It was a cold and sunny day; the calendar marked the first day of December, Joseph was getting ready for work. Joseph’s father had died around March of that year and her mother got heavily ill not so long after that. After her mother got sick Joseph had to work to provide for his ill mother, he left school and began work in a coal mine on the other side of the city. He didn’t like work, in fact he hated it; not only did he have to leave school, he also had to wake up at six o’clock every morning and ride a tram to the mines. And as if the ride wasn’t exhausting enough, he also had to work until sunset every day.
Joseph looked at the calendar, he scoffed, he didn’t like the idea of going through New Year’s Eve like this. Either way it was around time for him to get out, he looked at the clock, if he didn’t get to the tram on time, he would be late for work and probably be fired. He quickly got ready and ran to the tram stop, he looked at his wristwatch, he had arrived early for the tram. He sat down on the bench at the tram stop, he dreamed about this year’s New Year’s Day celebrations even if he knew he wouldn’t be able to do a lot; he barely made enough for food, rent and his mother’s treatment. After some time, the tram had finally arrived; he got on the tram and showed his ticket to the conductor. 1t usually took him around an hour to get to the mines, to not get bored during the long ride he would watch the outside through the window; the usual tram route passed next to several schools, seeing schools made Joseph get sad and a little jealous, others his age were studying and playing games while he had to work in a coal mine.
The tram had finally arrived, it was time for him to get to work. Joseph took his equipment and rode the elevator underground; it was a large wooden elevator held by rope used to transport both people and coal, he would get scared whenever he rode the elevator, it always looked broken down and about to fall down. He arrived at the bottom and began mining coal and rock, he would get very exhausted yet he wasn’t given any breaks and had to work without stopping for even one minute. At sunset someone announced work time had ended and him and the other workers rode the elevator outside, when the elevator stopped Joseph would watch the sunset while resting on a bench. Only after all that he would get on the tram and go back home. When he arrived at home the sun had already set, he read a book on the kitchen table until the clock hit ten o’clock. After that he went to sleep. It had just been another day for him, and it looked It was like it wasn’t going to change any time soon. As the days went by New Year’s Eve came closer and closer.
Finally, it was New Year’s Eve Joseph and the other workers had been told it was vacation and that they did not have to come today. Joseph was excited for his first vacation this year but he didn’t know what to do. After some thinking he decided he was going to surprise his mother with a present even though he didn’t have a lot of money. After having breakfast, he decided to sit down and read a book because he thought the stalls in the town square wouldn’t open until sunset. When he saw the sun setting from the window he went out and walked to the tram stop. He took the tram to the town square; his house wasn’t that far to the town square so he got there quite quickly. When he arrived, the square was crowded not only with people but with stalls too. Joseph walked around the town square to find something to buy for his mother. After searching for a long time, he found a store that sold jewellery, he found a bright silver pendant, it wasn’t very expensive but he thought it was beautiful.
After buying the pendant he walked around the town square for a bit; It’d been a long time since he had the chance to walk around the town. After some time, he walked to the hospital to visit his mother, when he arrived at her room, he found her awake staring out the window. When she noticed Joseph enter the room a smile appeared on her face, she and Joseph talked for a bit and then Joseph gave her the present. She was so happy she started crying, they had spent so much time apart and now they were celebrating New Year’s Eve together. After all that his mother was exhausted, she fell asleep; Joseph sat next to her, hoping they would be able to spend time together as a family again, not in a hospital room but in their house. It was the happiest day of their lives. The clock was nearing midnight, it was only seconds before the new year. And just then Joseph noticed something wrong, his mother had stopped breathing, he yelled for the doctors and they did everything they could yet it was to no avail, no one could save his mother. And as the bells sounded for midnight his mother’s heart beat for the last time.