“Mommy! Mommeeeeee!” wailed the little boy, his voice full of tears.
Mommy rushed to her child’s room, only to find it in shambles. Her little boy peeked out of a hole in the wall, his eyes filling his whole face, the tears pouring down his reddened cheeks.
“Come out, Benjy. You could get hurt in there. Come to me, Baby.”
“Mommy,” sobbed Benjy, “There was a HUGE BANG, and the house broke! I’m scared!”
“So am I, my Sheifale, little lamb. Come now. We must find the shelter.”
“I don’t understand. Why do they hate us?”
Just Writing! 
It’s so difficult to explain all that to a child. Touching take.
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Thanks, Indira. Sadly, children do learn to return hate for hate unless we teach by word and example not to do so.
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Dear Linda,
I hope she can explain it to him. Not sure I can.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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How do you explain unreasoning hatred?
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This slow tracking back to reveal the larger picture is cinematic and very well done
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I love your title. I was going in looking for something humorous. The ending was very sobering. I think too often hatred is passed down for generations and its inception is long forgotten. It’s a sad state when hatred becomes tradition.
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Truth.
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That last line packs a punch in its reveal. Well done.
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Thanks 🙂
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I don’t understand either… Nicely written.
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Thank you, Trent.
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Such a moving story told in very simple relatable terms.
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Thank you. Sometimes I think we’d all benefit if we tried to put ourselves in the mindset of children. They tend to see things more clearly because they see them simply.
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AT first I thought the kid had been mucking about, but the truth was far grimmer.
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You’re not alone in thinking the story was going to take a humorous or less devastating direction.
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Dreadful, children are innocent and know nothing of hate, revenge, politics or whatever might be a reason for such happenings. Good job at invoking emotion.
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Thanks 🙂
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Very strong description in this story, and very lifelike and human emotions displayed.
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Thank you, Penny. I appreciate it very much.
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A sad but true story. I share the child’s confusion – why is it like this?
(if you gave the boy a name, you could save a few words, just a gentle thought).
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I thought about it, James, but I wanted to use the Yiddish Sheifelah, for Little Lamb, just because I liked it 🙂
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Ah, I see.
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A grim tale told brilliantly, Linda.
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How close this is to becoming reality for so many children is terrifying. Very touching piece, thank you.
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And so many have already lived through it. O died because of it.
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The hard parts of life spare no one
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Sad truth.
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home is a place where everyone must feel secure most especially the kids. sadly, it’s not true if you live in a war zone. well-written piece.
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Thanks, Plaridel.
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Linda, my heart goes out to the children. They are always the ones who suffer.
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Indeed.
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A sad piece of fiction that is fact for so many. Beautifully written Linda.
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That’s a question asked so often, and too many times there just isn’t any answers to be found.
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Beautifully heartbreaking. A child’s terror at not understanding a cruel world.
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Thanks, Laurie 🙂
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I also thought that it would be a lighthearted story and was proven wrong.
When will the hatred end?
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