take that to heart kiddo”