Echoes of Kindness

Chapter 1.

THUDD!! – I heard a loud noise at the corner of the street. People gathered around, crowding the whole scene. I tried to see what happened, but my 11-year-old body was too short to see past those tall people. I overheard them saying, "These thieves deserve it!", "At such an early age they are already doing such things, there is no hope for them. Tsk Tsk."

Apparently, a kid was caught pickpocketing. By the time I could hear more, my mother said," Pick it up." I bent down and picked up the vegetable bag as my mother paid the merchant. My eyes strayed back, but soon was brought back as my mother and the merchant started arguing.

The merchant said, "It's three bronze coins, not two. I am already getting in a loss by giving you a discount, please don't do this." and my mother replied, "No, you are not getting in a loss, Yesterday I paid two bronze coins and now you are asking for three? two is enough!". The merchant argued, "It came expensive from the farmers, what am I supposed to do?". My mother tried to dismiss it and replied, "I know you are not getting in a loss and made enough profit. Don't be greedy." as she said that she walked away.

I looked at the merchant to see his frowned expression. He became desperate and called for my mother, to try one more time, but it was too late as she already walked away. He was speechless in front of my mother's negotiation skills. He looked at me with his victim eyes, screaming how he has been wronged. Like it was I who wronged him. It made me feel so bad, enough for me to run towards my mother and not look back.

Night came and I am at home, playing with my toys. My mother called for me and I rushed towards her. She told me to go to Aunt Sabeen's house and deliver these cloths to her. My mother sews cloth for earnings; so, I took the cloths and ran out for the home which was two streets away.

As I was walking towards her house, halfway through, I saw a kid sitting on the side of the road. I looked at him and saw his face swollen. I walked to him and when I got closer, he looked at me with a side eye. I stopped and was going to ask what happened to him and if he need anything, but he looked away. I stood quiet. I couldn't say anything. Then I tried to speak again, but he yelled, "What!". I stayed calm and asked him if he wanted anything, and he became angry and started shouted and told me to go away. Not knowing how to respond, I turned around and started walking away. After 3 steps I heard a growl from his stomach so I looked back at him but dismissed it and walked away.

I went to Aunt Sabeen's house and standing in front of her door I rang the bell. She opened the door and I spoke, "Mother sent me here." I extended my arms and gave her the cloths and she replied, "Ah, so you are Asma's son, right?" I nodded and she took the cloth and told me to wait. She closed the door, and after a little while she came back and gave me 4 bronze coins, I smiled at her and politely said goodbye as she smiled back and closed the door.

As I headed home, the image of the hungry kid on the sidewalk tugged at my conscience. I looked at the money and thought, I will just say to my mother that I dropped a coin accidently. I ran to the nearest shop and bought a bread for him. I went back and found him still sitting in a crouching position while hugging his legs tightly.

I went to him, while standing in front of him, I extended my arm to give him the food. I said," eat it" you look hungry. He looked at me and then looked sideways again. His right cheek was swollen, I asked him about it, and he remained silent. I put the food down to his side and decided to walk away. He told me to wait, and he picked up the food and thanked me. I happily replied, "welcome."

I was curious so I sat next to him and asked him about his swollen face, but he decided to stay quiet. After a short while, he finally talked and told me he got beaten by a group of men. I became angry at the thought of who would do this. He told me he was caught pickpocketing. I realized at that moment that he was the thief that was caught this morning.