12-year-old David was excited to buy new sneakers after saving up for months but decided to buy boots for his classmate whose shoes were tattered. Little did he know that his kindness would be rewarded in an unexpected way.
David always found himself a window seat on the school bus back home. As always, he opened the window wide and let the afternoon breeze brush across his face as he recollected the game he played that day, moment by moment.
“That was unbelievable, what you did on the field today!” one of his mates had said.
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“I think we’ve got a national-level player on our hands, guys. Get your autographs while you can!” another player teased David, patting his back almost a bit too hard.
That was the distant dream — playing for his country and creating history, like all his soccer heroes.
David could almost taste it; the sweet air of victory and pride when his team and he held the golden championship trophy and smiled for the photographs.
David would constantly rehearse what he would say for the cameras and the papers at the end of the match. How he rose from humble beginnings. And how he owed his mother everything he had become.
“Excuse me, may I sit here?”
David was so deep in his daydream that he didn’t realize one of his classmates had asked permission to sit next to him.
The boy sat down next to David, hugged his backpack, and started dreaming his own dream. ‘I want to become the best soccer player in the school. Just like David. I can’t believe I’m sitting next to him!’
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The boy was a true fan of David’s game and wouldn’t miss a chance to watch him play. In his mind, David was everything he wanted to be. He wanted to play like him, have tons of friends like him, and even wear those fancy soccer shoes David was wearing.
‘These old tattered shoes should do…for now,’ the boy thought, hiding his feet under the seat out of embarrassment.
Guillermo was always shy and found it challenging to make friends. One day, the boy finally found the courage to talk to his hero.
“Hi, David! I’m Guillermo. I’m your biggest fan!”
“Oh? Hi, Guillermo! Thank you.”
There was an awkward silence as David went back to daydreaming.
“I…really like your shoes!” Guillermo blurted the first thing that came to his mind.
“These? These are really old, and the soles have already started to come off. You should see the new shoes I’ll be getting…” David’s eyes lit up, thinking about the dreamy pair of sneakers he had been saving up for.
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Getty Images
“Tell me more about them!” Guillermo said, slowly tucking his feet under the seat. He didn’t want David to see how ugly and tattered his own shoes were.
“Well, they’re perfect! They’re neon orange, and they’ve got unbeatable grip…”
It had been seven months since David had been raising money to buy the pair of sneakers he wanted. This was the first time the 12-year-old wanted to buy something for himself. And he wanted to do it without burdening his mother. He knew how hard his mother worked, struggling to provide for him and his two younger twin sisters.
“Mom, you don’t need to contribute. Tracy and Katie have their birthdays coming up soon, and you need to save up to throw a tea party, remember?”
David saved up enough money. He did it with the help of a short paper route every morning and the savings from the lemonade stand he had put up the last vacation. Until one day, his piggy bank was full, and he finally had enough to bring his dream shoes home.
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On the bus ride home from school that day, he couldn’t stop talking about it with Guillermo.
“Guillermo! I did it! I’m going straight to the store after homework this evening and buying the best sneakers in town. In fact, I’ll come and pick you up, and you can accompany me to the shop. It’s going to be the best feeling ever!”
Guillermo felt genuine happiness for his idol. That’s when the bus suddenly jolted over a pothole, and one of Guillermo’s shoes fell off onto the bus floor.
David was taken aback at the sight of the worn-out, blackened shoe. It was a pair of thin, low-quality summer shoes that had seen too many seasons. There were holes in the sole, the canvas was coming apart, and there was no sign of a lace.
Guillermo let the other shoe fall, giving in to the feeling of shame.
David had tears in his eyes when he looked at his friend, hiding his face in his palms, sobbing quietly but uncontrollably. The two boys didn’t know what to say to each other for the rest of the ride.
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“Be ready by 5 o’clock!” David finally reminded Guillermo of the evening’s plan to visit the store. There was no way David was going to the store alone. Not after what he had seen.
“Ah, David! Here to pick up your new pair of soccer shoes? I’ve got them packed and ready right here.”
“Hold on, sir. Could you show me a pair of those in a smaller size?” David said, pointing at a pair of comfortable boots.
Always help the needy whenever you can.
The shop owner, Mr. Manning, was confused. “But the ones I packed are your exact size, Dave.”
