Of all people, why me? There are so many people in this world, why did God choose me? I didn’t do anything wrong, and my fate was chosen by You. First was dad. Then Ian. Why you mom? Why’d you leave me out here only to never return? Where are you mom? Now, how am I supposed to live my life? Now, the worst thing happened in the Big Apple and now, and everybody is emotionally in shatters, but, what about me?

Only six months ago, Tom and his family emigrated from Pakistan to here, just for a better life. However, it only seemed to be just a huge fluke. Back in Pakistan, he was the most famous person round. Everyone knew about Tom, but not of just his height, but of how much of gentle person, yet over 150 pounds of pure muscle, and a shocking 6’ 3”. In other words, his personality is just not as it’d seem.

“What am I going to do? How am I going to survive?” Tom mumbled to himself while in a fetal position, shivering in the cold after the biggest blizzard hit. “H-H-H-How is I going to s-s-s- survive in this cold?”

Immediately, Tom got up and started to roam around all the streets, with a little soft blanket and his 20 dollar wad his mother had given him before she left for eternity. For hours , he went around asking for anything, from warmth, to food, to money, but everyone simply just gave him the cold shoulder . As the sun started to set, he walked back to is small cardboard box on the façade of the building, when appeared of nowhere was a slim lady with her coffee in her hands, appeared to be amazed and mortified all at once. She bolted over to Tom as if she just saw the winning lottery ticket on the middle of the sidewalk with no one even noting. She went over, got on one knee to be on the same eye-level, with complete worry, almost like if she had a feeling of sympathy. She simply whispered one question to him “Is there anything you need?”

Tom nodded, seeming that it might be the polite thing to do.

“And what would that be?”

“A-a-a-a bed, and a home, t-t-t-to live in”

The lady stumbled back it complete astonishment as if she had got knocked over by a wrecking ball. She thought about this for a while, trying to soak this in. She put her hand on his shoulder, showing that she cares. “Where are your parents?”

“I d-d-dunno. My daddy died and my mom diss-s-sappeared.

And within an instant her face turned to utter shock and almost as if she was to tear up. Then, she stood up and took Tom by the hand. “You know what, you’re gonna come with me for the night. We’ll get you hot-cocoa, a bed, and a home, at least until we can find your mother.” Within moments, the lady dragged Tom into a cab and Tom would be soon introduced to his new life.

When Tom exited out of the cab, it wasn’t an old bungalow that he was used to live in. This was a mansion. At least, in his eyes it was. This was just an ordinary 2-story house you would find in an ordinary neighborhood in America.

“Here’s your house for the night. Or… until we find your mother or someone who can take care of you.”

“H-H-H-Here? I cannot do this to you. Please, it is okay. All I just need is a bed.”

“Ha! I doubt that. When was the last time you ate?”

Tom suddenly got quiet and looked down in shame. “Last week,” he droned.

The lady immediately choked up and put her hand gently on his shoulder once again and slowly walked from the cab to the house. As soon as they entered the house, there was a tall dark figure waiting, seemed curious and infuriated all at once. “Hello honey. I’m surprised you came so early. I saw the cab so I ran over in case you needed help with any of the groceries.” He looks down to see no grocery bags in her hand, but a little Asian boy looking straight at him who seemed to be more confused than amazed. Almost if he wanted to just wanted to know what was going on for the past few hours. “Um… Beth? Did you know you have a child right next to you? Where are his parents? What if his parents get scared? Do you even know how much trouble we could be in?”

“Chester, it’s okay. Just let me explain. I didn’t do anything wrong, I promise. But you can’t believe where I found him! He was all alo-,” she then realized that the boy was simply on her right listening to this whole conversation. She craned her head to the boy who was gazing at her with complete amazement. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, but, h-h-how do you have a house this big?!? And is it okay with you if I do stay?”

The man realized what Beth was talking about. He pondered for a moment on what he should do. Then, instantaneously, he thought of an idea of what they could do. “Beth, I understand what you mean, let’s get him in and for some hot cocoa.”

An hour later, they dressed him up with some clothes they found in an old closet they forgot they had from a couple years ago. They found some hot cocoa and a couple marshmallows to give to Tom, and sat him on a couch buried in blankets. The furnace flared with red and orange. Even though Tom could tell it was fake, he could feel the heat radiate to him which just Tom love the house more.

