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The rain was only getting worse. I looked at the traffic ahead of me and sighed, we wouldn't get home for another four hours at least. The 'we' consisted of my 13 year old son; Jack and I. Prior to the seemingly interminable car journey, we had spent the weekend in Cork together and now it was time to return home to Dublin. I had hoped for a pleasant journey but so far all I had been given was rain, traffic and more rain.

'When will we get home?' Jack asked, in an understandably resentful mood. 'Next Tuesday' I replied sarcastically and beeped the horn. 'What was the greatest achievement of your lifetime?' he asked. I turned to him in surprise and laughed. 'What?' he exclaimed; 'We're gonna be stuck here all day. We may as well tell stories' I was rather amazed, such questions don't always come up. 'Well' I started, thinking into the past ' I suppose it was when we ended hunger.' Jack nodded, 'Yeah. My teacher told me about that. How did that happen?' As I started to explain, I didn't so much tell the story as relive it; my memories brought me back to when I was a child.

Suddenly I was 11 years old and watching TV; it was 40 years ago, in 2018. A bearded man was on the news and my family were telling me to be quiet as I was about to witness 'history.' The man cleared his throat and spoke. 'Every year, 15 million children die of hunger. Yet in America, the primary health concern is obesity.' My entire family laughed but I didn't as the word 'obesity' was not in my lexicon at the time. Nevertheless, I listened intently to what the man in the TV had to say. 'World hunger is the second biggest problem on the Earth, after Global Warming ' and it is up to us to stop it.' By 'us' he did not mean Dublin, or Ireland. He meant mankind,

And with that, I was back in my Brand New 2058 Volvo with my son. 'Who was the guy on the TV?' he asked. I shrugged, 'I never found out. But after that day several new laws were introduced and the world went crazy trying to stop famine and malnutrition The UN played a big part in that' I was quite surprised by how good my memory was to me.

Then there was a short silence between us, we both sat comfortably in the traffic jam ' listening to the rain pat feverishly on the roof. 'So what happened next?' Jack asked. Still astonished by his fascination, I continued, 'Well, over the next few months an 'Operation Leftovers' programme was introduced to supermarkets. Shoppers were encouraged to buy a little extra and donate it to Concern ' which was a hunger charity ' they've gone broke now because world hunger is no longer an issue' Jack giggled. 'Well, a few extra sandwiches hardly stopped it, right?' I nodded 'That's right' I said 'But there was more to it than that. The UN asked for a '1 million from all developed countries ' including the US, the UK, France, Germany and Ireland. This was used on education in India and parts of Africa' Jack looked confused, 'But why did the money go to education ' why not food?' I smiled, thinking of a wise proverb I had once been told, 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime'

The rain had now transcended into a mighty storm, painting the sky a dull grey and forming a strong wind which blew heavily against the side of the car. The rain felt like someone was emptying a bag of nails on top of my car. 'But the single biggest contributor to preventing Hunger was the International Food Fest' I started. Jack looked somewhat bewildered, 'What's Food Fest?' he inquired. 'You haven't heard of Food Fest!? Well, it was the biggest festival in the world; it was like Live 8 except so much more...There were concerts, soccer matches, films, sporting events and beautiful meals. I was lucky enough to attend it. The three days I was there were among the best in my life. There were celebrities there, including David Beckham, Woody Allen, JK Rowling, Brad Pitt and Bono' I stopped for a moment, thinking of what an impact those three days had had on my life as well as the world. 'The best thing, of course, was that millions of Euros were made. And the Festival was held in India, which housed half of the world's hungry population. At the end of 2015 ' 20 million people had died of hunger. At the end of 2025 ' it had been decreased to 3 million.' My son looked impressed, which wasn't a common event. 'For the next twenty years these donations and festivals were held and soon...shanty towns turned into beautiful small cities. And many of its inhabitants got off their feet and got jobs, money and most importantly, food.' My voice quivered, I felt strangely emotional ' despite all the criticism we receive, mankind is capable of achieving incredible things. 'By 2045 ' more people died of choking on their cornflakes than starvation' Jack sat back in his seat, 'Wow, that's '' he paused, trying to find the right words, 'That's cool' He said, and chuckled.

The next three hours flew by and a father and son who spent more time listening to The Beatles than spending time with each other had the most stimulating conversation one could ask for, two souls brought together through the magic of storytelling, and the achievements of mankind. The traffic soon stopped and I could drive at my own speed, although the rain kept a sustained force on the windshield. 'Thanks dad' Jack muttered, those two words spoke more than a thousand monologues. I smiled happily, 'Anytime Jack, and remember ' Nothing is impossible. Now let's get something to eat. I'm starving'

And so the wind keeps blowing, the rain keeps falling and the world keeps spinning around.