“Woooooof” whimpered a street puppy when James kicked it for fun. It reminded James of his father, how he would hit him for no reason and smirk. Once a shy kid, James now had transformed into a brat with no speck of kindness in his heart.
He was notoriously famous as a bully in middle school. Kids would stay away from his path because they never knew when his volcanic anger would erupt.
He would snatch away their food, break their lockers, tear their books and was usually stationed outside principal’s office with loads of complaints. Each time left with a stern warning of getting suspended. But that never deterred him, as if the hate from others was a fuel to his darkness.
His childhood friend Liam was a witness to this change as he had often visited James at his apartment. Liam used to miss the shy James but was clueless how to help him. He knew somewhere in his dark heart there was a spark of kindness he was born with.
One day as the school got over, Liam sneakily stuck a scribbled paper behind James’s back. He kept following from a distance to see what transpired.
James started walking in the direction of a mall and threw an empty can on the pavement, even though the garbage bin was close by. Suddenly a crippled lady with crutches passed by him, picked up the can and threw it in the dust bin. She smiled at him and left. James was puzzled, thinking how crazy she was.
Being distracted, while crossing the road, a vehicle hits James flipping him on the pathway. Although he wasn’t bruised but he was unconscious for a while. He woke up to a face of a ragged beggar with stained teeth, smiling at him. He was using a wet cloth to wipe James’s face. “Eewwww! How dare you touch me? James said with disgust instead of showing courtesy. But the hobbled man smiled and blessed him for a long life. James couldn’t fathom why people were being nice to him.
As he entered the mall, strangers high-fived, smiled and few even complimented him. It seemed like an unusual day but he felt special.
Suddenly, James saw an old lady who couldn’t bend to pick her groceries which had scattered from her torn bag.
He rushed to help. Overwhelmed, the lady said “There are not many people like you in this world. Thank you, Son.” James’s eyes sparkled listening to those alien words, as no one even in his family ever said those to him.
A familiar hand touched his shoulder. As he turned, James was overjoyed to see Liam. They both hugged each other and while doing so Liam removed the clipped paper from James’s back to hide it in his pocket, which read
“Help him See,
Kindness in this World.
Help him Be,
Kinder to this World”
With each dew drop of compassion, our world once again will be a sea of humanity.
