Tom K. —“The Price of Freedom”

Today, as Tom was wandering around the streets looking for something to eat, he noticed a girl walking around engrossed in reading a book. She was carrying a backpack on her shoulder, which made him think that she was probably on her way to school.

Curious, he quickened his pace until he was beside her.

—“Do you go to school?”
Tom asked, casually breaking the silence.

The girl looked up from her book, somewhat surprised, but replied naturally:

—“Yes, why?”

Tom hesitated for a moment before muttering:

—“Do you know how I could go too?”

Tom had spent his entire life in an orphanage, a place where he was forced to work tirelessly and denied basic things like food and toiletries. To top it off, brutal beatings were a constant routine.

One night, taking advantage of a moment of carelessness, he managed to escape. Without a home or family to take him in in the outside world, he ended up surviving on the streets alongside vagrants and other outcasts.

Although life on the streets was hard, there was one thing Tom wanted very much: to go to school. He had never had the opportunity to learn to read or write, but he dreamed of doing so one day.