TOO LATE - THE PEN I DIDN'T GIVE - HIVE REACHOUT INITIATIVE #121

For Hive Reachout Prompt 121 - "Too Late"

I don't know if it's our society or the economy, but most of us have this mindset that until we have so much, we cannot help or support anyone. Because of this mindset, many of us fail to show love until it is too late. This prompt reminds me of something that happened in Junior Secondary School.

It was during our end-of-term examination in JSS2. We were all seated in the hall, waiting for the invigilator to share the question papers. It was a very serious exam - Basic Science.

My classmate, a girl sitting two seats away from me, suddenly raised her hand. She told the invigilator she didn't have a pen. Her pen stopped writing. She searched her bag, nothing.

I had a pen in my hand. But it was not a fine pen. The cover was gone, the body was broken, it was just the inner ink tube with a little plastic. It was almost destroyed, only the ink was left. I managed to hold it to write because I had no other choice.

I looked at her, I wanted to give it to her. But then I thought - how can I give her this kind of pen? It is not worth giving. It is shameful. She will laugh at me, people will see I am using a broken pen. I felt what I had was not enough to help.

So I kept quiet.

She asked the invigilator if she could go outside to buy a pen from the school shop. The invigilator allowed her, but told her to be fast.

She ran out. We started the exam.

Five minutes later, she came back, breathing fast, with a new pen. But the invigilator at the door stopped her. He said "You are late. The rule says once exam starts, no student should be outside. You cannot enter again."

She begged, she cried at the door, but they didn't allow her. She missed that exam completely. She had to write it again during resit.

I sat there with my broken pen in my hand, feeling very heavy. I had something that could have saved her, but I thought it was too small, too ugly to give. My shame was more important than her need at that moment.

I felt so guilty. If I had given her that broken pen, even if it was not fine, she would have written her exam. It would have been enough.

That day taught me a big lesson that this prompt is talking about.

We often think we need to have so much before we can help someone......... We wait for the perfect pen, the perfect money, the perfect time.____ But sometimes, the small, broken thing you have is exactly what someone needs to survive.

Love and support is not about having plenty. It's about giving what you have at the moment it is needed.

If I had understood that then, I would have given her the pen without shame. Now it was too late, and I still remember her face at the door.

Don't wait until you have a brand new pen to help. Give the broken one if that is what you have. It might save someone's exam.

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