Sneaking some food to the refugees
Gary, from his small share of the food, gives some of it to the hungriest looking children. He probably ends up giving away about 3/4 of his food, keeping just enough to get a taste and take the fine edge of hunger off.
He thinks to himself.
It probably is a waste of resources. But the distinction between animals and men lies in the heart. When that turns to stone, the humanity is gone. I've seen enough horror this past few years to last ten lifetimes. I'm not going to add starving a bunch of kids to the list. I can't do much, I've only my share of the food, but I'll give it up if that's all I can do.
Hell, Shelly might be waiting at home for me with my son. And I hope to hell someone is feeding them. Or that they're okay. These refugees are pretty much just like every other sad bunch. But that doesn't make them less important or less human - the fact the misery is everywhere just makes it more important to try to do the right thing where you can.
Mind you, it doesn't seem to be a popular sentiment. But most of these others have seen so much war, they seem to have forgotten what they were fighting for in the first place. All that's left for them is the mechanical effort to survive and the bleak greyness of shattered principles. Some of them have become more unto the predator than they'd probably have recognized six or seven years ago.
Sighing, Gary turns in until his watch. He's hungry. He's tired. His wrists are still raw. But he still has his humanity, and he'll be damned if he lets Eastern Europe take that away from him.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 02:37, Mon 31 May 2004.