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from a smile

It had been a busy day. The store was cramped with people and the girl behind the counter, Allie, felt as if her face was about to fall apart or start doing muscle spasms due to all the smiling she had done for the last 7 hours. Only one more hour to go and then I'm done for today, she thought to herself as she smiled at a middle aged man wearing a dark suit. "And how are you doing today?" She asked the question so genuinely that the man looked up from his wallet in surprise.
    "Fine," he answered.
     Allie smiled again. "Well it really is a beautiful day. After all the rain we've had it's nice to see the sun for a while. Thank you," she took his money and returned some change. "Have a great evening!" She grinned and handed him his purchase.
     "You too," the man muttered, received the bag from her and walked out the door. He threw the bag roughly into the passenger seat of his car, got in, and drove down the lonely road. It really was a very busy road, multiple cars zoomed past each other through the four lanes of traffic. The man in the dark suit, however, felt lonely. He drove on in silence until he reached the destination he had been seeking in his mind all day at the office. He parked, climbed out, and gazed at the sea below him.
     "No one will miss me." He said with determination and a hint of sorrow. "There is no reason to stay. The hurt is too much. I can't take this anymore." Yet he could not will himself to cast away his body to the unforgiving torrents of the ranging tempest below. It would be so easy to fall. So easy to lay aside his torment and sleep for an eternity.
     Yet he couldn't fall.
      He couldn't move.
      The earth clung to his feet and his heart was locked in an intense argument over what he aught to do. So he stood for a time. His soul couldn't not find rest and just when he was about to lay aside the anger and hurt and be done with this world of mortals he remembered that girl.  
      She had stood with a smile that shone with deep joy and kindness, despite the angry man whom she had helped before him and besides the toddler who had thrown his banana peel at her. She had smiled. She had taken it all with stride, forgiving. Moreover, she had been the one source of warmth he had felt in a long time. He clung to that warmth for a moment, looked down at the sea, and then turned and climbed back into his car, drove down the now almost silent highway and went home.
     He took his purchase into his home, handed it to his wife.
    And cried.

Comments

  1. Mandee23 October 2012 at 13:08

    thanks for your post... good reminder to us all of how we never know how our kindness or a smile can change someone's day

    ReplyDelete

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