Beth just sat right next to him, happy, and deep in thought. Tom looks up and realized that Beth had some sort of feeling about him. Like she had a memory about another kid; a kid who resembled him. “Is something the matter, ma’am?”
“Huh, what? Oh, I’m sorry if I scared you. There isn’t anything wrong. It’s just that, Chester and I had another son, 10 years ago, about your age. We called him Timothy, the name of his grandfather. Everybody loved our little Timothy so much. He had a brilliant mind, was an amazing quarterback, and also the popular kid in school. But most importantly, everyone loved him, just because of his heart. He never cared about himself more than he did to others. He always thought of the kid in another country. I actually remember one time when Timothy had a complete meltdown just wondering about the human-trafficking issue. God gave us the best thing in the world, and life was perfect; but then one day came from a call in school. We usually get these from the teacher saying about the amazing our son was, but not this time. Not at all what I thought, instead, the teacher called me and Chester in for after school meeting. It turned out that, he was bullied in school by the grade above. He never told us anything about it, and none of the teachers noticed either, until one day, his math teacher saw his hand covered in blood. He said that he smacked his hand in his locker, and we believed him. Then another one of the teacher’s in lunch duty saw him in a table by himself, sobbing. The teacher asked one table that was on the other side of the room what was wrong and they either said was that they don’t know him, don’t like him, or don’t care about him.” Beth looked up to the ceiling and tried in many to hold in the tears.
“I’m so sorry. How did you find this out?”
“I found out from speeches, in his funeral. He was very ill, and he had passed away in a matter of days. But months afterward, I found a Ziploc bag in a drawer in his room, filled with m-m-m-m…” She started tearing and her voice became softer until no one could hear her.”
“Do you mean meth?
She nods. “He was bullied so much that it was the only thing that meth made him feel better. I was so shocked that he didn’t even say anything to us. We could’ve helped him but he chose for us not to, and it cost him his life.” She exhaled deeply of relief to have that out of her mind and actually have someone that listens. “But today’s not about him, it’s about you. So what’s your life story?”
Tom breathes in heavily trying to make sure he doesn’t cry. “Okay, only because you confessed. And I’m sorry for your loss, but life moves on, and you weren’t a bad parent. He simply didn’t think of the option. In my opinion, you can’t be a bad parent if you care about him this much.”
“That’s so sweet. You talk pretty mature for your age. But has anything ever happen to you. And how do you know English so well?”
“Oh, ya. Sorry. Well, only six months ago, in what I think is called July here, when it was really hot here, my mother, Ian, and I came from Pakistan. Ian is my little brother, only two years old. My father had passed away a month after I was born. He was a business man who was said to have no heart, until he got shot by a burglar in the middle of the night while protecting my house. Forever afterward, he was and still is the ogre with a heart. He’s not right here right now, but I know he is still up there, watching me, and helping me along the way.”
“Oh. My. G-”
“Sorry to cut you off, but there’s more. My brother Ian sadly died of a disease only found in America. And my mother was the only thing I had dear close to me. However, when Ian died, Mother freaked and she acted much more differently than usual. She started to go to parties and clubs and didn’t come home till after 3 the next morning. Therefore, I couldn’t go to school because I was the only sober person alive in the family. I had to work at Rally’s down the street just to pay off our mortgage. But one day, they fired me because they had to make budget cuts. Crazy enough, Mother took me on a drive to the groceries to work there. However, she said she forgot something, so she dropped me off in the middle of a random street, gave me a 20 dollar bill, and left. That was the last time I ever saw her. I stayed in that same spot waiting and waiting for her day after day, but she never showed up. Then there was the blizzard we had yesterday, and the only thing that ever crossed my mind was that everybody is only worried about themselves, not about anyone else. I hid in a box for hours, then came back out and begged for money from other people, but that never happened. Then, you came and tried to help me out and I guess here we are, but I still have belief, and hope. And for the English, I was in an English teaching school in Pakistan, and picked up on the language really quickly.”
There was a silence in the room and for a while no one said a word.
For a short time, you could hear a pen drop.
In moments , Chester came in the room and tried to talk in the most composed way he could. “Tom, would you like to live with us? I heard about everything that happened in your life from upstairs, and I am so sorry about everything that happened. Believe me, I am. But we can’t send you to an orphanage. What if you get the same results as last time with a family getting tragic accidents like that? I know Beth and I would love to have you as a son, and we would try our best, just to make you happy. And I know Beth never likes me talking about it to other people, but her past is somewhat similar to yours, however the decision is ultimately yours, but I don’t want your life to be ruined one bit.”

“Well… this is a very huge offer, but what if my mom finds me?”

“She is your mother after all, you can stay with her. Just consider us your foster parents,” Beth explained instantly . Chester grinned to know that Beth is not thinking about herself, but for the child’s future.

“Sounds like a deal, but on one condition, can I get more marshmallows in this, mom and dad?”

“Ha-ha! Agreed. Welcome Tom, to the Cruise residence!”

Years afterward , Tom lived with Chester and Beth and went to school to get his education. He managed to live up to the same expectations of Timothy and exceeded past them. He did great in school, even got valedictorian of his high school, and managed to get in Stanford University for Business and received a Master’s degree. The struggle was tough, but whenever in tough times he would always say “pain is temporary, quitting is forever.”

Tom managed to run a company and made millions. However, at least half of the proceeds still went to charity and helped for the funding of education, water, shelter, food, and other life necessities all over the world. And in many interviews, he always said this one quote, “It is within our darkest moments to focus onto the light. Only then, can you be happy, and life will have purpose.” And to this date, Tom has been known for helping others, and never knew what actually happened to his mom. Until…