Kind-Hearted

• Maleehah Haque, Grade 3
• Short Story
• 2015

There was only one school in this village of Gorpur. There was a rich side and a poor side of the village. Riya was from the poorer side. Riya’s parents used to grow roses for their income. She was eight years old and she used to help her parents on the farm every day. She had no luxuries of life but was happy with whatever little they had. Riya was in the class with twenty other girls since it was only a girl’s class. She was the only girl from the poorer side of the village. A very kind hearted girl who didn’t fit in the class because the rich girls didn’t like her. Unlike the other girls she didn’t have shoes or new clothes or the latest gadgets. She used to sit by herself in the class and dream about having all these girls as her friends. During lunch Riya would normally go home to eat, it was better than eating by herself in class. Her teacher was very nice and kind and would always encourage the other girls to be nice to Riya which obviously never worked. It was 21st of August her teachers birthday and like every year the girls were getting the teacher a nice present which Riya was never a part of because no one would tell her anything. One girl Sunita, took money from the other girls so she could buy presents and card for the teacher. The next day Riya noticed the girls were upset as Sunita was sick and didn’t come to school. Riya felt bad for the girls. Riya went home for lunch and asked her dad if she could pick some flowers. She never asked her parents for anything and when told her father what happened and how she felt sorry for the girls, her father picked her a bunch of long stemmed roses. Riya spent her lunch making a card and her father wrapped her flowers with a red ribbon. Riya had to run back to class which had started after lunch. She knocked the door and apologised for being late. The class were shocked to see her walk in with the flowers and a card to the teacher. The flowers were so beautiful. She gave it to the teacher. The teacher smiled at her and opened the card. She read it out aloud which said “Happy birthday mam from the whole class”. The whole class was shocked. The teacher new the truth and with tears in her eyes she gave Riya the biggest hug, seeing the teacher doing that the whole class ran to Riya and gave her the tightest group hug. They all cried with her and promised to be her friend. Now six months later Riya has the most friends in the class. All the girls love her, they have realized she is the kindest of them all. She loves going to her school now. Love and kind heart is what makes us better human beings.