[A Short Story from My Heart] A Promise on the Dust
Young Choi, Regent University
The wind was scraping the earth raw again that day. The sky seemed to have forgotten rain, and the fields no longer remembered seeds. The soil crumbled in the hand like ash, drifting not only into lungs, but into whatever hope people still carried.
Eli sat in the back of the worn-out truck. It had once been his father’s pride, but now it was something suspended between scrap metal and memory. His mother said nothing in the front seat, and his younger sibling kept their eyes closed, pretending sleep to quiet the hunger.
“In California,” his mother said softly,
“there’ll be work.”
She spoke the words like a prayer, but no one held onto them. The wind took them away.
The truck stopped just before the sun touched the ground. People sat along the roadside, all wearing the same face—dust, weariness, and something not yet entirely extinguished.
Eli reached into his pocket and pulled out a single corn kernel. He had found it beneath the floorboards the day before they left. He studied it for a long moment, then knelt and pressed his finger into the dry earth between the tire tracks, making a small hole.
“What are you doing there?” his mother asked.
Eli didn’t answer. He placed the kernel gently into the ground and covered it with his palm. The wind might carry it away soon, but he remained there for a while.
“Will it grow?” his sibling asked.
Eli shrugged.
“I don’t know. But… it ought to be planted.”
That night, they slept under a sky that held nothing. But before he drifted off, Eli felt the wind pause—just for a moment. In that brief stillness, he knew the land was not entirely dead.
And perhaps, neither was the small seed.
{Solti}
April 27, 2026
Young Choi, PhD is a Professor at Regent University bringing a rare combination of technical expertise and creative spirit to everything he does. A scholar in AI, cybersecurity, and network & telecommunications service management, he has published 38 books including AI and cybersecurity area books, over 200 refereed articles, and over 20 book chapters. Beyond the academy, Dr. Choi is a passionate poet, essayist, and wooden block engraving artist whose reflective writing invites readers to rediscover life’s beauty in quiet contemplation. He lives under the motto: “Study hard and give generously without holding back! (열심히 공부해서 아낌없이 남주자 !)”
Published books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Young-Choi/author/B0DMZ5S6R7?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true