The Harvest Of Hardship - S01 E20

Story 1 month ago

The Harvest Of Hardship - S01 E20

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 20

The door to the office was very heavy. It was made of thick wood that smelled like the forest after a rain. Tobi pushed it open slowly. He felt like he was walking into a dream. The air inside was very cool. It was the kind of cold that only rich people can afford. The floor was covered with a carpet that was so soft and so thick. It felt like Tobi was walking on a cloud. He looked down at his feet. His shoes were old. They were covered in the red dust of the street. Every step he took left a small dirty mark on the beautiful blue carpet. Tobi felt like a thief. He felt like he did not belong in this place of light and gold.

He did not want to look up. He kept his head down low. He saw the legs of a big desk. The desk was made of dark wood that shone like a mirror. On the desk, there were many things that looked very expensive. There was a silver pen. There was a small clock made of gold. There was a glass of water with ice that looked like diamonds. Tobi’s throat was very dry. He wanted to drink the water, but he was too afraid to ask. He stood in the middle of the room and waited. He was shaking. He was a man who had nothing left but his shame.

The man behind the desk did not say anything at first. There was a long silence. The only sound in the room was the soft humming of the air conditioner.

Then, Tobi heard a chair move. The sound was smooth. The man stood up. Tobi could see the man’s shoes. They were black leather shoes. They were polished so well that Tobi could see his own sad face in them. The man walked around the desk. He came and stood right in front of Tobi.

Tobi felt a shadow fall over him. He felt the power of the person standing there. He slowly lifted his head. He looked past the white shirt. He looked past the silk tie. He looked at the face of the master of the office. Tobi’s heart stopped for a second. His eyes grew wide. His breath caught in his chest.

Seyi? Tobi whispered. The word was very small. It sounded like a dry leaf blowing in the wind.

Seyi stood there. He did not look angry. He did not look like he wanted to fight. He did not have a mean look on his face. He looked calm. He looked like a mountain that has seen many storms. Seyi was tall and strong. His skin was glowing with health. He looked like a king who had finally found his throne.

Seyi did not mock him. He did not point at Tobi’s rags. He did not laugh at the boy who used to call him a servant. Seyi did not use the moment to be cruel. He simply pointed to a large chair made of soft leather.

Sit down, Tobi, Seyi said. His voice was deep and steady. It was a voice that knew how to lead.

Tobi sat down. The chair was so soft that he felt like he was sinking. But he did not feel comfortable. He felt like he was being judged by the walls. He looked at the awards on the wall. He saw the pictures of Seyi with the Senator. He saw the proof of all the hard work Seyi had done. Tobi looked at his own hands. They were soft and weak. They had never done a day of real work in his life.

Suddenly, Tobi could not hold it anymore. The weight of his life was too heavy. The lies he had told himself were gone. He burst into tears. He put his face in his dirty hands and he sobbed. He cried like a baby who had lost his way in the dark. His shoulders shook. He made loud sounds of pain. He was not just crying because he was hungry. He was crying because he finally saw the truth of his life.

I am sorry, Tobi wailed. I am so sorry, Seyi. I am so sorry for everything. I was so mean to you. I treated you like you were nothing. I ate the good food while you were hungry. I wore the new clothes while you were in rags. I called you a servant. But look at me now. I am the one who is a beggar. I am the one who is nothing.

Seyi did not move. He let Tobi cry. He knew that Tobi needed to let the poison out of his heart.

Tobi looked up, his eyes red and wet. My mother ruined me, Seyi. She did it. She thought she was loving me, but she was destroying me. She told me I was a king, so I never learned how to be a man. She did everything for me. She washed my clothes. She did my chores. She even tried to buy my degree. And now, I can't do anything. I don't know how to work. I don't know how to manage a team. I don't even know how to wake up on time. I am a nobody, Seyi. I am a university graduate who is a complete failure. I have a big title on a paper, but I have a small heart.

Seyi walked back to his big chair. He sat down and leaned forward. He put his elbows on the desk. He looked at Tobi with eyes that were full of a very deep wisdom.

You are not a nobody, Tobi, Seyi said. His voice was very quiet now. You are just unformed. You are like a piece of stone that was never touched by a tool.

Tobi stopped crying. He looked at Seyi. What do you mean?

Seyi looked at the window. He looked at the city below. Think of a beautiful statue in a park, Tobi. Before it was a statue, it was just a big, rough rock. It was ugly and it had no shape. But then, a master came with a very sharp knife and a heavy hammer. The master began to hit the rock. He began to cut the rock. The rock was losing pieces of itself. It was being carved with a very sharp knife. If the rock could feel, it would say that the knife was very painful. It would say that the hammer was too heavy. It would beg the master to stop.

