15 Minutes

#WonderTheMovie

Every day I arrive 15 minutes early at the bus stop.

Every day there's this one kid waiting there before me.

Every day we talk for those 15 minutes before the bus arrives.

Every day he disappears from my sight until the next morning, 15 minutes before the bus.

He's always had a gloomy disposition, a sad and expressionless face carved from stone. It was always my goal to make him smile at least once during our exchanges in those 15 minutes. I knew he had crippling depression; he took his pills right in front of me. It was uncanny how similar they looked to mine. I wanted to be a little ray of sunshine in his life, no matter how dreary it seemed for him. I didn't know how well I was doing in my mission.

He would ask me questions sometimes, and to the best of my ability I would answer them as honestly as possible. They were simple ones, like cats or dogs, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. One time it was raining, and he forgot to bring an umbrella. Thing is, I forgot one too. So instead, I danced in the iridescent shower from the heavens, and dragged him along with me. That was the only time I got him to laugh.

Now, I didn't know this at the time, but he was going through a really rough time. I won't go into detail, but it was really bad.

One day, he wasn't there before me, waiting for the bus.

One day, I waited 15 minutes alone, without him.

One day, I stepped onto the bus without him in front of me.

One day, I walked off that bus, and almost fell on him.

I walked onto that bus, not knowing if I was ever going to see him again, but here he was, right in front of me. He hugged me, right then and there. That was the first time he has ever touched me on his own. He cried into my shoulder, and he told me how I saved his life.

See, those morning talks did brighten his day. They did make him smile. They did make him feel happy for 15 minutes. They gave him something to look forward to for the next day. They saved his life.

Just talking to him for 15 minutes of kindness each day stopped him from giving up on life.

All it takes is just 15 minutes to save someone.

You just have to be kind.

It shouldn't be that hard, now.

Go and be kind to someone for 15 minutes, and see how much it changes them.

You'll see the difference.