“Wow, she’s pretty,” Samuel thought to himself as he saw a girl around his age during his walk through the near-deserted park. She had brown hair that fell just barely past her shoulders, a slim body, and hands that looked delicate as she held her face in them crying. Wait…she was crying!

“Maybe I should say something…” Samuel walked up and sat down on the bench next to her, hoping it wouldn’t be too awkward since he had never seen this girl before. As he sat down, the girl visibly stiffened and tried to stifle her cries. “What’s wrong?” he questioned.

“Go away,” the abrupt response. Samuel didn’t want to upset the girl any further, but his heart broke seeing anyone hurt like that. The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes, both of them thinking about what they would say if the other happened to speak first. Eventually Samuel decided that he had to do something.

“You won’t tell me why you’re crying?” The girl just shook her head. “Okay then…can I tell you why I’m crying?” At this she lowered her hands slightly and turned her head to look at this strange boy that had decided to speak to her. Seeing that he was indeed crying, she nodded, and Samuel continued:

“I’m crying because I see someone like you hurting. I’m crying because there aren’t enough people left in the world to care about everyone that needs care. I’m crying because you have been so damaged that you can’t even accept help from the one person that has offered it.” At this point the girl was attempting to stifle her tears, and Samuel put his arm around her. “So, would you like to talk now? I’m always willing to listen.”

The girl nodded slowly, her mind racing because of this wonderfully kind boy she didn’t know. She lowered her shaking hands and began to speak, hoping against all hope that she could get through her story without driving this boy away.