Hello, readers of @adsactly
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
_Leave me here, it will be easier to go on without me. The pain is very strong, and I think I have no more blood left. Soon the animals will come, attracted by the blood and the open flesh.
The one who was walking barely heard him. He kept walking with the man on his shoulders. At times his legs failed and he staggered, but then he continued with a steady step as if what he was carrying was a feather, a dry leaf.
The man on top said again:
_Save yourself, brother! If we continue at this rate, we shall die of hunger or penury. We do not leave our country to die by crossing the border. If you leave me here, you will surely be able to reach another country soon, and you will be able to help the others who stayed at home. But if you stay with me, we'll never get there. We'll both die trying.
The one who was walking again said nothing and only remembered the night before. Some criminals had taken everything from them while they were sleeping, they had also beaten their brother when he tried to rescue some things. His brother was very thin and malnourished. The hunger that was plaguing his country had turned him into a living skeleton. So the blows had probably damaged an organ or several. His brother was the oldest in the family. Since the crisis began in his country, he had had to work twice as hard to help his brothers. Many times he stopped eating in order to feed his younger siblings. He would quietly hand out the food without putting a grain of rice on his plate. Once one of the brothers noticed this, he confronted him and told him:
_Eat, brother, you need to feed too. We don't want to feel like we're a burden to you.
The older brother looked at him with a feeling similar to admiration and said:
_I don't need to eat much because I'm older; you need it more than I do because you're growing up. Oh, and you are not a burden to me. You are my brothers, always keep that in mind.
The one who was walking felt that his brother was fainting, so as he could, he stopped, took him down from his shoulders, gave him some water and poured some fresh water on his pale face. His brother opened his eyes and something like a "thank you" escaped his lips. He who was walking took the wounded man in his arms again, and as if he were a rag doll, he lifted him up again and put him on his shoulders.
We do this together, or we don't," he said and continued on his way.
As the night advanced, the one who was walking never stopped. He felt that every minute counted for what he walked without rest. Hanging on to the wounded man's breath and heartbeat, he tried to be silent and every so often his pulse would beat.
As they crossed a barren field that looked like a sea of dry straw and then turned behind a mountain, the walking man watched in the distance, a row of lights. He walked faster while holding tightly to the brother on his shoulders. With each step the lights became more visible, and one could even hear some noises of people, cars, electrical appliances. An expression of joy and relief came over the face of the one who was walking. The steps, now longer and faster, became confused with the beating of hearts. The one who was walking said to the brother he was carrying on his shoulders almost in a whisper: we did it, we did it.
The emotion was so great that those feet were almost flying, as if all the muscles were not tired. The one who was walking looked at the horizon full of hope, oblivious to the silent tears that ran down the face of the wounded man. The journey of the two brothers was just beginning.
I hope you enjoyed the reading and the music. I remind you that you can vote for @adsactly as a witness and join our servant in discord. Until the next smile. ;)
Written by: @nancybriti
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A very good recreation of the phrase that gives the title to the song and its meaning. Its adaptation to the narrated story, possible to occur in any of our countries in serious distress, as is the case of Venezuela, for example, is achieved with narrative and emotional effectiveness. Thanks for your post, @nancybriti.
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Beautiful story. It must have happened more than once; it surely continues hapening in many places. Sacrifices can be at times the only way to live a noble life or end it.
True, not every member of the family deserves the final sacrifice, but in times of hardship and extreme risks, some people show a resiliency worthy of inmortality.
That song is part of my chatarritas folder. A real classic.