Surviving Broken-Hearted Experiences

*When I was 6, a neighborly man said,"Good morning little boy. Are you waiting for a bus? "No sir, I said. We don't have a bus. I'm waiting for my brothers and sisters. Our school is about a mile away, and most times, especially when it's bad weather, daddy takes us to school. When I was 8, a neighborly man said, "Looks like you are headed to school, but I don't see a school". I told him that our school burned down, and now we go to school in a church. A new school is being built a few miles from here. When I was 10, a neighborly man said, "Looks like you are about to help your mother in the garden". No sir, I replied. We do have a garden but I am about to go working all day in the cotton field. It is so hard and hot for everybody to work in the field for so little money. In some places it's against the law to have kids like me working, but not on this farm. When I grow up and finish high school, I'm leaving this place, because there is no good future here for us. I would rather spend my day playing ball or doing simple chores around the house. In this poor community kids only play when there is no work for them to do. When school is out for the summer, we spend all summer working in the fields. While I was still ten going on eleven, a neighborly man stopped me saying, "Hold on a minute young lad, why are you, your friends, and this dog running so fast?" Nearly out of breath, I told him that they just ran us away from playing at that playground over there. And this is my dog Jack. My dad got him for me when I was little. Say hi, Jack. Woof! The fields are wet and we don't have to work today. So we tried to play on the playground that's forbidden to us. When I was 13, my daddy passed away; and a kind neighborly man said to me, "Hey young man, what's wrong? Seems you are real sad about something." I told him that my daddy died a few days ago, leaving mama, grandma, my three brothers, eight sisters, and me. There's no way that things will ever be the same now that daddy is gone. I'm missing my dad a lot. Daddy took care of us real good, but I'm not worried, because even though mama is only 35, she's a very strong lady and will do the very best she can. 10/9/17*Truth based fiction.Contest, Broken-Hearted Poems, BW, 8P