Chapter 22: The Boy at the Park

When Emuna and her friends ran after the boy, the boy just sat there with his head down, putting his hands together. Emuna frowned at him while she and her friends dashed towards him. Then she looked up at the sky.

-Dear Lord, please help us cheer that boy up from his anxieties of his father in the hospital. My friends and I can't do this alone and without You on our side. In Yeshua's name, Amen.

Once they got to the boy, he didn't even bother to look at Emuna and her friends. They panted with their hands on their knees for a while. Then Emuna sat next to the boy and placed her hand onto his shoulder.

"Huh?" The boy jumped and was finally looking up at Emuna and her friends. "Emuna? Lazarus? Zaboulon? Yudia? What are you guys doin' here?"

"We were walkin' 'round the park together for a while until we found you here," Emuna said. "Are you okay? You not only haven't noticed us, you also didn't even look at us nor move a muscle."

"Yea, we were really worried 'bout ya, broh," Emuna's friends agreed.

"Yea, I'm fine, I guess," the boy answered, putting his head back down towards the ground. "I was jus' worried 'bout my dad in the hospital, since I haven't heard anythin' from him as of late."

Emuna sighed and frowned, turned to her friends first, then she turned her head back to the boy. "It's alright. You're not the only one who thinks this. We haven't heard anythin' from your dad either. My grandparents tried to contact your dad's hospital for a visit and…that hospital turned us down."

"Yea, bruh. We're so sorry 'bout your father," Lazarus agreed.

"Yea, man," Zaboulon and Yudia also agreed.

"Oh, it's alright, you guys," the boy said without even looking at Emuna and her friends. He sniffed his nose and his tears came out of his eyes.

Emuna patted the boy's back a couple times, then rubbing on it while she watched him wiped the tears off of his eyes. "It's alright. It's alright. It's alright."

Her friends looked at each other with their sad faces before they gave Emuna and the boy a group hug. After that they broke up the hug and walked back away from Emuna and the boy a little bit. Emuna kept looking at him with her smile remained upside down.

-Man, I felt so bad for him. Not havin' his dad physically on his side at the moment. I could imagine how his mother felt. Jus' awful.

"Hey…" Emuna calmly said.

"Huh?" The boy sniffed his nose and curiously turned to Emuna.

"Do you wanna walk with us jus' to help ya get over it at least for a while?"

"Sure," the boy replied, shaking his head. "I don't see why not though. It's a good thing to get this shit outta my head a bit "

"Mhn..." Emuna closed her eyes and grinned at the boy. "Great!" Then she stood up from the bench. "Let's get goin' then! I can't wait to get goin' then. I don't wanna sit in this bench any longer, y'know."

"Mhn," the boy agreed as he also stood up from the bench and sniffed his nose.

Emuna's friends just stood there and smiled at the boy as they, Emuna and the boy began to walk around the park.

"So…" Emuna continued when she looked down at the boy. "How's your family goin'?"

"My family's doin' good, especially my mom," the boy answered without even looking at Emuna. "Even though she was horrified 'bout my dad's situation at the hospital recently."

"Ah, I see…Well, at least she's doin' alright though."

"Yea…"

After walkimg around the park for a while, and once Emuna, her friends and the boy got tired of walking around the park, the boy's eyes investigated his surroundings until they spotted an ice cream cart arriving at the park, serving ice cream to his customers near him. The ice cream interested him, so he turned to Emuna and her friends and said, "Uh, hey guys."

Emuna and her friends responded to the boy's calling out of curiosity.

"Hm?" Emuna asked as she tilted her head sideways a bit.

"Can we go get some ice cream over there?" The boy pointed his finger at the ice cream cart.

Seeing what the boy was pointing at, Emuna and her friends gazed at that cart for a brief moment. Then Emuna returned her attention to the boy, closed her eyes and grinned at him. "Sure thing, broh." She turned to her friends. "What do y'all say?"

"Oh, yea! We're so in!" Her friends responded with their eyes closed and a grin on their faces.

She happily turned to the boy. "Alrighty then. Let's go get some ice cream!"

"Mhn!" The boy shook his head before he headed his way for the ice cream cart with Emuna and her friends.

As soon as they arrived there, the man serving the ice cream turned to Emuna, the boy and her friends. He smiled at them with his eyes closed. His blond hair lustered from the sunlight poking through a few clouds.

"Hi there!" The man exclaimed. "How do I get you guys today?"

"Hi!" Emuna, the boy and her friends replied as they looked at the main menu paper.

After they examined it as well as ordered and paid for their ice cream, they took a look around while they ate their ice cream.

"Have a nice day and take care!" The man said, waving at Emuna, the boy and her friends with his eyes closed and a smile.

"You too!" They shouted, waving at the man with their smiles. Then they went back to look around for a while.

-Okay, where can we find a place to sit at?

Then Emuna's eyes spotted a couple benches sitting near the pond area. The wind moved the tall grass backwards, and a couple of ducks quacked with one another and stood near the pond, while several others swam in it. The water waves moved right slowly.

-There!

Emuna turned to the boy and her friends. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, what?" They said when they turned to Emuna.

"I think I found a place to sit down." Emuna pointed her red, plastic spoon at those benches, when she turned to those benches and her friends back and forth a couple times.

After her friends examined what Emuna was pointing her finger at, they turned back to her. "Yea! Great idea, Emuna!"

"Mhn," Emuna said, shaking her head with her eyes closed and a grin.

Emuna and her friends sat at the benches and continued eating their ice cream. They watched and enjoyed the beauty of the public pond. People constantly chatted with one another while they still walked around in all sorts of directions. Emuna was amazed watching Elohim's beautiful creation.

-Wow, it's nice to see how beautiful Elohim's creation really is. Such a beauty. I haven't seen such beauty in such a really long time. It's nice to be here once in a while, seeing Elohim's beautiful creation like this. It's such a wonder, y'know.

Hearing footsteps heading for the pond, Emuna turned left and saw the woman with short brown hair taking her two children towards the pond. The woman was carrying bread in her hand. She watched the children jump up and down a couple times.

"Mommy, mommy!" The little girl with two ponytails said. "Can I feed the ducks please?"

"Yea," the boy near the woman with bread. "I wanna feed the ducks too!"

"Well, hold on now, children, and be patient now," the woman responded when she opened the bread.

"Yes, ma'am," the children responded.

Emuna chuckled a little bit while she continued to eat her vanilla ice cream.

-Such lovely children, aren't they?

After the woman gave her children a couple of pieces of bread each, the children slowly walked towards the duck and threw little pieces of bread near the ducks. The several other ducks swam towards the shore for the bread. The children fed those ducks too. Emuna smiled even more when she watched the children feed the ducks with bread.

-I wish I had some bread with me. I haven't fed the ducks in a very, very long time.

After she and her friends ate their ice cream and threw their trash in the trash can, Emuna's phone rang in her pocket. She pulled out her phone and found out her grandmother was calling her.

-Huh?! Grandma's callin' me. I wonder what she's callin' me for?

After she chatted with her grandma on the phone and placed it back into her pocket, she turned to her friends. "My grandma called me and told me that the hospital will allow us to visit the father in the hospital tomorrow." Her friends gasped when they heard that.

"Do you really mean that, Emuna?" The boy asked.

"Uh-huh," Emuna replied, shaking her head with her eyes closed and a smile. "I'm sure of it."

"Alright!" Her friends exclaimed, especially the boy. He was very excited to visit his father now that his father was now stabilized in the hospital. Then Emuna and her friends went home and prepared themselves for another hospital visit.