The Boy Who Paid in Drawings
絵で支払う少年
A small boy began appearing at the bakery each afternoon, his pockets always empty.
Martha noticed him watching the pastries through the glass, his breath fogging the window.
She could see that he was hungry, though he never once asked for anything.
One day she saw him , then hold out a folded piece of paper.
On it he had drawn the bakery, its windows glowing with careful yellow crayon.
"I don't have money," he admitted, "but I thought you might like this."
Martha felt her heart as she looked at the small, drawing.
She told him that the picture was worth far more than any coin.
Handing him a warm roll, she watched his whole face light up.
From then on, he paid in drawings, and she paid in bread.
She learned that his name was Sam and that his mother worked two jobs.
He explained that his father had left before he was old enough to remember.
Martha understood at once that the boy was lonelier than he let on.
Each drawing he brought was more than the last.
He drew the loaves, the old ovens, and Martha herself in her flour-dusted .
She pinned every picture to the wall behind the counter, like small windows of joy.
Customers noticed them and asked who the young artist could be.
Watching Sam grow more , Martha felt something she had almost forgotten.
She realised that the bakery had given her again.
On cold days she would slip an extra bun into his bag when he wasn't looking.
He always noticed, and he always drew her something in return.
One afternoon he told her that he wanted to be a baker when he grew up.
Martha laughed, saying that the world would be lucky to have him.
But she could that his family's troubles were quietly deepening.
His drawings, once full of sunshine, had begun to show grey and empty skies.
Martha wondered what was happening at home, and whether she could help at all.