The Father Returned From the Army and Found His Daughter Sleeping in a Pigpen. No One Expected His Reactionβ¦
The man had just crossed the gate when he heard his daughterβs cries coming from the pigsty behind the house.
The scene before his eyes was so devastating that even a soldier hardened by war had to stand still.
But it was the way he handled the situation that made the entire town change the way they saw things.
One can travel hundreds of miles, cross deserts and mountains, but sometimes the distance between two people is nothing more than a letter that never reached its destination.
TomΓ‘s Herrera sat silently by the bus window, his hands in the same position since the vehicle had left the northern terminal.
On his lap rested a dusty, earth-colored backpack β worn, yet neatly packed.
His palm was slightly damp, not from sweat, but from the worn paper he held. The once-blue ink had faded into blurry lines, like chalk smudged on stone.
It was the letter he had just read for the third time since leaving the barracks, and as always, the ending dried his throat.
“Papa, today I didnβt have breakfast. Mama Miriam said there arenβt any eggs left in the house, but I saw the woman who sells them passing by. I didnβt ask anything, because if I ask, they send me outside to the yard. Iβm telling you so that when you come back, you knock at the back door, because the front one is locked.”
The handwriting was shaky, leaning to the left.
Each word carried the clumsy effort of a childβs hand β still unsteady, but full of determination.
Alma wrote as if she feared someone might tear the letter apart, or worse, that no one would ever read it.
TomΓ‘s lowered his head and turned to the next page.
Each letter showed signs of having been opened.
Some were slightly torn at the edges, as if someone had hesitated before deciding not to send them.
One bore stains that looked like rain, but TomΓ‘s knew well there had been no storm inside a sealed envelope.
The bus driver, a man with graying hair, a wrinkled face, thin yet agile, suddenly broke the silence:
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