BOTTOMLESS KINDNESS: The heart to protect those precious to oneself (an original story)

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"Hey Kim! Why are you so kind to them? They don't deserve your kindness!" These are the words I'm longing to say to my only friend, Kim. Somehow, both of us are considered outcasts in our classroom. Kim is an orphan who's currently living with her aunt's family. In my case, I'm an outcast because they see me as a nerd... an odd one.

Well, I don't really care because I don't live off of them. I know myself better and also, having Kim beside me is enough for me to survive this torture of a school. I'm here to learn and not to please everyone anyway.

One day, during our lunch time...

"Hey Kim!" Her cousin who's in the same grade as us called out.

"Yes Mark? Do you need anything?"

Her cousin smirked and pointed her lunchbox. "I ate mine during second period. Can I have that?"

I was kind of enraged and about to speak up when Kim willingly gave him her lunch. "Here. I'll just buy myself some bread."

This isn't the first time this happened and I'm honestly getting tired of Kim saying "He's an athlete, so he needs to eat more than I do."

Although frustrated, I just heaved a sigh.

---

"'Kim!" One of our classmates called out to her, "Can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Uhmm... you know my mom's in the hospital, right? So I have to go there. Will you do my cleaning duty instead? Please?"

She just smiled and nodded.

"Dude... wasn't your mother discharged a couple days ago?"

"Shhh. she might hear you.." And they both ran away from the classroom.

I turned to Kim, "You heard that, right? I'm gonna go and tell the teacher!" My patience was leaving me. I stood up but Kim held my arm to stop me and motioned "no".

"What do you mean no?" I was getting real upset.

"He must have his reasons, besides there's not a lot to clean anyway."She said smiling.

"You're really weird, you know that?" Giving up, I told her and headed to the cleaning cabinet to get a broom. "Guess, I got no choice but to help."

Her eyes twinkled and continued cleaning.

After we're done cleaning the classroom, we decided to take a detour on our way home. Our house is just a few blocks away from where she's staying. I couldn't stop worrying about her, but at the same time, I'm constantly admiring her.

We decided to grab some meatbuns and went to the park near our area.

"It was another tough day, isn't it?" I said as I was taking out the meatbuns from the paper bag and handed one to her.

"Thanks!", she said, "That's true, but isn't life amazing?"

I stopped digging in for a moment and looked at her, "How can you say that? Aside from being an outcast, aren't people taking advantage of you? How can you be so positive?"

She returned my gaze and asked, "Sally, why are you so kind to me?"

With a questioning look, I asked back, "Why are you asking me that?"

She giggled and continued, "Just answer me..."

I paused, tried to organize my thoughts and answered, "Because you're my only friend. You talk to me and hangout with me even though others see me as the odd one out. I'm kind to you because you taught me how to be kind.I always see you smiling positively despite the fact that people are obviously using you and taking advantage of your kindness."

There was a moment of silence before Kim talked again.

"We actually have a similar reason, Sally. My cousin Mark often takes away my lunch but when I think about it, it's his family who has been feeding me ever since my parents died. So I thought, giving out my lunch to him isn't a big deal. besides, aunt mary also gives me pocket money. So with that, I could buy myself something to eat. They're the onlyy family I have left. With that, I still consider myself lucky."

I didn't comment anything and waited for her to continue,"You said earlier that I taught you how to be kind by setting an example. Well, you're right. Kindness can be learned, so I hope that people will also learn what you have learned. It's not something that we could direct people to do, but it's something that we could start."

Listening to her made me realize how great her heart is. I stood up and hugged her.

"You are such a darling, Kim. I'm sure your kindness would change a lot of people. It will touch a lot of hearts."

My friend hugged me back, "Thank you, Sally... for not leaving me and for putting up with me. You're also a darling yourself and I know that people would also realize your worth.

We both went home with a slightly heavy and puffy eyes but with a very light and happy heart. The path that we're going to take won't be easy, but as long as we have bottomless kindness and the heart to protect those who are precious to us, we'll get through life with ease and a happy heart.


@tegoshei