Somebody Loves You
One cold rainy night, I was working on my Legos in my bedroom. I was dreaming of the day when I have earned enough money to buy my favourite set. To help me, my father rewarded me one dollar a day after I jogged with him in the morning.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. I jumped from my chair and raced to the top of the steps, wondering who would visit us on such a rainy night. My mother opened the door. Surprisingly, she found a very untidy man. Overcome by pity, my mother invited him inside to the living room.
I went downstairs quietly so I could get a better look. I couldn't hear clearly what they were saying, but I saw the man holding his head in his hands and crying, which made my chest ache.
I raced back to my room, grabbed the one-dollar coin I had got that morning, ran back to the man, put the coin in his hand and gave him a hug. At that moment, I had no idea why I did so. Feeling embarrassed, I stood still.
In a while, the stranger sat quietly with his head bowed. Tears streamed down his face as he tightly held that coin. Finally, he said, ―I just thought nobody cared about me. For the last twenty years, I have been so alone… I have no family. That was the first hug I have gotten in — hmmm… I don't know how long. It's hard to believe that somebody cares.
Being a kid, I hadn't thought about what I was doing that night. I just had the reaction to the sight of someone else's pain. On our earlier morning jogs, my dad and I had talked about the importance of giving, but I hadn't had any idea of what it really meant.
Before the man left that night, my parents asked him why he had knocked on our door. He said that as he was walking along the streets, hopeless and ready to die, he had noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of our house. The bumper (保险杠) sticker on the car read: SOMEBODY LOVES YOU.
