Drive and Determination by Kara Louise

lived in conditions that she would never be able to fathom and yet they seemed surprisingly content.
            When they went out to the courtyard, Manuel had hung the piñata and the children squealed when they saw it. The children sat down on the benches that lined the courtyard from youngest to oldest and Mrs. Martinez brought out a large stick. The children wiggled and squirmed in eager expectation and Elyssa openly admired each one.
            One by one, the children were blindfolded and given the opportunity to give a few swings at the large, papier-mâché bird. Manuel, who must have done this dozens of time before, pulled the string to which the piñata was attached to make it swing wildly and rise up high off the ground.
            Will stood off to one side. It seemed to Elyssa that he was busy looking at everything but the children. She watched as he pulled out his phone and stepped around the corner of the building. She shook her head in disgust as she realized he allowed his work to interfere with every moment of his waking hours. Most likely he was asking for a car to be sent to pick him up as quickly as possible!
            Elyssa sat down and once the children had taken their turn swinging at the piñata, they came over to her; some more tentative than others. A few climbed right into her lap, others touched her long, pretty hair, and a few simply stood back timidly and watched.
            After a while, Will finally returned and Elyssa watched him walk over to a bench across the courtyard from her, sitting down next to the last child in the line. Elyssa had to laugh when he unexpectedly found himself the object of unwanted attention as children began to climb up into his lap, much like they had hers. She waited for him to shoo them away and remove himself from their midst, but instead, he leaned down to talk to them, tickled them, or simply held their hand.
            Elyssa continued to watch in amazement as he pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and put them on a little boy. The children around him began to giggle and laugh, and soon they all wanted to try them on. He passed them around from one to the other, getting the same gleeful response from each child. Elyssa wondered if they were an expensive pair, as his actions totally surprised her.
            Her attention was drawn back to the piñata, which was becoming more and more tattered, but still holding tight to its treasures. As the older children were now the ones taking swings at it, Manuel maneuvered the ropes to a greater extent to make it more difficult for them to hit it. The piñata swung high and low and from side to side. Elyssa hoped that all the children would get a chance to take a swing. She was certain each child wanted a turn, but she was amazed at how they cheered each one on and waited patiently for their own opportunity to break it open.
            One of the last, older boys gave the stick a hefty swing, striking the piñata full force and it broke open, spilling candy and little toys all over. Suddenly all attention was drawn to the center of the courtyard where the children scrambled for whatever their little hands could gather. Elyssa walked over to make sure each child was able to get some treasure of their own. When she looked up over the crowd of children, she saw a little girl off to the side standing by Will.
            The little girl seemed hesitant to throw herself into the melee. Elyssa was about to go see to her when Will suddenly picked her up and said something to her. The little girl nodded her head shyly and he walked into the crowd of children with her, reaching down and picking up a handful of candy and toys that had not yet been claimed.
            Holding tightly to the priceless treasures, he walked back over to the bench with her and sat down. When he opened his hand, the little