Category : Stories

Sub Category : Drama

When Jane Smith walked out the door of her house Saturday morning, she broke her pattern in one way: she tore a small piece of bread off the loaf on the kitchen counter and put it in the pocket of her worn jeans. Then, she continued with her repetitive day to day life. She sat behind the desk inside Smith Construction, answering phones. However, after 20 minutes, Jane’s day became very unordinary. Something, maybe destiny, pulled her outside, several blocks down the crumbling sidewalk. 
On a busy city street, Jane’s eyes landed on a woman with hair as white as snow and a face with so many wrinkles she must have been 100 years old, sitting on the curb of the sidewalk holding an empty Campbell’s soup can. Many people walked or drove past her, but no one stopped. No one but Jane. Jane walked up to the woman, and the woman held out her can. Jane tried to think of what she could give her, and then she remembered the piece of bread she’d compulsively taken with her that morning. Without hesitation, she pulled it out of her pocket and dropped it in the can with a “thunk”. While everyone else around them cared only for themselves, Jane had done something selfless for the old woman. In return, the old woman reached up and touched Jane’s hand, “Use it wisely,” the woman said. 
Jane felt very confused as she continued down the sidewalk. After walking only another block, out of nowhere, a pigeon fell, right out of the sky, landing with a sickening crunch on the sidewalk. Shocked at how few people noticed, and the grimaces and ignorance of the people who did, she kneeled next to the pigeon, stroking it with one hand. A flash of yellow light blinded her, and she was shocked when she saw the pigeon get up and fly away. She soon realized it was she who had saved its life. Jane went back to find the old woman, but she was long gone. 
For a while, Jane used her gift to help others in a perfectly unselfish way, but it didn’t take long before the entire world knew of Jane’s gift. Fame and fortune found her, the real purpose for her gift was lost, along with Jane’s selfless nature. The corruption of mankind’s greed and wealth infiltrated Jane’s pure soul, and a good person was lost.
By strange coincidence, one day, Jane once again found herself on the same sidewalk where her life had been transformed many years before. Walking along, Jane paid no notice to a very old woman holding nothing, but an empty soup can. After walking another block, just as before, a pigeon fell out of the sky and landed with a sickening crunch on the sidewalk. Once again, Jane leaned down to stroke the bird, but this time the bird stayed dead.