School

" What about this lad, is he going to study, or not? " The Grandfather asked.

The nearest elementary school was approximately three kilometers away. It was the same school that the father had studied up to the 4th grade, only.

In the first day, the boy and the mother went to school together and she taught him well the way, so he could go to school by himself. As they arrived there, they waited in the teacher's room until she had finished explained the Portuguese lesson to the class.

" Can he read something, mom? "

" Still not, but he's a fast mind "

And that was really the case. The boy was agile of mind, interested and easy to relate to. Pretty soon, he was leading the colleagues to the games at lunch break, and going very well in Mathematics. He became the favorite student of the teacher, Mrs. Woetoo.

The grandfather was always teasing him:

" "Woe to" you if you don't do your homework… "

That was the only thing he didn't liked about school, homework. The world seemed to call him outside, and he couldn't wait to finish those unending minutes spent on the handwriting exercise books. But, the grandfather was always right... "Woe To"…

Jeaulosy

Every day, before dawn, the jeep was loaded of braids full of milk, ready for the deliveries of routine. The oldest son always did them together with his father, but in that morning something strange happened. The boy woke up frightened, with a ray of sun threatening in the gap of the bedroom's window. At once, he got up and ran in search of the father.

" Mom... Where is dad? "

" Morning dear, he is going out just now. Can you listen to the gear noise? "

" Did he forget me? "

" No dear. Today he is going to take your brother with him. From now on you two will share the visits to the city with your father. "

The boy got furious. Without a word, he went out, still in his pajamas, chasing the Jeep for the road out. The dust was preventing the father from seeing the boy running after them. And the boy ran, ran and ran up to getting out of breath. Then, he sat in the bank of the road, his face dirty of dust and tears.

He decided to keep on walking up to the city, with serious intentions of ever returning home, again.

The mother was driven to despair when she realized that her son was not appearing. She only realized how much they had hurt him when she first saw his eyes of fury, just before he disappeared. And now, what she might do?

She ran to the backyard and borrow her father-in-law's chart. It took almost half an hour for her to bridle the horse and to leave in search of the runaway.

She found her husband and youngest son in the city, already in the last delivery of the day. They prepared a strategy to find their lost son. But, they did not obtain success. 


They had already gone through the small city several times, and had no signal of the boy. The afternoon was falling and they needed to return to the ranch.

In the way back, she was crying out to God to take care of their boy. Her eyes were already swollen, of so much crying.

At the ranch, they hurried up for their small house, but it was empty. They stood there distressed, when the grandfather arrived hand in hand with the crest-fallen boy, since he had already listened to a hard sermon!

Oh ... they celebrated! So many embraces, kisses, laughters, exclamations! The boy found it weird, because he was waiting for a severe discipline. 


Instead, his parents talked to him, and reaffirmed the immense value he had. The boy opened a wide smile and hugged them. Then, he gladly called his brother to play with him.

Curiosity

The third son was born fat, brunet and, in the first days, hoarse of so much crying. He was a handsome boy, and the oldest brother enjoyed when he smiled at him.

The time went by fast, on account of life's rush. Now they had more than two young cows, a loyal group of customers and an old jeep to make it easier the milk delivery business.

The boys already played together in the backyard and very often imagined themselves as explorers. 


In one of their adventures, they entered a small forest nearby the ranch in search of a waterfall. In the way, they crossed a narrow and rustic bridge over a crystal clear brook. The younger couldn't resist to the curiosity and bent over to take a better look at a trout that was swimming around there. Suddenly, His feet skidded in the moss on the old trunk that was improvising the narrow bridge, and he finished hung by the pants at one of the branches, crying for help. The oldest brother was terrified when he saw him and ran in stampede in search of help. Luckily, he bumped at his Grandpa that was returning from a fishery.

" Hurry, Grandpa! My brother is hung on the bridge! He is going to fall! " Cried the boy.

When they arrived, the grandfather grabbed the younger's arm and, in a single and quick movement, raised him up. 


