The food on the table was little more than scraps. A thin stew. A crust of bread. Enough to quiet hunger but never to satisfy it.
Jimmy’s father came home late. His shirt was stained, his face tired, his knuckles raw and one eye dark with a bruise. He had started a new job at the port only last week. Before that, he had been a construction worker until an accident crushed his hand, leaving the fingers stiff and crooked.
Jimmy watched him lower himself into the chair like a man twice his age. His father didn’t complain, not out loud, but Jimmy could see how much the day had cost him.
“Papa,” his six-year-old sister asked in a small voice, “why is there so little food?”
Their father looked at her for a moment, then turned away. A tired smile tugged at his lips. “I’ll get us more,” he said, but even to Jimmy, the promise sounded thin.
His sister stared at her bowl, frowning. She wanted more, needed more, but there was nothing to give. When her lower lip trembled and she began to cry, their father snapped, his voice sharp, and the sound of it filled the little room like broken glass.
Silence followed. Heavy. Awkward. Jimmy kept his eyes on his stew.
Later that night, when the food was gone and the house lay in darkness, Jimmy heard it. His father’s voice. Low, cracked. His mother whispering, “It will be okay.” And then, the sound Jimmy wished he had never heard—his father crying in the dark.
“Two children,” his father said. “Two mouths to feed. Two futures to think about. My wages won’t cover it. Do I feed them and keep them ignorant, or send one to school while the rest of us starve?”
The words sank into Jimmy like stones. For the first time in his short life, he felt the weight of being a burden, and that weight was heavier than anything he had ever tried to carry, heavier than any schoolbook, heavier even than the crates he had once seen dockworkers lifting as if their lives depended on it, heavier in fact than the whole night sky above him because it pressed not only on his shoulders but on his heart as well.
And so, when the house was asleep, Jimmy stood, pulled on his jacket, and slipped out into the cold. He wasn’t running away. He was looking for something. A way to help.
[[Go to the docks->Docks1]]
[[Check the marketplace->Market1]]
[[Wander the streets->Streets1]]
The docks smelled of salt and oil. Lanterns swayed in the night air, casting long shadows over men who hauled crates as if their lives depended on it. Jimmy stood at the edge, watching.
One of the foremen noticed him. “What are you doing here, boy?”
Jimmy’s mouth was dry, but he forced the words out. “I can work. I’m strong. I don’t need money for myself—just for my family.”
The man snorted. “Too small. Go home.”
Another worker, older and kinder, spoke up. “Let him try.”
[[Try to lift a crate->DocksLift]]
[[Back down in shame->HomeEmpty]]
[[Try to sneak food from a crate->DocksSteal]]
The marketplace was quiet, most stalls shuttered, but a few bakers and butchers cleaned up. The smell of bread made Jimmy’s stomach twist.
He stood at the edge, deciding.
[[Ask politely for scraps->MarketScraps]]
[[Offer to help clean->MarketHelp]]
[[Try to steal bread->MarketSteal]]
The streets were dark, the stones cold beneath Jimmy’s shoes. His breath clouded in front of him.
Then he saw a man in a long coat watching from the shadows. The man smiled.
“You look like you need work,” the stranger said softly. “I have a job for boys like you.”
Jimmy hesitated.
[[Trust the stranger->Stranger1]]
[[Avoid him and go home->HomeEmpty]]
They gave Jimmy a crate nearly half his size. His arms trembled. His back screamed. Step by step, he carried it across the dock. When he set it down, his breath came ragged but his eyes burned bright.
The men whistled. The kind one pressed a few coins into Jimmy’s hand.
[[Return home with money->HomeMoney]]
[[Stay and keep working through the night->DocksWork]]
[[Speak to the kind worker->KindWorker]]
Jimmy returned empty-handed. His mother tried to comfort him, but the silence of his father said more than words ever could.
*Ending: Jimmy learns how heavy failure feels.*
Jimmy’s hunger drove him to the shadows. He pried open a crate, reaching for bread, but a hand grabbed his collar.
“You little thief!” a man roared.
[[Escape and run home empty-handed->HomeEmpty]]
[[Get caught and punished->Trouble1]]
Jimmy slipped inside, coins clutched tight. His mother gasped, his father stared, silent. Pride flickered in his eyes, but sorrow too, because a boy of twelve should not carry a man’s burdens.
*Ending: Jimmy brings money, but at the cost of childhood.*
Hour after hour, Jimmy lifted until his arms felt like lead. By dawn, his pockets held more coins than he had ever seen. But his body ached like an old man’s, and his childhood felt far away, almost gone.
[[Go home with money->HomeMoney]]
Caught stealing. Caught trusting the wrong man. Caught being too desperate. Jimmy was beaten, shoved aside, and left with nothing but bruises.
*Ending: Jimmy learns the world is harsher than he imagined.*
Jimmy begged a baker for leftovers. The man studied him, then handed over a hard loaf of stale bread.
It wasn’t much, but it was something.
[[Bring it home->HomeFood]]
Jimmy offered to sweep and clean. The butcher chuckled, then handed him a broom. By the time the stars faded, Jimmy’s hands were raw but he held a small bag of food.
[[Bring it home->HomeFood]]
The hunger was too strong. Jimmy snatched bread from a stall, but the baker’s hand caught his wrist.
“You thief!” the man shouted.
[[Escape with nothing->HomeEmpty]]
[[Get caught and punished->Trouble1]]
Jimmy laid bread and scraps on the table. His sister’s eyes lit up, and for one night at least, hunger eased. His father said nothing, but his shoulders sagged with shame.
*Ending: Jimmy feeds his family, but only for tonight.*
The man leaned closer, his voice low. “It pays well. Fast. But it’s dangerous work.”
Jimmy thought of his father’s tears, his sister’s empty bowl.
[[Accept the risky job->Trouble1]]
[[Refuse and walk away->HomeEmpty]]
The older man crouched down, meeting Jimmy’s eyes. His face was lined, his beard flecked with gray, but his gaze was steady and kind.
“You’re strong, boy,” he said. “Stronger than most men I know. But strength like yours… it shouldn’t be wasted carrying crates in the dark. You deserve better.”
Jimmy swallowed hard. He wanted to believe him, but he said nothing.
The man reached into his coat and pulled out a slip of paper. “My brother runs a small school by the edge of the city. He takes in boys who can’t pay, if they’re willing to work. Go to him. Tell him Elias sent you.”
Jimmy stared at the paper, at the name scrawled across it. A chance. A way out. His hands shook as he took it.
[[Take the paper home->HopefulEnding]]
Jimmy placed the paper on the table. His father picked it up, his eyes narrowing as he read, then widening with something Jimmy hadn’t seen in weeks—hope.
For the first time in a long time, the silence in the house was not heavy, but light.
*Hidden Ending: Jimmy finds a door to a future, one not built on hunger or bruises, but on learning and a chance to rise above the weight that had always pressed on his family.*<div id='con'>
<h2 id='start'>
Jimmy’s Burden
</h2>
<p id='gp'>
a story by <a href='https://x.com/gamcostudio?t=THHTqXm4fE8vzPjmg14HmQ&s=09'>gamco</a>
</p>
<p>
note:
if you post the ending that you got on X[Twitter] OR bluesky we will repost it
</p>
<div id='cj'>
[[Click Here To Start|Start]]
</div>
</div>
:: StoryInit
<<script>>
Save.clear();
<</script>>
<<goto 'Start'>>