Happiness, Unbounded...

Based on a pleasant true incident...

Two kids...tousled hair, soiled faces...a boy about 3 years or so old, the other, a little girl, who must have just learned to walk as she just managed to take only a few steps before falling down on all four, crawling. She could barely speak except for a soft yet loud shriek every now and then, as she tried to keep up with her nimble footed brother. The filthy rags covering their bodies could hardly be described as clothes, but that seemed to bother me so much more than it bothered them. It took me a moment to realize that the sound that had caught my attention, was in fact laughter as both brother and sister reveled under the hot sun, barefooted on the dusty pavement. Nearby, watchful, sat their parents over a make shift shop of plastic ware and knick knacks they were peddling on the floor. Like the children, their clothes were just about enough to protect their dignity. The mother seemed to have forgotten all her obvious woes and worries. Her eyes gleamed with pure joy as they followed every movement of both children, in that moment, she seemed to be the most content women on earth. Their father had a tired, faint smile on his face. I think he was brooding about his helplessness for not being to able to give his children a better life. The kids meanwhile continued their laughter filled play. They chased around what seemed to be a colourful round ball made out of pieces of rags sown together, which I am sure their mother had put together and an almost deflated orange balloon that was surely discarded by some child who had better choices for toys. To both of them, these two so very trivial items seemed as their most prized possession. With dirt covered faces and tiny bare feet, that would surely have been burning from the heat of the midday sun that glowed ever so bright on the concrete footpath, the children continued to fumble around for their playthings...continued to laugh as hard and as pure as they could. Even through the severity of their situation, the hunger, the poverty, which I know was too much for them to fathom at their age, they seemed to be so unworried , so HAPPY in the actual sense of the word. The kind of happiness each one of us spends every ounce of our energy pursuing, day by day, seemed to just free fall from the heavens for them. I looked around, and like me everyone that passed by, couldn't help but stop and stare at this innocent sight with smiles on their faces and I am sure, just like me, a little jealousy in their hearts as they witnessed happiness in it's simplest and purest form, carefree, unfettered...unbounded.