The old man hugged his grandson so strongly that he almost suffocated him. Then, he gave the two boys a long sermon, teaching them to avoid going around there just by themselves. And that's why they never found out if there was really a waterfall in that forest.

Renew

'Crippled' was calm, weird when walked, but it was producing a lot of milk. It was milked three times a day and the production of butter and cheese was so high that they had to distribute them to the neighbors nearby the ranch. Soon, their products gained fame and started to be marketed in the city, under order. With the income, they could buy another cow, some braids and began a small business of milk delivery at home.

Their life began to improve, but she still had not glow in her eyes. It has gone already two years since the death of her baby and the husband has still seen her beside the bed every morning, on her knees and with tears on her face.

It's right when they say that the mourning lasts long…

In that morning, however, he notice a change on the ambience... She had woken up earlier than usual and she had already milked the 'Crippled' and the other cow. There was a good smell of fresh coffee in the kitchen and she was leaned in the armchair in a calm sleep. To her side the Bible was opened in the prophet Isaiah:

" Forget what went away, do not live in the past. See, I am doing a new thing! It is already appearing! Don't you recognize it? Even in the desert I am going to open a way, and brooks in the wilderness. "

Loss

From the ranch to the nearest small city they would take an hour on foot on dusty ground. Luckily, the Grandfather had a cart and they used it to reach the hospital on time.

The baby came too early and was born very small. The doctor secured them, however, that the baby could go home in two days, together with the mother. He was another boy.

The oldest child, not too skinny anymore, was surprised at the little one, principally at his weak crying. He was so small, there in the middle of the cradle, and he seemed to breathe panting. From time to time he got his little brother smiling, and he asked himself why.

In a particularly long and frozen night, the baby was reluctant to sleep. His tiny hands and feet remained frozen, even rolled up with the knitting gloves and shoes she had made. She was hugging and rubbing him trying to heat him, in vain. The baby was breathing accelerated, more and more panting, and sometimes launching a sharp sound of his chest. He dawned without life, in the sad lap of his mother.

In her heart was opened a great gap, which never would stop existing. Not even time, friend of the sufferers, could prevent her from always reliving the pain of that loss.

Hope

Those were difficult times. Although he was plowing the land, he managed to have only the sufficient for their survival. Her belly had advantaged more quickly than the first time. This was causing her an uncommon discomfort as she climbed the hill with the lunch-box of her husband.

She had more chores to do now, and there was not allowed rest until everything was carried out. Luckily her son enjoyed playing all day long in the back yard, climbing trees, chasing the hens, and collecting beetles.

The Grandfather loved that thin boy and knew that something had to be done for him, principally.

In the end of the afternoon, the husband arrives at home with that strong smell of sweat and does not find his son and wife in the kitchen. However, the table was set.

He heard a certain distress on the outside. The sound was coming from his old Father's back yard. There were screams and laughters.

Suddenly, his son enters at home and catches his hand. He was panting.

" Come here, Father. Come to see a thing! Run! "

He could not believe his eyes... A cow tied to the branch of a tree. (The old father was not very good at showing his feelings and was not even there, at that moment). The cow was chewing, shaking the bugs with the tail, and had a strange walk.

Now, they might have milk, butter, cheese... His eyes were getting wet, when he noticed his son running again in his direction.

" Granpa gave her to us, father! And I already named our cow 'Crippled'! "

Start

She had not very high demands when they got married. In fact, none.

Only after their first son was born, they could have a cottage of one bedroom in a piece of land of her Father-in-Law's small farm.

Since the beginning, she understood that her duty was turning their small house into home. Even when they had only a broth of corn as a meal at the end of the afternoon, she was not careless in the flavoring, in the environment, transforming the enamel plate with soup in a banquet of the gods.

Their thin boy was running around the small table, playing with a trolley that the Grandfather had done with slough of corn. She was happier than usual in that night, and he realized it.

" We are going to have another baby " She told him, after a kiss.

At that time they believed that a child is always a reward from God. So, that night ended in party.