This short story was written for the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals “Good People, Good Deeds: English Writing Competition 2023-24. This year’s theme was “Good People, Good Deeds”. Students wrote stories about kindness, helping strangers and/or friends.

“Don’t you know how ugly your scar is? No one will ever buy your cardboard. Stop begging.” laughed Eve.

She was pointing at an old woman called Anna who was carrying a trolley with a pile of cardboard. Anna’s clothes were tattered, covered with holes.

She was walking bare feet. Dirt was on her crooked,whitened scar.

Every day when Eve walked home from school, this scene happened again and again. Anna could only suffer silently, and continued her work to make money.

Years had passed, Eve and her family moved house. Since then, she had never seen Anna again.

It was finally the day Eve turned 18!

“I cannot believe today is the day I have always been praying for!” Eve wondered.

Eve and her parents were on the way to the birthday party. Eve was eager to arrive at the birthday party place.

“I can't imagine you are 18.” Dad sobbed in tears, while he was driving.

“Bang!” A loud noise scared the whole family.

“What…was that…” Mum trembled.

“That must be a birthday surprise for me!” yelled Eve excitedly.

“I hope it is…But, I am… afraid not.” said Mum.

Slowly, a terrible smell came from the back.

“This doesn’t seem right.” Dad said.

After the horrible smell, there was black smoke coming from the back of the car. The car hit another car and it was on fire! Unfortunately, before they had time to react.

A witness called the police and after a while, the firefighters came with their hoses. They put out the fire as soon as possible.

“Where am I?” Eve woke up after a coma and found out that she was in a room with beds and medical tools.

She looked around. There was a woman standing beside her.

“Nice to see you again. Are you feeling alright? Do you need to call the nurse?” The woman said in a soft voice.

“No thanks, I’m fine,” Eve answered.

“Why does she know that I am injured? Why does she look familiar?” Eve was confused.

Eve scanned the woman. She was wearing patient clothes and had her left foot in a cast. She stared at the woman’s face. A big whitened scar was on the right side of her face.

“The…scar! The…” Eve repeated. “I am 100% sure I saw her before…But who is she?”she thought.

“You may not remember me, but I am the cleaner, who you laughed at,” said the woman .

Anna! Eve was speechless.

“So this is why you said “AGAIN” when I woke up. Did you save me from the fire? Did you bring me here?” Eve asked surprisingly.

“Yes…,” Anna said.

Then, she remembered something. Pictures of her yelling at a woman appeared in her mind. She was mean to her. But now, unexpectedly, she saved Eve’s life!

Eve burst into tears and hugged Anna tightly.

“I apologise for what I did,” Eve cried.

“Sweetheart, there’s no need to apologise. But remember don't do this again” said Anna.

The Day She Helped a Girl (TWGH 2023-24)