As we drove through the foothills of the Alps,

We saw two boys selling strawberry

Their appearance told us that,

their clothes had never gone to laundry

Gazing at the two little figures, with brown skin and tangled hair,

We thought about the person who could nurture them with care

My companion spoke to them and discovered about their brother hood,

Who had to shoulder up responsibility in their childhood

Their names were Nicola and Jacopo,

Nicola was the elder brother, Jacopo was as lively as a squirrel,

but shorter than the other

What struck one most was their willingness to work,

Who always believed in working with teamwork

They earned enough for themselves but spent not much of their money,

I asked, ‘What do you do with it if you have not tasted honey?’

I asked them, what can I do for you before leaving,

They just asked for a lift to their destination as they always went there cycling

The following afternoon we drove to the tiny village set high upon the hillside,

As my passengers leaped out I leaped to follow and hide

After following them, I found a grilled side entrance there,

After sometime, a pleasant looking women came in uniform of a trained nurse with

brown hair

She led me through a cool, tiled vestibule into the hospital,

And showed me Lucia whose stage was now not much critical

I begged the nurse to tell me all she knew about the boys,

She put her finger to her lips and told me not to make noise

‘They were quiet alone in the world except for Lucia, their sister,

There Father, a widower, had been killed early in the war during Lucia’s semester

A bomb had destroyed their home and threw them into the streets of their nation,

And forced them to get exposed to cold winter and suffering from near starvation

For three years they joined the army against the Germans,

Where they had to kill people and use guns

When the war was over and we had peace at last,

They found Lucia suffering from tuberculosis for Three years of the past

In last twelve months, she made a good progress,

Her days of staying here are now very less

We could not keep going unless we charge a fee,

But her brothers every week manage the fee

At last Lucia came back to the boys,

And now there life is full of joy!

Now it is the time not to fight for peace or quit,

Because peace is not the absence of conflict 

But the ability to cope with it.