“Not for me, for my friend here,” Dave replied.
Guillermo couldn’t believe what he had heard. He couldn’t possibly let David do that.
“No, David, I don’t need—”
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David squeezed Guillermo’s hand and blinked softly to quiet him. “I’ve got this, Guillermo. You’re always calling me your hero. Let me try and be one for you.”
Mr. Manning heard this exchange between the boys and felt a warmth of love and affection rise in his chest. He knew exactly what to do.
“Woah, this one looks great on you, friend. And it’s the absolute best we’ve got in this store.”
David was finally satisfied with the pair of boots he had bought for his friend. Guillermo’s shame had turned to overwhelm, gratitude, and pure joy over his unexpected gift.
As the boys left the store and cycled away, Mr. Manning signaled his staff. “Listen, there’s something we need to do right away…”
“David! There’s someone at the door for you! He arrived with an entire truck, actually.” David’s mother couldn’t make heads or tails of the strange visitor, either.
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David rushed to the door and found a familiar face. It was Mr. Manning, the shoe store owner. “I heard you talking to your friend at the store, Dave. I know what you did.”
David’s mother leaned in with a crease of suspicion sitting on her brow.
“I know how much you wanted those spiked sneakers, and I’ve seen you selling lemonade and delivering newspapers. And today, I saw you let all that desire go, just so you could help a friend who was in deeper need than you were.”
David lowered his head out of shyness, catching a glimpse of the proud look on his mother’s face from the corner of his eye.
“And I think this kind of kindness and friendship ought to be celebrated in this day and age. So come on! Get on the back of this truck and pick up as many pairs of shoes as you’d like. For you, your mother, and the twins… Don’t worry about the money; this is all on me.”
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Getty Images
David hesitated, looking to his mother for approval. As soon as she nodded, he dashed towards the truck with eyes shining in excitement.
“Hurry, we’ve still got to get to your friend’s house. There are free shoes for him and his family, too!”
What do we learn from this story?
Always help the needy whenever you can. Although David worked hard to buy new sneakers, he used the money to help Guillermo, who was wearing torn shoes.
An act of kindness can be infectious. The shoe store owner noticed David’s kindness. He was inspired by the boy’s actions and decided to help his and his friend’s family.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a boy who received his favorite sneakers from the thrift shop as a gift on his birthday. He noticed an inscription on it and was shocked to learn about its previous owner.
This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life.
My Husband Went on a Business Trip Right Before Christmas — on Christmas Eve, I Found Out He Lied and Was Actually in Our City
My husband left on an “urgent” business trip just two days before Christmas. When I learned he had lied and was actually at a nearby hotel, I drove there. But when I burst into that hotel room, I froze in tears. The face looking back at me shattered my heart and turned my world upside down.
I always thought my husband and I shared everything. Every silly joke, every little worry, and every dream. We knew each other’s quirks and flaws, celebrated our victories together, and helped each other through rough patches. At least, that’s what I believed until Christmas Day when everything I thought I knew came crashing down around me.
An upset woman | Source: Midjourney
“Andrea, I need to tell you something,” Shawn said, his fingers drumming nervously on our kitchen counter. “My boss called. He needs me to handle an emergency client situation in Boston.”
I looked up from my coffee, studying his face. There was something different in his expression. A flicker of… guilt? Anxiety?
“During Christmas?” my eyes widened.
“I know, I know. I tried to get out of it, but…” He ran his hand through his dark hair — a gesture I’d grown to love over our three years of marriage. “The client’s threatening to pull their entire account.”
A distressed man | Source: Midjourney
“You’ve never had to travel on Christmas before.” I wrapped my hands around my coffee mug, seeking warmth. “Couldn’t someone else handle it?”
“Trust me, I wish there was.” His eyes met mine, then quickly darted away. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise. We’ll have our own Christmas when I get back.”
“Well, I guess duty calls.” I forced a smile, though disappointment settled heavy in my chest. “When are you leaving?”
“Tonight. I’m so sorry, honey.”
I nodded, fighting back tears. It was going to be our first Christmas apart since we’d met.
A sad woman with her eyes downcast | Source: Midjourney
That evening, as I helped Shawn pack, memories of our life together flooded my mind.
