A restaurant owner sees a neatly dressed girl digging through the trash near his luxurious establishment and follows her. What he discovers in the process leaves him teary-eyed.
“Make sure the leftovers are sorted and placed in the bin behind the restaurant. Is that clear, Chef Smith?” Jack Monfield ordered his head chef.
“Yes, Mr. Monfield,” Chef Smith nodded. “I’ll see to it that it’s done as you requested.”
Jack Monfield had ordered his staff to dispose of all leftovers in a special bin behind the restaurant for the homeless after the day’s business. He’d done it after seeing a group of homeless people outside his restaurant, looking for food from passers-by who never bothered to help them.
However, one evening, when Mr. Monfield was about to leave the restaurant, he noticed a well-dressed girl digging through the trash. She wore a pretty white frock with matching shoes, definitely not how a typical homeless would be dressed.
She doesn’t appear to be a homeless person or a needy child. What exactly is she doing there? Mr. Monfield’s head ran through the strangest suspicions at her sight. He wanted to approach her and ask what she was doing there, but he had to hurry because he had some urgent work to complete. But the girl returned the next day, and the next, and Mr. Monfield noticed she had been visiting the place for days in a row. She’d come with a huge bag, fill it with leftovers, and then run away.
Curious as to why she kept doing that, Mr. Monfield decided to follow the girl one day. He sat in his car and drove slowly behind her as she happily strolled through the streets with the huge bag in her tiny hands.
After a few minutes, she entered a narrow lane where Mr. Monfield’s car couldn’t go. So he got down and continued walking behind the girl who came to a halt in front of an abandoned old house. She left the bag containing the food on the doorstep, rang the doorbell, and then ran away.
Mr. Monfield hid behind a wall, waiting for someone to come out of the house. About 10 minutes passed, but nobody answered the door.
Thinking nobody was staying there, he motioned to leave, but just then, a boy stepped out of the house with a dog. He was dressed shabbily and appeared frail. He opened the bag of leftovers, took some of them out, and gave them to his dog. “Wow, Tommy, we’ve got a lot of food for you today!” he exclaimed happily, then fed his dog and went inside.
Curious about who the boy was and why the little girl collected leftovers for him every day, Mr. Monfield decided to approach her the next day when she came to the restaurant.
“Hello there,” he gently said. “I see you come here every day to pick up leftovers for a boy and his dog. What’s your name?”
“Umm, my name is Alice,” the girl said softly. “You don’t mind me taking leftover for Arthur, right? I take food for him and his dog because he has no one to look after him.”
“Does Arthur not have his parents or grandparents to look after him, Alice?”
“Oh no!” Alice shook her tiny head. “He lost his family in a fire and after that nobody helped him. None of the kids in our neighborhood play with him. I feel bad for him, so I help him, and sometimes, I go play with him.”
“Why didn’t you tell your parents about it, Alice? They can help Arthur and his dog.”
“No. I’m afraid of what will happen if Mom finds out. One day, I saw my friend’s mom scolding her for helping a stranger, and I was scared my mom would scold me too, so I didn’t tell her. You know, last week, his dog was sick. I was worried he’d die, and Arthur was upset as well, but it’s a good thing nothing bad happened.”
“But do you realize, Alice, that feeding him leftovers is not a good idea? He might get sick again. Some facilities provide care for pets. We can send him there. Arthur, too, needs to be properly cared for. I saw him, and he appeared to be very frail.”
“But where can we send him?” Alice asked curiously.
“There are orphanages and foster homes that take care of children in need. If we send Arthur there, he can live a good life.”
“No! We won’t do that!” Alice objected. “Arthur told me he used to live in the orphanage. He ran away from there because they didn’t treat him well. We can’t send him there, please!”
“Well, then…” Mr. Monfield pondered for a while. “I’ve got another idea. I think it will definitely help Arthur.”
“Yeah? What exactly is it?” Alice inquired cheerfully.
“Come with me. I’ll tell you.”
Mr. Monfield took the little girl inside his restaurant and gave her some cookies and milk. While Alice was busy eating, he called his mother, a journalist, and told her about Alice’s story and how she’d helped Arthur.
One week later, a powerful article was published about how a 10-year-old little girl helped a homeless, orphan boy. When Alice’s parents saw the article and learned what their daughter had done, they were really proud of her. They told Alice that if she’d informed them about Arthur before, they would have gladly helped the boy. But it wasn’t too late.
Alice’s mother, Linda, decided to adopt Arthur, just before social services were to take him away. She’d always wanted Alice to have a younger brother, but she couldn’t conceive after Alice’s birth. So thinking it was God’s way of blessing her with a boy, Linda decided to adopt Arthur.
Thankfully, Alice’s father agreed, and a month later, Alice and her parents welcomed two new members to their family: 8-year-old Arthur and his adorable doggo Tommy.
What can we learn from this story?
Be kind; it costs nothing. Alice, without expecting anything in return, helped Arthur and his dog. All of us should try to be like her.
There’s a reason behind everything that happens in life. Alice met Arthur because she was destined to have a younger brother.
