Hamilton's Destiny

Growing up on the farm, Hamilton felt more like a spectator than a contributor. It seemed everyone had jobs to do. There were eggs to gather, cows to milk, hay to bale, and stalls to clean. Everybody's job was important, that is, everyone's except for poor little Hamilton.

Hamilton had been the smallest of his five brothers and sisters. No one expected great things of him. Even his parents had resigned themselves to Hamilton's mediocrity. It seemed the entire world would forever treat him with blazing indifference.

As day passed into day Hamilton's anxiety grew with thoughts like "I must show them I am somebody! I must show them that I matter."Yet, somehow, he never did seem to matter. That's why Hamilton retreated into flights of fancy. The one place he could be as important as he needed to be was in his own mind. Hamilton would sneak away from his family and sit alone for hours just imagining.

Hamilton ached to know his destiny. He let his imagination take over and create a destiny where he mattered. He imagined a reality where he contributed to the world. Often in his fantasies he was a super-hero, endowed with super strength, super speed, and super intelligence. In his mind he fought off all the villains. In this imaginary world, he was admired by the girls and envied by the boys. There was nothing that Super-Hamilton couldn't do. But, alas, all it took was just one word from his brothers or sisters, to break the spell. "Hey Hammy, day dreaming again?" was all it took for Hamilton to come to the painful realization that nothing had changed; all he was, was painfully ordinary.

One beautiful Fall morning things turned decidedly ugly for Hamilton and his entire family. It was the morning when Hamilton came to realize what his destiny really was. Two men came into Hamilton's home and took his father away. Mom screamed protests, all his brothers and sisters cried. Hamilton's father put up a valiant but fruitless struggle. The two men succeeded in putting Hamilton's father in the back of a truck and driving off.

When Hamilton's mother calmed herself some, she gathered her children close and tried to explain. Hamilton could see the concern in his mother's face. She was obviously hesitating and choosing her words carefully.

"Children"

"Yes mother." They all replied.

"My dear children, I don't know how to tell you this."

"What is it mother?" Cletus, Hamilton's oldest brother, asked.

"You're father's...not...coming...back."

Hamilton looked at Cletus first, hoping that he could shed some light on what this meant. All Hamilton saw was Cletus's legs buckle.

As Hamilton looked on at the rest of his brothers and sisters, one by one they reacted with shock and despair.

With tears in his eyes, Hamilton cried out, "I don't understand! What's going on!?"

Hamilton's mother gathered her six precious children close and whispered one, terrible, frightening word. "Bacon."