Someone Somewhere

‘I wish I’d told him how much his kindness meant,’ she thought again, gazing up at the moon.

Earlier, a quote popped up on her Facebook feed. Someone somewhere still remembers you because you were kind. She’d never forgotten; his eyes full of concern as he listened and his smile as bright as the sun.

Their paths crossed at work, employed in different departments. One afternoon, waiting in line to use the photocopier, they found themselves standing next to each other.

‘That’s a pretty brooch you’re wearing,’ he said.

It was her grandmother’s brooch, inexpensive but priceless to her.

He listened as she told him of Gran’s passing the previous year and how much she missed her. He gently touched her arm, supplying the much-needed sympathy she craved in her dysfunctional marriage and life.

They frequently crossed paths after that, at work or in the supermarket, his caring eyes and kind smile helping to make her difficult life infinitely more bearable. She moved to another town and changed jobs but still she often found herself thinking of him and silently, in her heart, pouring out her troubles. It always made her feel better.

*

He sat on the verandah step, sipping coffee and waiting for the first star to appear.

His thoughts turned, as they often did, to someone he once knew. Someone who’d laughed at his terrible jokes, listened to his dreams and confided her own. Life hadn’t turned out the way he’d hoped and he often found himself having conversations with her in his mind. Just the thought of her gave him comfort and helped him go on.

Someone somewhere still remembers you because you were kind. He’d read that somewhere and he hoped it was true. If only he’d told her how much her kindness meant…

*

The first star appeared, twinkling brightly.

‘I wish,’ she said.

‘I wish,’ he said.

She felt a comforting touch on her arm as though someone had gently squeezed it.

He heard the echo of sweet laughter on the breeze.

And… the man in the moon smiled.