Katie was an independent girl. She always went home by herself. She walked 5 blocks to the 13 train, transferred to the "Down the Road" bus and then to the 300 Street bus to get to school and home everyday. Her travel time is about 1hr and a half to 2hrs. So she gets up at 3:30 a.m. in the morning to start getting ready, and leaves at 3:00 p.m. sharp to get home at 5:00p.m.
One day, she was on the 13 train heading somewhere over the rainbow when she saw this old, wrinkled, elderly man that smelled of rotting fish come on the train and sat down. Katie followed behind to get on the train.
The man asked, "Would you like to sit down, young ma'am?."
Katie replied, "Of course not, do I know you?!"
Some people stared at her. Some people nodded in agreement with her. The old man looked hurt.
"So sorry m'am. I understand the way you would react to such a stranger like me. Please forgive me," the man croaked.
But just then, it was Katie's stop to get off, and had not replied to the crusty, dusty man.
Such rudeness, she thought to herself.
"How could he talk to someone like that. He can at least keep up with his personal hygiene. P-U, he stunk like garbage that has been rotting for days."
Katie knew that because one day, her mother had asked her to take out the garbage when her baby sister had made a stink bomb. Katie had been reluctant and lazy, so she had went to her bed to "go to sleep". The next day, Katie was on the bus to school, she thought she saw the old man push the lady down a set of stairs. But the old man happened to be behind the lady who tripped on her heels and was about to fall flat on her face. He reacted on instinct, and grabbed her flailing arms.
The lady reacted immediately and shrieked, "Don't you touch me, you dirty, old man! Yuck, now I think I smell like you".
I was just trying to be nice, the man thought to himself.
Even if he was crusty and dusty, lost his home, his 9-month old child, and his wife to a pair of greedy robbers and kidnappers, he still had a good heart. Life had been hard for him after he lost his most beloved family members. He used to be a rich, and well-liked man, always giving whatever he had to the charities, and donating rare, classic books to schools, and buying ice-cream to children who had no money on a sweltering day. One day, Katie had a ton of homework, being that she was in 7th grade, so she needed to stay after school. She stayed until 7:45, and finally, finally, finished her homework. She had just walked outside, when a fight broke out next to her in a dark alleyway. She decided to hurry away and get home because the night could be very dangerous. She called her mom, and started walking. She saw shadows out the corners of her eyes, and realized that they belonged to the men that started fighting. She walked faster. There was no one on the street tonight; the air was very brisk and cold. She got to the train safely, and looked back. The guys were punching their fists and cracking their knuckles. She saw the old man on the other side of the car. He looked away.
She might get mad at me again, he thought.
He's so rude, he doesn't even want to look at me, she thought angrily.
The men advanced. This was her stop. She got off and ran, heading for the exit. The men were too quick. They pushed her to the ground. All she saw was a flurry of fists. Katie thought she had glimpsed the old man coming towards her. She felt a lot of pain. Then, she saw a man pull out a knife. She saw the old man pushing everyone aside.
He must want to stab me first, she thought.
Katie felt someone lifting her up, and carrying her behind a big box. She heard footsteps running past. Then, she blacked out. When she awoke, she found herself in a hospital room. Then, she saw someone stand up and was about to walk out the room.
She recognized the old man and yelled, "What did you do to me, and why am I here?!"
The old man sat back down. "I simply carried you away from the guys who were beating you up".
That memory was registering in Katie's mind.
"Well, I have to go now. I have some business to take care of", and with that, the man exited the room.
The guys who beat up Katie took the old man's home and family in the past. But little did Katie realize that the old man just saved her life. And she never saw him again.