“See here, little one, I’ve got some more bread for you. Don’t go away, I’ve got some more!” The old man broke off another small piece and dropped it into the water.
“Here’s some more. Oh, you sure act like you haven’t ever gotten bread before. But don’t worry, I’ve always got some for you. You wouldn’t want your children to starve now, would you?” One after the other, he broke off more pieces, slowly dropping the crumbs into the water.
“You over there, don’t swim away! Your mummy might lose you. She can’t be watching you all at the same time. And what about the food I’ve got here? Don’t you want anymore? Well, I suppose you must have had enough for a day, but I’ve still got one last bit.”
He broke the last piece in half and slowly dropped both of them into the water.
“You’ll get some more tomorrow. I know you’re still hungry, little one, but you’re always hungry, no matter how much bread I give you.”
Behind him the old man suddenly heard panting and a young boy shouting “grandpa!”
“Oh my dear boy, why are you running so?” he turned towards him, watching as he stopped to catch his breath.
“Grandpa, you can’t go running off like that every day! And mummy’s mad at you again now. You’ve taken the entire loaf of bread!”
“I was feeding the ducks, my little boy. I can’t let them starve,” he said, shaking his head sadly.
“Grandpa,” the boy said, searching his face. “There are no ducks here.”
© 2016
Sunday Photo Fiction, 31st January 2016
I really liked this post. As a caretaker of a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (now deceased) the ending was extremely poignant for me. I am adding your post to a new series I am starting on my blog this Friday. I don’t have a lot of followers yet, so you probably won’t see a large increase in your stats from this, unfortunately, lol.
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Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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Touching. Sad turn at the end but makes the story very poignant.
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Thank you!
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That was a good twist at the end, a fun story( great dialogue by the grandpa) at the same time a bit sad
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Thank you! I’m glad you liked it.
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Awwee.. adorable grandpa. 🙂 But there were ducks. There must be. I was them, too. 😀
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Of course there was – only the boy couldn’t see them 😉
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YAY! Glad to here that. 😀
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I like that. The question is, does the child not see them, or has the grandfather got dementia? A good story
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Thank you! When I was writing the story, I first thought the grandfather had dementia. Now I’m not quite so sure anymore…
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