The Little Candle

[Audio] The Little Candle a flash fiction short story.

[Audio] In a cramped alley, a boy wakes to the sound of rain dripping through the roof.

[Audio] He folds his blanket carefully. It is the only one his family owns.

[Audio] Breakfast is a cup of water and a piece of cassava. He eats slowly to make it last.

[Audio] Outside, children run to school with shiny bags. He follows with a torn notebook pressed to his chest.

[Audio] At school, he copies lessons carefully, his pencil stub shorter than his finger.

[Audio] Hunger twists in his belly, but he stays focused. Knowledge feels like bread.

[Audio] During recess, he sits alone while writing on his desk, while others open lunchboxes filled with rice and meat.

[Audio] A kind classmate give off half of her sandwich toward him.

[Audio] He whispers thank you, as if the gift were a treasure.

[Audio] That night, he studies under a small candle, determined to dream beyond the shadows.

[Audio] Poverty may dim the room, but it cannot extinguish his hope. The Little Candle.