Essay
Blood of the Innocent
As I walk down the rugged road of the countryside in one of my many adventure trips with my parents in the South Pacific. I came across a little girl by the side of the road, struggling to pull a small wagon filled with sweet potatoes. The little seems quiet as she slowly hurdles down the bumpy road with her cargo. It is typical to see children helping their parents in the farm by doing their own share of chores in that area. However, something seems not right with what the little girl is doing. Her wagon, although small still looks three times heavier than her own weight not to mention the loads of potatoes she have on it. The girl stopped for a moment and even from afar I could hear catching her breath. All of a sudden a large woman came running towards the girl and started to yell unfamiliar words, but I understand that whatever the woman is saying is not something to encourage the little girl let alone to help.
Then, from behind the woman pulled out a long and thin stick and started to whip the life out of the little girl. The screams coming out from the little girl is almost unbearable to hear, it is a sight that can only be compared to a dog being whipped by its master. Looking at the little girl trying to tuck her skinny and fragile little limbs under the wagon to get away from the whipping is heart breaking scene. As the whipping stick lands on the little girl’s skin, it leaves lashing wounds and no matter how brown the girl’s skin is, the red-velvet blood from the wound is telling me about the pain that the little girl is going through at that moment. The thought of beating a helpless little girl and actually witness it happening is hair-raising, it brings chills in a sad way that I asked myself of the worst possible thing that the little girl could have done to deserve such punishment. There seems to be no ending to the beating that the little girl is getting, the rush of blood from the wounds she’s sustaining is being carried out by the air for me to smell. I could taste the blood from the little girl’s wounded lips as the whipping stick found its way to her face. It is almost unbearable to watch, but the thought of intervening would not help her either because being from a tourist does not give me the right to intervene with domestic matters.
Later that afternoon, I learned that the little girl was working for the hideous lady; the girl was given to the lady by her parents as collateral for loaned money that they cannot repay. The punishment that I witnessed is for the reason that the little girl has allegedly stolen food supplies from the woman’s store. However, beating a helpless little girl for stealing food for that matter does not give the woman the right to treat the child like an animal. The girl’s service to the woman in exchange for her parent’s debts is the only condition to the trade; dignity should never be a part of the bargain. Besides, people should understand that children are not material wealth that can be traded for whatever purpose; they are human beings and innocent of the sins of their parents. Having said that, the little girl did not deserve the punishment no matter how grave her offences are. A child’s innocent nature should never be tainted with blood because the real wound they would sustain are on the inside and they are much more difficult to heal.
