Five loaves and two fish

Benjamin wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Stop being such a crybaby!”

He chided himself, as he kicked a pebble in his path.

It was a breezy afternoon. The sky was clear. Perfect day to be playing outdoors. The Sea of Galilee danced invitingly as it reflected the sun.

Usually, he would have jumped at the chance to play outside with his friends.

But today was different.

While the rest of his family was busy with preparing for the Passover feast, he, the most dispensable one was told to ” go out and play by himself”.

Basically make himself scarce before he made a bigger nuisance of himself.

Mama was livid when he had upset the flour . In his excitement to help, he had slipped and dropped the bowl of flour that she had just spent hours milling.

Before Mama exploded in frustration, Martha, his eldest sister made some gentle clucking noises, dusted the flour off him and sent him out with some lunch in a basket.

"Why don't you go out... have some fun! It's a beautiful day.... I've packed your favourite...fish and barley loaves. " She dropped a kiss on his forehead and smiled into his eyes.

She had done it kindly but little Ben understood. His six year old brain told him he was not needed in the house. He was too little to be of any use.