Sashka, have you ever been happy?… a story from life

Sashka, have you ever been happy?… a story from life
Two green eyes, each nine years old, widen as if in slow motion….

I don’t know…
Answered so quietly that I had to ask again….

I thought they don’t talk to kids about that….

What do they talk about with kids?

Grades and good behaviour…

I see, but let’s give it a try nonetheless… so what about happiness…?
The boy is silent for a long time and then, again quietly, he answers:

One day my grandmother came and brought me apples… I said that I probably can’t have them, because I got a C in maths….
They don’t give me sweets and fruit when I don’t study well…..
And my grandmother laughed, hugged me, and said that she gives me apples because she just loves me, and grades can be different….
They were really good apples….
And for the first time I wasn’t worried….
Can I say that I was happy…?
I kept silent, because it would be hard for me to give words at this moment…..
But I know for sure that happiness is when they talk to you not only about grades and good behaviour….
When you’re hugged.
When you have at least one source of unconditional love….
And when apples are delicious…
Lilya Grad