Two Smiles

His smile was full of holes. The adults cooed at the gap-toothed child babbling to himself as he systematically endeavored to soothe his aching gums an assortment of colorful pacifiers. The diminishing smile and the increasing desperation signaled by the rising pitch of the child's wails caused the haggard mum to draw the little one to her lap.

The child soon discovered that knawing on his mother's finger served as a far better solution even as she attempted to tempt him away with a damp cloth she had moistened with cold water. The older matrons laughed; amused at the struggles of the young mother as she battled her stubborn baby. A few of them chortled loudly about the little ones behaviour being karmic justice for her own childhood tantrums.

As the boy settled and the gentle lull of conversation filled the room there was a rickety creak of old wood as a wizened old hand emerged from under knitted blankets to prod at the fire with an aged poker. Sunken eyes looked around at the room as the chair rocked him further and further into sleep. As he took in the cozy setting, the banter between generations and the comradery between the kin, the corners of his mouth turned up, creasing his wrinkled face even further. It was a full smile, a testament of several years but like the child's, his smile too was full of holes.