The Heat in the Coldest of Weathers

On a bright and sunny day, kids are playing on the streets, several adults are going to and fro and doing their dues of the day.

At the side of the alley, a kid is walking. From afar you could see his stature in life; ragged clothes with holes in them, skin that saw no shower in the last few days, and the incomparable gloom in his eyes.

Children going home from school brushed past him with the brightest smiles on their faces. At this image, the kid wryly smiled and continued to walk alone.

Looking at his toes and hot weather, one would think how much pain the kid was feeling or rather, the lack of because of how used he is to the pain because of how often he feels it.

At the sight of this kid, a woman walked to him. Seeing the woman, the kid tried his best to smile and look good in front of her to at least get some cheap change but that forced smile immediately went away as the sight of this woman is… familiar.

She looked the same as him, ragged clothes, dirty skin, and messy hair. The only difference was the slipper that she has on her.

"Take this, this is the best I could give"

She took of her slipper and wore it on the boy, she smiled and walked away.

This scene was imprinted on the boy, never forgetting and was never just a memory, but hope.

The kid was taken in by a local healthcare for kids, this was where he grew up and studied, never was the day where he grew tired of it. Remembering the day that he was helped, remembering the day where his dark and gloomy word, where his feet felt hot in contrast to his emotions changed.

One day, he grew successful, he became a gallant and respectable man. Walking through the streets that he called home and the street where he frequented the most trying to find the light that gave him hope.

He did not see her, again.

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Few days after that, he visited a home for the aged. As one of his routines in helping those who are sick and lonely, he went through all the procedures as if by heart.

Then he stopped, because in the corner he saw her. Aged and wrinkled, her smile didn't have the teeth that was once there but it is still there, the smile that was so bright.

He walked to her and held her hand. At this moment he smiled, the brightest smile that he could muster and talked to her.

He asked her to wait for her and she nodded, unaware of the he is the kid the she helped all those years ago.

After a couple of minutes, he returned with a box in hand. He opened it and told her.

"This is just the start but, for you, the very best I will give"

The end.