Toothpick Can Kill

It was a Sunday morning.

After the church service, we went shopping in a big supermarket.

I put my wife and daughter down and looked for a parking space. Surprisingly I could find one easily, probably because of the nature of the parking space, which was narrow and rather difficult to park properly.

I went into the supermarket and scouted around for the things I needed while looking for my wife and daughter. While turning a corner, I saw a middle aged man with two active children. The children were rather naughty. The man looked rather impatient with the children. Then I saw him taking out a round and hard toothpick from a shirt pocket and began to poke the children on the hands and feet. I saw the children weeping in pain and began to protest. More poking with the toothpick and then he pinched their ears hard. Then the children begged. Surprisingly there was no screaming and crying aloud from the children.

My heart was cut; I could feel the sharp pains that the children took. Poking children with a round and hard toothpick with very sharp ends! It was hair rising and I had a shiver on my neck and back.

I presumed the man was the father or uncle. I just couldn’t comprehend why he did that.

Look at the innocent children, 3-4 years old… what kind of scars will they bear at such a young age? Is that a good example to follow?

Where was the mother? Would she tolerate it in silence?

I lost my appetite for shopping and wandered off in anger.

It took me quite a while to cool down.

I related the incident to my wife. We shook our heads; it was terrible!

What if he had poked the children on the vital parts of the body?

Did he know that toothpick can kill?