A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

It was a rainy day. My father and mother were selling potatoes at the market. I was standing next to them with my younger brother. We were waiting for customers. Our house was far from the market so we had to walk there every day. That day, it rained very hard and the road was muddy.

I wanted to help my parents but I couldn't because I had to take care of my little brother. He was only five years old and he didn't know how to do anything by himself. My parents always told me that children should learn to do things by themselves. But they never said anything like this to him.

My father was looking for a customer who would buy some potatoes. My mother was cleaning the potatoes. She took off all the dirt from them. They looked really nice after she finished washing them. I saw many people passing by our stall. Some of them stopped and bought potatoes from us. Other people just passed by without even looking at us. I thought they were poor people.

After a while, a man came into our stall. He was old and his hair was white. His clothes were dirty and wet. He asked my father if he could buy some potatoes. My father gave him two big potatoes. The man thanked my father and left. My father told me to clean up the table. I did as he said. Then my father went back to looking for customers.

After a few minutes, another person came into our stall. This time it was a woman. She got wet from the rain. Her face was red from the cold. She also bought two potatoes from us. Buying potatoes by the kilo was expensive for her. She paid one hundred afghanis for those two potatoes. I knew she didn't have enough money to pay for the potatoes. But she had to buy them anyway.

After a while another customer man came into our stall. He was not alone. There was a girl with him. She was wearing a beautiful sweater. She smiled when she saw me. I was surprised to see her smile because I knew that most of the people in my country were very sad. When I smiled back at her, she said hello to me. She was friendly and pretty.The man bought two kilos of potatoes from us. He gave us ten hundred afghanis. I felt happy when I saw him give us that much money. My father and mother were also happy. They both thanked the man for buying potatoes from us.

The man left the stall. My brother started crying. I asked him why he was crying. He told me that he was hungry. My mother told me to go and bring some food for him. I found a shop near us. I bought some bread and milk for my brother. When I brought it to him, he ate the bread and drank the milk. After he finished eating, he fell asleep. I sat down next to him and watched him sleep. I thought he was the cutest boy in the world.

The rain continued to fall. I waited for my parents to finish selling potatoes. But it seemed that no one would come to buy potatoes from us. Rainy days were always bad for business. I decided to sit next to my brother until they finished their work.

After a while, my father came over to where I was sitting. He sat down beside me. It look like he was tired. I asked him if he needed something to drink. He told me that he didn't need anything. He then started talking to me.

He told me that we were lucky to be living in a good place. We were safe here. He told me that there were many other places in Afghanistan where there was war and fighting. People died every day. Children were being killed. They were dying from hunger and disease. I told my father that I knew this. But I still wished that we could live somewhere else.

Then my father asked me what I would do if I lived somewhere else. I told him that I would like to be a doctor. I would treat sick people. My father laughed. He said that it was impossible for someone like me to become a doctor. Doctors were too expensive for poor people.

My father was right. I knew that doctors were very expensive. But I wanted to be a doctor anyway. I was sure that someday I would find a way to become a doctor.

He asked me if I was afraid of death. I told him that I wasn't afraid of death. I knew that God loved me and would protect me. My father was surprised to hear me say these things. He told me that he had never met anyone who talked like this before.

My father asked me if I believed in God. I told him that I did. Then I told him that I hoped that God would help me to become a doctor.

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After a while, my father stood up. He said that it was time for us to go home. He picked up my brother and put him on his shoulders. Then he took me by the hand and walked away. I was happy to be walking with my father.