In a small fishing village, where the houses smell of basil and people still have a simplicity in their lives and daily routines, there lived a little boy, Nikolas.
His heart was as big as the sea that embraced the entire village. He liked to help those he felt needed help. At school he would share his own bun with the classmate who had no breakfast. On the street, when he met his neighbor, Mrs. Evgenia, who had health problems and lived alone, he would run to her to help her carry the groceries to her house. He often helped Mr. Giannis, the fisherman, to spread out and prepare his nets, just as he liked to help his father who was also a fisherman.
One day, as he was walking on the beach, he found a beautiful, small shiny shell that shone in the sun and decided to keep it because he felt it would bring him luck.
Days passed and one morning his father became seriously ill and could not go fishing. His mother tried to cover the needs and expenses of the house with any job she could find, but many times she could not, so he often saw her with tears in her eyes.
Walking sadly, again on his beloved beach, Nikolas took the shell out of his pocket and, holding it tightly, thought that it had brought him no luck. Then a tear rolled down his eyes, along with a great disappointment, because he felt that now he could not help his family.
And where he lost hope, from the next day on, small miracles began to happen.
Outside their house, he found a basket of eggs left by Mrs. Eugenia. The good baker of the village began to give them bread every day without asking for money, and Mr. Giannis also gave them fish from his boat and told him that when your father feels better and recovers, I will help him fish together.
Nikolas couldn't believe this good thing that was suddenly happening in his life and, holding his shell again, he thought that luck had come.
But it wasn't the shell that brought good, but all those small things that were important and that he had given freely to others, without asking for anything in return.
Nikolas learned that whatever you give with your heart comes back. A smile, a helping hand, a little love, travels like a wave of the sea and at some point comes back. Like the sunlight that leaves with the sunset and returns with the sunrise. Maybe not on the same day, maybe not with the same people.
This is how goodness is, it is not lost. It becomes a hug, it becomes hope. A drop of kindness can change the world around us, because what we give with love comes back as light and returns to those who give it silently. It is the shell that speaks to anyone with an open heart.
photo by Cameraman, https://pixabay.com
