Goodday to everyone here. Is my first time writing here and i must say is wonderful to have a community like these and these is an interesting prompt. It came at the right time, just when a remarkable event happened in Jenny’s neighborhood.
So Jenny was a young girl who lived in a small town with her parents. They lived in a small house in a quiet part of the town where almost everyone knew each other.
Usually, there was this old man who always sat by the roadside begging. He sat just across from Jenny’s house, under the shade of an old tree. Every morning, he would come to the same spot, sit down, stretch out his hands, and wait for people passing by.
Some people would stop and give him money. Some would give him food, while others would simply walk past without saying a word.
Jenny had been observing him for a very long time. She often wondered how he ended up there and what his life was like before he became a beggar.
Jenny’s mother would sometimes prepare extra food and ask Jenny to take it to him.
Jenny, please take this food to the old man, her mother would say.
Jenny would happily take it to him, and the old man would always appreciate it.
Thank you, my child. May God bless you and your family, he would say.
Weeks passed. Then months passed. Nothing really changed. The old man continued begging at the same spot, and people continued giving him whatever they could.
Until one beautiful afternoon, something happened that completely changed his life.
Jenny was outside taking some fresh air.
Suddenly, a young man walking along the road stopped in front of the old beggar.
Jenny noticed him immediately.
The young man reached into his pocket and brought out some money. The old man became happy and stretched out his hands to receive it.
But just as the old man was about to take the money, the young man suddenly pulled his hand back.
The old man looked confused.
The young man didn't say anything. He simply turned around and walked away.
Jenny was there watching everything.
The same question that was running through the old man's mind was also running through hers.
Why would he bring out the money, then change his mind?
The old man looked at the young man as he walked away.
Jenny couldn't control her curiosity. She walked closer to the old man.
Sir, why did that man leave? He was about to give you money.
The old man shook his head.
I don't know, my child. Maybe he changed his mind.
Jenny continued looking in the direction the young man had gone.
But she couldn't stop thinking about it.
A few minutes later, while Jenny and the old man were still talking, they suddenly heard the sound of a car approaching.
It was the same young man.
The car stopped right in front of them.
Jenny was surprised.
The young man came out of the car, opened the boot, and started bringing out clothes.
There were so many clothes that Jenny couldn't believe what she was seeing.
The young man carried them toward the old man.
Here are some clothes for you to wear,” he said. “And there are more for you to sell here.
The old man was speechless.
He looked at the clothes and then looked at the young man.
You mean I should sell these?
Yes, the young man replied. “You have been sitting here begging for a long time. I don't want to keep giving you money every time I see you. I want you to have something you can use to make money for yourself.”
The old man's eyes became filled with tears.
He thanked the young man repeatedly.
Jenny watched everything with a smile on her face.
At that moment, she understood why the young man had taken the money back.
He wasn't trying to take the money away from the old man.
He was trying to give him something better.
Instead of giving him the fish, he had decided to show him how to catch the fish.
From that day, everything changed.
The old man stopped begging and started selling clothes at the same spot where he used to beg.
At first, business was slow.
Sometimes he would sell only one or two clothes in a day. There were also days when nobody bought anything.
But he didn't give up.
Every day, he came early, arranged his clothes properly, and waited for customers.
Slowly, people started buying from him.
The old man began saving the little money he made.
Months became years.
With the money he had saved, he eventually opened a small boutique in the town.
The small business grew.
People started knowing him as a businessman instead of the old beggar who used to sit by the roadside.
Years later, he became very successful.
Whenever people talked about him, they often wondered how he had managed to build such a successful business when they knew him as a beggar.
But Jenny always had an answer.
“I was there,” she would tell them. “I witnessed the day everything changed.”
She would tell them about the young man who first appeared to give the old man money but came back with clothes instead.
The old man never forgot where his journey started.
And he never forgot Jenny either.
He remembered how she had always shown kindness to him, even when he had nothing.
So when Jenny was growing up and her family started struggling to pay for her education, the old man heard about it.
Without thinking twice, he decided to help her.
He told Jenny's parents that he would sponsor Jenny's education until she finished school.
Jenny couldn't believe it.
The same man she always see begging by the roadside is now the one helping her stay in school.
That experience taught Jenny something she would never forget.
Jenny never forgot the old man, and the old man never forgot the young man who came back with clothes instead of money.
Thank you for your time. Have a great day.