A Story a Day #21: Lilika Nakos

February 26th, 2020

"Maternity"

Lilika Nakos

A young Armenian refugee, a boy of fourteen, has been tasked with caring for a newborn after their mother dies. They have no food and so the child cries all day and all night long. The people in the refugee village secretly wish the child would die. They boy prays to the Holy Virgin and a woman appears, but the townspeople chase him off after revealing the child saying that it looks like a vampire and a demon. A man from China then approaches the boy and tells him to follow him. He is skeptical but knows he doesn't have anything to lose. He takes him to his modest home where he introduces his wife and her son. At the end, the Chinese wife feeds the baby.

This is a short and largely devastating story. In most of it, the boy is meeting obstacle after obstacle while nobody offers any help. What is interesting is that even his own people, the other Armenian refugees, do not take pity on him but rather exclude him as much as possible. It is only a different kind of immigrant that eventually takes pity on him and decides to offer help.

I think this story is telling because most people assume that those who are like them in race and background will support them. This is not always the case. Especially if you are involved in something that the group doesn't believe in. While you may be inherently suspicious of other groups, especially those that might compete with yours, you may be surprised at the generosity and commonality you may share.