The boy and the leprechaun

Soup kitchen

Every week five days a week after school, Jamie and his parents would go to the soup kitchen in town to eat, Jamie used to think it was a nice treat till he once heard his parents say they had to go there because they couldn't afford to shop at the supermarket all the time, that day was the day Jamie decided he would make a better life for his family.

Everyone at the kitchen was nice, the people who worked there always had a kind smile and they always asked Jamie how school was going, he liked every one of them. Especially sue who would sneak him an extra piece of bread to go home with.

Most of the people there though were quite sad, as they, like Jamie's family, couldn't afford their own food. Some would be kind and say hello but others just wanted to eat quietly.

Jamie had been going there for a couple years now, plus the food bank once a week, they helped Jamie have food on the weekends and breakfast every day.

Today though Jamie saw a new person as the soup kitchen, across the table from him, he was eating soup but didn't seem poor at all in fact he had a nice outfit on, no holes either, the man was happily eating soup and looking around.
Jamie caught his eye and the man gave a kind smile and looked at Jamie's drawing of a rainbow, and then went back to eating. Jamie was used to people looking at his drawings a lot of people said they were good, Jamie knew he had gained a bit of talent while constantly drawing his ideas, even his prized machine drawing, "the rainbow catcher" as Jamie called it, looked like a real device that he could make detailed down to the last button and screw.

Jamie scrunched his nose wondering how he would ever be able to make such a great machine with no equipment. Maybe he could ask a teacher at school to help him he wondered, but they mostly just taught math, English and a bunch of other subjects that did not include building things. Well not mechanical things at least.

Whilst eating the soup the man with the nice clothes came over.
"Mind if I join you?" The man asked Jamie's parents they nodded, smiled and struck up a conversation about the friendly staff and how delicious the soup was.
"That's a great drawing" the man said who Jamie now knew was called Carl  "I used to draw rainbows when I was a kid too."
"Really?" Jamie asked in disbelief he hadn't met many people who did that too.
"Yeah all the time, I was obsessed with trying to find the end of one to help my family when we were poor."
"Did you?" Said Jamie eagerly. "Did you find the end of it?"
"Oh I did eventually and it was the best thing ever but it took me so long to find, in fact it wasn't until I was at a soup kitchen like this one and I met someone who helped me reach the end."
"How did they do that?" Jamie asked.
"Oh they gave me a special tool to help me find my way, only with the promise I would pass it on one day to help another poor child who wanted to find the end of a rainbow."
"Do you still have it?" Jamie practically jumped out of his seat.
"Calm down Jamie there isn't such a device" Jamie's mum chimed in.

Once Jamie's family finished their dinner they started heading out thanking the staff at the kitchen, sue came over to Jamie and gave him a hug and slipped him a bread roll with a smile.
"Thank you," Jamie smiled,
Sue just winked and nudged her head for him to go.
Carl stood at the exit of the building talking to someone as Jamie passed he bent down and handed Jamie a device, a device that looked exactly like his drawing, the rainbow catcher.
"Good luck, Jamie." He said and walked away.