On a busy street, an old woman stood at the sidewalk and begged for alms:
“Son, give me some bread, I have nothing to feed my granddaughter with…” his voice trembled and his eyes were full of tears.
A man of about forty-five walked past. In an expensive suit, with a confident gait and a slightly arrogant squint, he did not pay attention to the old woman and was about to pass by. But suddenly something made him stop. His gaze involuntarily fell on the earrings hanging from the grandmother’s ears – emerald, antique, in a thin gold frame in the shape of a maple leaf.
He froze, looking at the earrings, as if a bolt of lightning had pierced his heart.
“Grandma,” he asked quietly, “tell me, where did you get these earrings?”
The grandmother looked at the man and answered bitterly:
– A friend gave it to me, it was a long time ago… He was just a kind person.
But the man could no longer look away. Those earrings were incredibly familiar. His heart sank. He remembered his wife – beautiful, pregnant, whom he had lost almost five years ago in childbirth.
It was then that these earrings disappeared – a gift from his late mother, a talisman that was dear to her as a memory.
He felt anxiety and anger rising in his chest. The man decided to find out the truth and spoke to his grandmother more carefully:
— Have you ever worked in a hospital before? As a nurse, perhaps?
The old woman lowered her eyes and nodded quietly.
“Yes, I had such a period…” she whispered.
“Then explain,” said the man with a tense look, “how did you end up with these earrings?”
The old woman sighed and, clasping her hands, admitted:
– They belonged to a woman in labor when she was under my care… I… I took them when she passed away. I was ashamed, but life was hard, and I was afraid that my granddaughter would go hungry.
The man looked at her – mixed feelings: the pain of loss and anger at betrayal, but also an understanding of fate, which sometimes forces people to take extreme measures.
“These earrings are a memory of her,” he said quietly. “Give them back. And maybe together we can find a way to help your granddaughter.”
Without further ado, the grandmother took off her earrings and handed them to the man.