I remembered our wedding day, how his eyes lit up when I walked down the aisle, and the way he surprised me with weekend getaways. How he worked extra hours at the consulting firm to save for our dream house — the Victorian with the wrap-around porch we’d been eyeing.
“Remember our first Christmas?” I asked, folding his sweater. “When you nearly burned down our apartment trying to make a roast turkey?”
He laughed. “How could I forget? The fire department wasn’t too happy about that 3 a.m. call.”
A man laughing | Source: Midjourney
“And last Christmas, when you got us those matching ugly sweaters?”
“You still wore yours to work!”
“Because you dared me to!” I tossed a sock at him, and he caught it with a grin. “The office still hasn’t let me live it down.”
His smile faded slightly. “I’m so sorry about this trip, darling.”
“I know!” I sat on the edge of the bed. “It’s just… Christmas won’t be the same without you.”
A worried woman sitting on the edge of the bed | Source: Midjourney
He sat beside me, taking my hand. “Promise you won’t open your presents until I’m back?”
“Cross my heart.” I leaned against his shoulder. “Promise you’ll call?”
“Every chance I get. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
As I watched him drive away, something nagged at the back of my mind. But I pushed the thought away. This was Shawn, after all. My Shawn. The man who brought me soup when I was sick and danced with me in the rain. And the man I trusted more than anyone in the world.
A man driving a car | Source: Unsplash
Christmas Eve arrived, bringing with it a blanket of snow and an emptiness I couldn’t shake. The house felt too quiet and too still. I’d spent the day baking cookies alone, watching Christmas movies alone, and wrapping last-minute gifts… alone.
Around 9 p.m., my phone lit up with Shawn’s call. My heart leaped.
“Merry Christmas, beautiful,” he said, his voice oddly strained.
“Merry Christmas! How’s Boston? Did you get the client situation sorted out?”
“It’s… uh… good. Listen, I can’t really talk right now. I have to go—”
A shocked woman talking on the phone | Source: Midjourney
In the background, I heard what sounded like dishes clinking, muffled voices, and laughter.
“Are you at dinner? This late? I thought you had meetings?”
“I have to go!” he practically shouted. “Emergency meeting!”
The line went dead.
I stared at my phone, my hands shaking. Emergency meeting? At 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve? With restaurant noises in the background? None of it made sense.
Then I remembered my fitness tracker! I’d left it in his car last weekend after our grocery run. With trembling fingers, I opened the app on my phone.
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The location pointer blinked back at me, mocking my trust. Shawn’s car wasn’t in Boston. It was parked at a hotel right in our city, less than 15 minutes from our house.
My world stopped spinning for a moment. Then everything rushed back in a tornado of thoughts.
A hotel? In our city? On Christmas Eve?
My mind raced through possibilities, each worse than the last. Was he meeting someone? Had our entire marriage been a lie? The signs had been there… the nervous behavior, the quick departure, and the strange phone call.
“No,” I whispered to myself. “No, no, no.”
A woman driving a car | Source: Unsplash
Without thinking twice, I raced to my car and headed straight to the hotel.
The drive passed in a blur of tears and terrible scenarios. Every red light felt like torture. Every second that ticked by was another moment my imagination ran wild with possibilities I couldn’t bear to consider.
Sure enough, there sat Shawn’s silver car, right in the parking lot when I arrived.
The sight of it — the car I’d helped him pick out, the car we’d taken on countless road trips — made my stomach churn.
A silver car in a hotel’s parking lot | Source: Midjourney
My hands shook as I marched into the lobby, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst. Christmas music played softly in the background like a cruel mockery.
The receptionist looked up with a practiced smile. “Can I help you?”
I pulled out my phone, bringing up a photo of Shawn and me from last summer’s beach trip. My thumb brushed across his smiling face.
“This man is my husband. Which room is he in?”
An anxious woman at a hotel reception area | Source: Midjourney
She hesitated. “Ma’am, I’m not supposed to—”
“Please, I need to know. He told me he was in Boston, but his car is right outside. Please… I have to know what’s going on.”
Something in my expression must have moved her. Maybe it was the tears I couldn’t hold back, or maybe she’d seen this scene play out before. She typed something into her computer, glancing at my phone again.
