My “Hard Times” Story

Not everyone is born with the silver spoon in hand, a lot of us are placed in to situations that we had no say in which can make it feel like our whole life is stacked against us before it has even started. My sister and I were apart of the unfortunate I guess you could say. I can’t remember when the last time I wasn’t doing back breaking work. Even as a young child I was working for people who I didn’t even know the names of, but old pops said it was just the way things ran around here. Day in, day out, from dawn to dusk the work never stopped. The worst part is that we never saw anything out of the work we did. It was all taken by pops or the men in white coats would take it straight out of our hands. The only friend I ever had was my sister, always by my side telling me to keep my head up. We never really knew what was out in the big world, it was only in our dreams that we would be able to wake up to the sound of waves crashing on the coast and the smell of fresh crispy bacon. Sis and I would always tell pops about our dreams, fantasies, and goals of getting out of here someday. All he would ever tell us is that dreams is what there are… dreams. We were always told to never get our hopes up and just accept what we have and never ask for anything more, but sis and I were unsatisfied. Both of us knew that we couldn’t stay here forever, this is no place for two kids with dreams as big as ours. My sister came to me one night whispering in my ear saying to be ready to leave by the next night. She wouldn’t answer any of my questions and just reassured me that things were going to get better as she kissed my forehead and tucked me in for bed. The next morning was the same as always, get loaded into a cart with other children that are the same as me and we are taken to some place to do some kind of nasty work. As the day winded down to an end I was slowly getting more and more excited. When I saw my sister when the moon started to rise she told me to grab my things and off we went. I don’t think she knew where we were going but all that mattered is that it wasn’t here. We ran for miles and miles, never stopping just trying to get away from our old life. Eventually we saw the big tall buildings that we hear others talk about. I was given a sense of hope, I saw my life getting better right before my eyes. It may not be imminently better but I knew that hard work and patience can get you very far in this world. Sis and I didn’t have much to offer to this big new world but our working hands but it seemed like that was enough to get us started. There were multiple small business that were looking for some extra help and we were more than happy to help. We would jump from job to job doing what ever was asked of us and the best part was is that we got paid in cash right after our work was done. Before you know it sis and I made quite the name for ourselves. On her eighteenth birthday we were finally able to make so real strides towards success. Since we were already a popular helping hand around the city it was pretty easy to get a hold of sponsors and begin the process of creating out own small business. Through years and years of hard work and experience sis and I were able to make something out of ourselves. We became the very thing that we dreamed of, we were successful, independent, and helping others become what they dreamed of being. The only reason we were able to make it this far is that even if you are born in the most unfortunate of places, you can get yourself anywhere with hard work, dedication, and patience. And remember… dreams do come true, so go out there and chase yours.

-Garrett “A Nobody” Smith