The children glanced back
at the robot chasing them down the bay.
They had wrenched the boat off the dock
and paddled furiously away.
The custard they stole
covered their lips as the boat swayed.

It had started earlier that day.
Their stomachs growled empty of food.
Their mother was missing;
they hadn’t seen her since 2 days ago before school.
They quibbled about what to do,
with stomachs protesting loudly too.

And that’s when they came upon
the custard shop its windows aglow
with mounds of flavored custard abound.
Both mouths watered at what they found.
Any flavor would do to drown out their stomachs awful sound.
Their tiny tummies asking for one ounce;

they had gone so many days without.
So at the right opportunity they pounced,
even though the penalty was death if caught.
They forgot about the robot in the corner like a mouse.
It screeched & beeped at them; the louse.
They scattered, tripped and tumbled out.

If only they weren’t enraptured
with the bright display,
now they were trying to avoid capture
down by the bay.
So they looked backward
paddling faster and faster.

Waves rolled & water plastered.
Their clothes were soaked
shivering they prayed to the Master
to safely guide & give them safe harbor.
Still the waves rose higher & higher
until nothing else around them mattered.

Bright shines the sun, they awake from their slumber.
They are washed on a warm distant shore
people gather & stare at their bodies starved from hunger.
The sea is dangerous; how did they survive they wonder.
Heaven must have had their number
to have gotten through the sea and conquered.

But what to do with them, the people contemplate.
To send them back would seal their fate.
They come together discuss and debate.
They come up with a plan and pass a plate,
collecting money to buy them a place
they brought them food; the children ate.

The community stepped up and saved
two children who needed them that day.
From then on they lived in happiness;
a part of a family who saved them through humbleness.
Their near capture only a memory in time
because of kind people who put love ahead of their pride.