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Sometimes it is very
difficult for me to write something that will allow the readers of my
stories to comprehend a certain point that I am trying to make. I hope this
short story makes a very important point to parents.
I know there are many children who have been sent to their room as a form of
punishment. Generally, it takes but a short time for the feeling of boredom
to set in. It may not be that their room is actually boring, but the fact
that they are subjected into a state of forced incarceration really enhances
the feeling of being bound and confined. That is the feeling that I, and the
other children, lived with for many years while living at the Children’s
Home Society Orphanage, in Jacksonville, Florida.
Everyday it was the same routine. There was no variation, whatsoever. This
occurred day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after
year, for fourteen years. One must remember there were no computers, radios,
watches, CDs, DVDs, record players, music, games, dolls, sports equipment,
no toys, whatsoever. There was absolutely nothing for us children to do
except work, eat, and sleep. Had there been anything donated to the
orphanage—we orphan kids certainly would not have been allowed to have it.
There was a large, steel monkey bar, and a swing set which had two broken
swings. There was also a tether ball pole, with no rope or ball and a
basketball court, but there was no basketball. The only toys we had were two
broken roller skates and a piece of old board. The board would be placed
atop one roller skate and another boy would sit down on the board and ride
while one boy pushed him around the cement court.
I remember one special day in particular. I had just eaten breakfast and was
heading back to the dormitory when I saw a large bug flying directly at me.
It hit me in the forehead and fell to the ground. I had never seen a bug
like this in my entire life. It was absolutely beautiful. I immediately
jumped to my knees and began to closely examine it. As I looked toward
heaven, with tears in my eyes, I remember mumbling “Thank you, thank you,
thank you so very much, dear God for sending this here bug to me.”
Why was this bug so
important? It was important because something wonderful had come into my
life which gave my little brain something new and different to think about.
That is how terrible life was living in an orphanage.
It was that incident that made me write the following:
“When a child has nothing a little bit means everything, but when a child
has everything a little bit means nothing.”
Roger Dean Kiser, Author
As the orphan children grew
up many went to prison while others became drug addicts or alcoholics. One
girl finally made the big time by becoming a porn star, and several of the
girls committed suicide. I guess there just weren’t enough bugs in the world
to save all the kids.
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