“Room 412,” she said and slid a keycard across the counter. “But miss? Sometimes things aren’t what they seem.”
I barely heard her last words as I rushed toward the elevator.
An agitated woman in an elevator | Source: Midjourney
The elevator ride felt eternal. Each floor dinged past like a countdown to disaster. When I finally reached the fourth floor, I ran down the hallway, my footsteps muffled by the carpet.
Room 412. I didn’t knock… just swiped the keycard and burst in.
“Shawn, how could you—”
The words died in my throat.
There was Shawn, standing beside a wheelchair.
And in that wheelchair sat a man with silver-streaked hair and familiar eyes — eyes I hadn’t seen since I was five years old. Eyes that had once watched me take my first steps, had crinkled at the corners when he laughed at my jokes and had filled with tears the day he left.
An older man in a wheelchair | Source: Midjourney
“DADDY?” The word came out as a whisper, a prayer, and a question I’d been asking for 26 years.
“ANDREA!” my father’s voice trembled. “My little girl.”
Time seemed to freeze as memories crashed over me: Mom burning all his letters after the divorce… moving us across the country. And me crying myself to sleep, clutching the last birthday card he’d managed to send — the one with the little cartoon puppy that said: “I’ll love you forever.”
“How?” I turned to Shawn, tears streaming down my face. “How did you…?”
An emotional woman in a hotel room | Source: Midjourney
“I’ve been searching for him for a year,” Shawn said softly. “Learned a few details about him from your mother a few months before she passed. Found him in Arizona last week through social media contacts. He had a stroke a few years back and lost his ability to walk. I drove down to get him yesterday… wanted to surprise you for Christmas.”
My father reached for my hand. His fingers were thinner than I remembered, but the gentle strength in them was the same.
“I never stopped looking for you, Andrea. Your mother… she made it impossible. Changed your addresses and moved so many times. But I never stopped loving you. Never stopped trying to find my little girl.”
An emotional older man | Source: Midjourney
I fell to my knees beside his wheelchair, sobbing as he pulled me into his arms. His cologne, the same sandalwood scent from my childhood, wrapped around me like a warm blanket.
Every Christmas wish I’d ever made, every birthday candle I’d blown out, and every 11:11 I’d wished on — they’d all been for this moment.
“I thought…” I choked out between sobs. “When I saw the hotel… I thought…”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Shawn knelt beside us. “I wanted to tell you so badly. But I needed to make sure I could find him first. I couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing you if it didn’t work out.”
An upset young man in a hotel room | Source: Midjourney
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to Shawn later, after emotions had settled somewhat and we’d ordered room service.
He pulled me close on the small sofa. “I wanted it to be perfect. Tomorrow morning, Christmas breakfast, your father walking… well, rolling in… the look on your face…”
“It is perfect!” I looked between the two men I loved most in the world. “Even if I ruined the surprise. Though I might have given myself a heart attack getting here.”
An emotional woman looking at someone | Source: Midjourney
My father chuckled from his wheelchair. “You were always an impatient one. Remember how you used to shake all your Christmas presents?”
“Some things never change,” Shawn said, squeezing my hand.
“Remember the time I tried to convince you there was a fairy living in the garden?” Dad’s eyes twinkled. “You left out tiny sandwiches for a week.”
“I’d forgotten about that!” I laughed through fresh tears.
“I have 26 years of stories saved up,” Dad said softly. “If you want to hear them.”
“I want to hear everything.” I reached for his hand. “Every single story.”
A man sitting in a wheelchair and smiling | Source: Midjourney
I rested my head on Shawn’s shoulder, watching as my father began telling tales of my childhood — stories I’d thought were lost forever. Snow fell softly outside, and somewhere in the distance, church bells began to ring on Christmas Day.
My father’s eyes twinkled. “Now, who’s ready to hear about the time five-year-old Andrea decided to give our dog a haircut?”
“I think what we’re all ready to hear,” Shawn said with a grin, “is how Andrea jumped to conclusions and thought her loving husband was up to no good on Christmas Eve!”
A cheerful man laughing | Source: Midjourney
I groaned, but couldn’t help laughing. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”
“Never,” they both said in unison, and the sound of their laughter was the best Christmas gift I could have ever received.
An emotional woman smiling | Source: Midjourney
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