I pose this question to no one in particular, but everyone in general: how do you write a scream? Do you go “Arrrrrgh!” like a pirate? “Gaaaack!” like an alien? “#!*&%$” like the average American?

Better question: why am I obsessing on how to properly scream in writing? The answer is simple, Kind and Gentle Souls. To express my disgust, anger and disbelief about an incident that happened in Cincinnati this week.

A 2-year-old child has terminal brain cancer. His doctors say he will not see December 25. The child’s last wish was to enjoy one more Christmas. Needless to say, the city did not disappoint.

The family decorated their home and yard in Yuletide fashion, replete with Christmas inflatables. Radio station Warm 98 started playing Christmas music as Summer turned to Autumn for this brave child. The Queen City is treating the boy like royalty, giving him an early Christmas as a last request.

And that’s where the story goes off the rails. I’ve long held the theory that some people are born without souls. This week might have proved it. Some miscreants (sorry-I wanted to call them a lot worse but I do not want to get Rod into trouble) got their jollies by vandalizing the inflatables. Twice.

Quick recap: A 2-year-old Cincinnati boy has terminal brain cancer. Oncologists say the child will not reach Christmas, the kid’s favorite holiday. As a final gift, his parents and the community are giving him Christmas in September, complete with decorations and seasonal music.

Then the low tide in the gene pool rolls in like Hurricane Florence if she were a sadistic, brain dead creep. A neighbor who helped repair the inflatables said, “It’s nice seeing the love, but then you got that .1 percent that want to kind of ruin it for that little boy, and I just don’t get it, just cowards…We’re just doing it because that little boy should be happy the rest of the time he’s here on this earth.”

To give the vandal’s level of evil a local perspective, imagine the folks who steal flowers from your loved one’s graves then sell them in Memorial Day yard sales. I know I am not the only one to which this has happened. It’s those moments where you wish horror stories were real, and the deceased’s arms would burst forth from the grave, grabbing the thoughtless ghoul and dragging them into the depths of despair, where they belong.

Meanwhile, the folks in the Nati are gathering to go Christmas caroling to the child’s house, adding another layer of holiday joy and love to his final days. WRRM’s Amanda Orlando says “Often times we feel helpless and like you can’t help a situation. This is kind of our small way of being part of his Christmas time.”

There you have it. A cadre of warriors fighting against the army of darkness. Hyperbole? I don’t think so. Because if we don’t continue to use the light of kindness against the barbarians at the gate, not only do we lose a part of our soul, but the cynics gain traction in a world that has enough callousness. And then a child loses his last wish for a Merry Christmas in September.

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Robert Roe