Seyi looked back at Tobi. I was that rock, Tobi. Aunt Clara was the one with the knife. She cut me every day. She hit me with her words. She hit me with the heavy work. She made me carry the buckets. She made me stay awake while everyone was sleeping. It hurt so much, Tobi. There were nights when I cried until there were no more tears. I thought my life was a mistake. I thought I was being destroyed.

Seyi touched the silk of his tie. But the knife was not destroying me. It was carving me. It was taking away the parts of me that were weak. It was taking away the parts of me that were lazy. It was making me solid. Every time it hurt, I became stronger. Every time I was hungry, I became smarter. Now, I am a finished statue. I am solid. I can stand in the rain and the sun, and I will not break.

Seyi then pointed at Tobi. But you, Tobi. You were the rock that was kept in a soft box. Aunt Clara did not want you to feel the knife. She did not want you to feel the hammer. She kept you covered in cotton. You never had to change. You never had to lose the rough parts of yourself. And because you were never carved, you have no shape. You are still just a rough, soft rock. You are unformed. The world is trying to use you, but you keep breaking because you are not solid inside.

Tobi lowered his head. He understood. He saw that his easy life was actually his greatest enemy. He saw that Seyi’s hard life was actually his greatest gift. The harvest of hardship was not just about money. It was about who they had become as people.

The silence came back to the room. Tobi felt a little bit of hope. Maybe it is not too late, he thought. Maybe I can still be carved. Maybe I can still learn how to be strong.

Seyi reached into a drawer in his desk. He pulled out a piece of paper. The paper was very white and very clean. He took his silver pen and he wrote something on it. He moved the paper across the desk. It slid slowly over the smooth wood until it stopped right in front of Tobi.

This is a job offer, Tobi, Seyi said.

Tobi’s eyes lit up. A job? He thought about a desk. He thought about a computer. He thought about a salary that would buy rice and meat for his mother. He thought about telling Aunt Clara that he was finally a manager. He reached for the paper with shaking hands.

But before you pick it up, Seyi said, you must understand something. I am not giving you this job because you are my cousin. I am giving it to you because everyone deserves a chance to be carved. But the carving will be very painful. You will not have a big office. You will not have a fancy chair. You will not tell anyone what to do.

Tobi looked at the paper. He read the words at the top. His heart sank. The paper said the job was for a janitor.

A janitor? Tobi whispered. He looked at Seyi in shock. You want me to be a janitor? You want a university graduate to mop the floors and clean the toilets?

Seyi nodded his head. Yes. You missed the lessons of the village, Tobi. You missed the lessons of the small house. You tried to start at the top, but you do not have the foundation to stand there. You need to learn how to work from the ground up. You need to feel the mop in your hands. You need to feel the sweat on your brow. You need to learn how to be on time, even if you are only cleaning a hallway.

Seyi stood up. He walked to the window and looked out at the city. If you take this job, I will watch you. If you are late, I will fire you. If you are lazy, I will send you back to the slum. I will be the master with the knife now, Tobi. I will carve you until you are solid. Or I will let you stay as a rough rock forever. The choice is yours.

Tobi looked at the paper. Then he looked at his dirty hands. Then he looked at Seyi’s strong back. He thought about Aunt Clara waiting in the dark room with no food. He thought about the pride that had ruined his life.

If he took the job, everyone would laugh at him. They would see the "king" cleaning the floors. But if he did not take the job, he would die as a nobody.

Tobi reached for the pen. His hand was shaking so much that he almost dropped it. He looked at the paper one more time. The word "Janitor" looked like a mountain he had to climb.

Will Tobi sign the paper? Will he accept the life of a servant to become a man? Or will his pride make him walk back out into the hot sun with nothing?

The story was reaching its most dangerous moment. The harvest was here, but the work was only just beginning.

Seyi said that hardship is like a "sharp knife" that carves a person. Do you think this is a good way to describe life?

Tobi blamed his mother for his failure. Is it fair to blame our parents for how we turn out, or is it our own fault?

If you were Tobi, would you accept the job of a janitor after going to the university for four years?

Why did Seyi offer him a janitor job instead of a manager job? Was he being mean or was he being helpful?

What do you think Aunt Clara will do when she hears that her "prince" is now a janitor for the boy she used to mistreat?

The Knife of Truth!

Seyi has given Tobi the most difficult choice of his life! The table has turned completely! To save his life, the graduate must become the servant. The prince must become the pauper! Will Tobi swallow his pride and pick up the mop? Or will he choose to stay a failure? The lesson of "The Harvest Of Hardship" is getting deeper and more painful!