The Hand They Left Broken

My parents told me my grandfather's kidney failure had drained the family finances, leaving them unable to afford even the $30,000 surgery I needed after I broke my arm.

I believed them.

Not wanting to burden my family, I used two pieces of wood to splint my right arm myself and chose to stay in the countryside to continue my studies.

For the next five years, I lived with a deformed right hand and forced myself to become left-handed.

Every night, the pain was so bad that I could barely sleep. The only way I could distract myself was by reading.