Theme: Understanding, friendship

Matthew and Anthony

Matthew and Anthony were friends and had been studying together in the same class for several years. They had already visited each other's house and to birthday parties as well.

But in the last few days, Anthony was different. At break, he didn't want to play and ate his lunch alone. In the classroom, the teacher had been asking him for late homework. He said he was going to do it, but next day he didn´t have done it.

Matthew sometimes listened to other friends complaining about some of Anthony's attitudes. One day, in science class, the teacher asked the students to approach to her desk, to take a closer look at the experiment she was going to do.

They all got up and ran to the front to get a good seat. Matthew, excited, also ran and bumped into Anthony unintentionally.

The boy shouted with a frown:

- Oh, Matthew! Look where you are stepping!

- Sorry! - Said Matthew, sincerely. But, seeing that Anthony was still angry, he replied:

- Gee! You don't need to be like that either. Are you standing there in the middle, and you don't want anyone to touch you?

- If you're in a hurry, then go - said Anthony nervously, pushing Matthew hard.

Matthew fell down on his back in the middle of the room, among the other colleagues, who followed the scene in surprise.

The teacher, after seeing that Matthew had not been hurt, sent Anthony to the coordinator's office and tried to return to her explanations. But Matthew could not pay attention to anything else. He was very angry with Anthony. His mind was only planning what he was going to do to get back at his colleague when he saw him again.

Upon arriving home after school, Matthew went looking for his mother. Very upset, he told her what had happened. He wanted her to go to the school to complain about Anthony and ask him to be banished.

Matthew's mother remained calm. She asked her son to calm down because she needed to talk to him.

- Son, what Anthony did was wrong. He assaulted you and you could even have been hurt.

- Yeah! - Said Matthew, feeling supported. - He's stupid, awful!

- Be calm! - Asked the mother, continuing: - He acted bad, but, like it happens to people, he reacted like this because he must be feeling bad too. I don't know if you know, son, but Anthony's father is sick. He has a serious illness and is undergoing long-term treatment with strong medications. Because of this, he is not working. They had to move to a smaller house to pay for a cheaper rent. And Anthony's mother has been working hard making food to sell. Anthony needs to help his mother to take care of the house and his little brother. He has to wake up very early to take care of everything and walk to school. He hasn't even had time to study or do schoolwork. His mother told me all this when she called me asking me to pray for them. She also said that they have been praying together every day, but even so Anthony sometimes cries, worried about his father's health.

- That's why, son - concluded the mother - although Anthony acted bad, I want you to try to be patient. The teacher has already taken the necessary steps. Ok?

Matthew just nodded, unable to say anything. He never imagined that Anthony could be in that situation.

The next day, at school, Anthony came to Matthew and, ashamed, apologized to him.

- It's all right! - Said Matthew, with a smile.

All of Matthew's anger was gone. His feelings were now understanding and willingness to help his friend.

The boy started praying for Anthony and his family every night, together with his mother.

After a few days, they were very happy, as they heard that Anthony's father was better and that the doctor had said that he would be cured soon.

Next day, at school, Anthony was happy, with a smile on his face. At break time, he played ball with friends. He had fun and received a hug from Matthew when he scored a goal.

And that was how, little by little, the difficulties were overcome and the friendship between the two boys became even greater.

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com