“Father, I am hungry!” His widened eyes showing his childlike innocence to the person who he called father.
“Bu, my good son. Please stave your hunger okay?! We will have something to eat soon!” Said that man with a firm and resolute face.
“Um!” He nodded to appear to understand, but he really didn't understand anything at all.
After a while, he said again "Father, I am hungry!"
“Bu, my son, sleep. If you sleep, you will not feel hungry!” That man is helpless now. He wouldn't be afraid when confronted with ten thousand men, he can take their heads easily. But when faced with his impoverished family, he felt utterly helpless.
“But father, I am still hungry!” He blinked his eyes. The intense sense of hunger urged him to call his father again and again. He has a mother, but his father said that his mother was very tired and fell asleep.
“Bu, my son. You wait for your father to seek food!” the famished man, drew up his body to pick up the dusty long bow from his room.
That evening, the man came back, his eyes devoid of any hope, his face very tired, and his hand completely empty. There are no trees or grass nearby, how he can expect to bring back prey with his longbow?
But at that time, the boy did not understand anything. He only knew that each time his father brings his long bow, he surely will bring something delicious, and therefore he opened his hands and shouted “Father, I am hungry!!! Let's eat!”
That innocent face made that famished man's complexion very dim, his tears started to flow “I am sorry, Bu, my son, I am sorry, father is useless, I cannot bring food for you!”
“Father!” Although he is still small, he is very sensible. He knows that this man that he called father has made an effort even though the result ended in failure. Then he said “Father, Bu is not hungry, Bu wants to sleep!” Then he closed his eyes, slowly the world around him lost its color and became dim.
While his consciousness was slipping in and out, he thought he heard two people's voices. One of them has a very sweet and warm sound...
“Bu, my son, come here, come here!”
“Dear mother!” In his hazy state, he heard his mother's voice.
“Bu, my good son, mother is here!”
“Mother, I am hungry!” even though it had been a long time since he last saw his mother, he said his thoughts without hesitation.
“Bu, my son, come to mother, Bu will not feel hungry! Come, Bu, my son!” That gentle voice beckons him.
Suddenly he heard another sound, a hoarse and anxious voice... “Bu, my son, wake up, please wake up! You cannot fall asleep. Please, stay strong!” This is his father's voice.
“Mother, will Bu not be hungry there?!” He asked her while tilting his head full of doubts.
“Yes, come to mother now. Bu, my son, you will not feel hungry anymore! Come here Bu, my son!” That gentle sound beckoning him again.
“But, what about father?!” He hesitated.
“Your father, sooner or later will join us, we will both go first and wait for him!”
“Oh!” his small head did not understand what his mother meant, but he did not want to be hungry anymore. Being hungry is sad and very uncomfortable.
“Bu, my son. You wake up, wake up!!!” That man worried insanely because his son's body become colder and colder. His breath and palpitation slowly stopping. He knows that this is not a sickness, this is hunger! This is how hunger works, as long as he has food to eat, his son can survive.