It was a pleasant Saturday evening. Birds were chirping and Zara was excitedly getting ready to go to the mall with her mother. She was ecstatic, practically bouncing with joy, as her dad had given her some money as her birthday gift. Zara had big plans to buy a lot of things with that money.

After hopping into the car with her mum, soon Zara was on her way to the mall. The sun was painting the sky with beautiful, vivid colours. As they parked their car outside the mall, an elderly man in shabby clothes and some balloons in his hands, came over, asking them if they would buy a few balloons from him.

Zara couldn’t help but stare at the frail, old man, who was being ignored by everyone. He looked hungry, and it broke her heart to see him in that state. She didn’t need the balloons, but wanted to give him some money. However, her mum, who had walked on, called her to come inside the mall. Reluctantly, she followed her mum and they started their shopping spree straight away.

After finally spotting something she wanted to buy, Zara went to pay for it. But when she reached into her pocket, she realised that her small pink wallet was missing. Her heart sank and her hands became clammy as she frantically searched for the lost wallet. Tears welled up in her eyes when she couldn’t find it anywhere.

Sad and devastated, Zara and her mum decided to cancel their shopping plan and return home. On the way out, Zara saw the old man standing by their car again.

As they approached the car, he held out his hand, and in it was Zara’s pink wallet!

“I saw you drop this when you were leaving, so I decided to wait here to return it to you,” the old man said with a warm smile.

Zara was filled with gratitude as she took the wallet from him. Instinctively, she opened the wallet to check the money — it was all there!

“Thank you so much for returning this! What can I do for you?” Zara spoke, as her heart beat with excitement at finding her lost money.

“Don’t worry my child, I want nothing. But would you be interested in buying some balloons from me?” the old man replied.

“Yes, of course. Give me these two red balloon,” Zara replied, pointing to the balloons flying above the head of the old man.

He took the strings of the two red balloons and gave it to Zara, while Zara took out half the money from her wallet and held it out to the old man.

“No, no, this is too much. The balloons are only for fifty rupees!” the man said in surprise, not taking the money.

Zara’s mum, who had been observing the whole exchange standing silently by her daughter, took the money from Zara and kept it in the palm of the old man.

“Please, you must take this. Consider it a small gift for your honesty and bringing a smile to my daughter, who was very upset at having lost her wallet. We will really be please if you will accept this,” her mother said.

The old man reluctantly took the money and they both thanked each other, filled with gratitude for the unexpected kindness they had shared.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 28th, 2024