Light spilled in through a window, warming a tiny shack in a small village in the heart of Honduras.  The gentle heat awakened Miguel with a sense of security.  He basked in the light until the urgent manner of the day ahead hit him and he immediately snapped awake and his body jolted upright.  Getting up with all speed, Miguel must hurry to make the first truckload of workers.  It was essential to make as much money as possible.  Miguel pulled on the same, old work clothes he wore everyday and rushed out the door, leaving his mother and sister Rosa in a peaceful slumber.
He began to walk the mile to the worker load area, where his long, grueling day of work begins.  The hot, dusty road began to take its toll on his body, and drops of sweat began to appear on his forehead.  Upon arriving at the destination, Miguel hopped onto the back of a pick up truck along with other members of his village.  The majority of the workers were middle-aged men, but also included some teenagers like himself.  Miguel was one of thirty people crammed into one truck, as it bumped along the uneven road.  He looked out into the everlasting fields and saw the desperation of countless workers.
How do they survive this work everyday?  What keeps them going?  Why do they take all the bad treatment and not rebel?  Those faces are similar to what I feel everyday.  Why do I tolerate all of this work and unfair wages?  The questions hit Miguel deep and he began to craft a plan.
After Miguel was dropped off at the field, he heard a booming voice, “Alright boys, get straight to work!  I don’t pay you for sitting around!”  The work supervisor barked at the laborers frequently and he still underpaid them.  Miguel saw his chance and spoke up with courage he didn’t even know he possessed, “Jose!  Quit harping on us all the time!  You don’t even give us a fair pay, you fat pig!”
“Hey, who do you think you are?  You are no more than a dog and yet you dare to challenge me!  You are worth nothing more than dirt and you will never be any more!”  The insults were like bullets digging deep into Miguel’s flesh, ripping apart any hope he held.  “Just for that, you’ll do double the work today for the same pay!”
Miguel drooped his head and carried his languid body back to the sugar cane field.  He had to labor everyday from sunup till sundown to support his family.  He had learned to deal with the pain and persevere and constantly had to remind himself of his inspiration, Rosa and his mother.
After ten gruesome hours under the dreadful sun, Miguel rode back into his village.  He came within sight of his shack amidst a garbage heap and heard a shrill scream.  The air rang with his mother’s plea, “Help!  Somebody help!  Miguel!  Come quick!  Miguel!”  He immediately recognized the voice and sensed the urgency.  Racing across the dump, he reached his house, only to find his sister’s frail body in his mother’s arms, limp like a rag doll.
Miguel could see the fresh wound on his sister’s leg.  The crushed scorpion on the floor meant that she suffered from a scorpion sting and passed out from the trauma.
“Rosa…” his voice rang into the empty silence.  The hopelessness in his words matched the emotions he had felt his entire life.  He froze in a state of utter confusion and alarm.  His body refused to move and his heart pounded faster and faster.  His mind raced wildly and his palms became sweaty as he slipped away into a pit of depression.
“Miguel, listen carefully, you must run to the next village to get the doctor with the serum, that is our only hope,” his mother’s words drifted by senselessly.  “Miguel!”
“Yes, mama?”
“You must go get the doctor from the next village,” her words seemed useless and irrelevant.  The damage was already done.
Regardless, Miguel headed out on the ten-mile journey to the next village.  His feet stumbled along the dusty road and his eyes burned from the hot, scalding sand being blown into his face.  Miguel’s face dripped with hot, sticky sweat and his skin was a dry, crusted texture.  The sky was a black hole, sucking up all hope Miguel had ever possessed.  The stars gave a false sense of optimism in a world filled with despair.  Miguel began to wander, slowly losing his sense of direction. 
He began to remember the day when his father left seven years ago.  The memories were faded, but the emotions were still real.  It had started with a simple argument between his mother and father. 
“Why can’t you put a decent day of work in to support your family?  All you do is sit around and get drunk…it’s ruining our family!” his mother had pleaded.
“I work when I want to!  You can support the kids and I’ll support myself!” his father had responded.  The words sliced into his mother’s heart like a knife.
“How could you ever say such a thing?  I thought you loved our kids!  I thought you loved me…” her words trailed off into the empty air.  The long silence tore any last hope for love.  “Get out!  I don’t ever want to see you again!”
Miguel’s father never objected, and he never returned home.
Since that day, Miguel’s mother and Rosa had always been there for him emotionally.  They had always given him the support he needed.  The thought of Rosa dying was unbearable, and sparked a new effort.  Light had begun to sprinkle through the trees and Miguel picked up his pace to a sprint.  He could see the village ahead, and knew life was within grasp.
By the time he stumbled upon the village, Miguel could just begin to spot the sun coming over the trees.  He asked for the doctor, and was directed towards a small tent off to the side of road.  It was run down, with a ripped tarp for a ceiling and slick mud for a floor.  A man about the age of fifty sat in a worn chair that looked to be from the first century.  “Sir, I need you…it’s my sister, sir…she’s…she’s dying…” he managed to sputter out.  Miguel’s emotions were pushing to come out, and his eyes burned.  The waves of despair crashed through, as he broke down. 
“Dying of what?  Snap out of it boy!” the doctor’s words were just as empty as the darkness surrounding him.  The blackness was everywhere, quickly closing in around him.  Every person and place was corrupt with the infectious disease.
“A scorpion sting…in the leg,” Miguel replied while still sobbing.
“Alright, I’ll get the serum and we’ll go back in my truck.”
The drive back was lonely and Miguel was playing with his thoughts.  There’s still a chance she can survive, right?  I have doubted it all along, but I need to have faith.  I just need to have faith… 
When they arrived at the village, a crowd had gathered around his shack.  Light had begun to stream in through the window, illuminating the horrific scene.  The doctor rushed in and urgently opened his suitcase.  After examining Rosa, he quickly gave her the serum and prayed for a miracle. 
The crowd began to dissipate and Miguel had stayed outside, alone and pondered his thoughts.  Why is this happening to me?  I have spent my whole life working out in the fields and this is what I get in return!  O God…please have mercy on her, take me instead!  She…she doesn’t deserve this, Lord, if there’s any way…  His silent prayer drifted skyward, this time out of genuine hope.
Miguel suddenly heard cheering from inside, and rushed to see what had happened.  He looked down to see his sister, smiling back at him.  At that moment, the light poured in and warmed everyone in the room.