Despite wearing worn-out shoes to school, eight-year-old Haley begged her mom to buy new sneakers for her poor classmate who wore tattered ones. The next day, someone unexpectedly paid tribute to her kindness. “What’s that squeaky noise?” Mega asked her eight-year-old daughter, Henley. She looked down at her girl’s shoes and noticed her sneaker’s soles had ripped open.
Megan and Haley were on their way home from school, and it had just stopped raining. Water on the road had seeped into Haley’s damaged shoes, making a squishy noise. Meg immediately took her daughter to a shoe store to buy her a new pair of sneakers. She had some money for groceries but thought getting Haley a new pair of shoes was more important. “Yes, those pink shoes on the rack below the blue ones,” Megan instructed the shop assistant.
“How about these?” Meg heard Haley say. She turned around and saw Haley checking shoes in the section exclusively for boys. Meg frowned and approached her daughter. “Mama, I want these limited edition sneakers.
Buddy loves this TV show, and he always tells me how he wishes to wear such shoes.” Meg was taken aback. Not only did she not have money to afford two pairs of shoes, but she wondered why Haley was interested in getting her classmate Buddy a pair. “Why would you want to buy your classmate new shoes?” Haley’s smile shrunk into despair.
“Buddy’s from a very poor family, Mama, poorer than us. His shoes are torn and look sad. Everybody laughs at him. Please, can we buy these shoes for him? You can buy mine later.
Meg thought for a while and decided it would be best if she bought her daughter her shoes for now. “You’ll fall sick if you keep wearing your wet, torn shoes. I’m sorry, honey, but you need a new pair.” Haley sighed heavily and agreed. She wasn’t excited to see the new pair of sneakers her mom had bought for her.
As Megan and Haley left Bob’s shoe store, the owner, who knew Meg well, walked to the entrance inside. He’d overheard everything and knew what it was like to live in poverty. Bob’s light father was a cobbler, and that inspired him to establish a shoe store that sold footwear for people from all walks of life. He wanted to help Haley fulfill her mission of helping Buddy but didn’t know how. Moreover, the pair of shoes Haley wanted to get for Buddy was a limited edition collection.
They were pretty expensive, and he couldn’t just give them away for free. Suddenly, he remembered something and climbed downstairs to the store’s basement. World limited edition shoes were stocked. “Hmm,” Bob grinned. He brought down an entire shelf of unsold shoes and picked the best ones that could be used.
Then he contacted Haley’s mother. “What time can I pop in? I want to surprise the girl. Make sure she’s not up and out before 7 tomorrow morning.” “All right, sure, sure.
Thanks, Mr. White. I’m glad you could help.” Haley hadn’t slept the entire night peacefully. She was hounded by the thought of Buddy and his raggedy shoes.
She’d even checked her piggy bank, with a few coins rattling in a disheartening way. Even more, she decided she would invite her classmates to pool money to buy shoes for Buddy. “Darling, wake up. It’s time to get ready for school,” Meg jolted her daughter. “Morning, Mama.
Good morning, darling. Can you please bring me the paper from the gate?” Meg told Haley. She couldn’t wait to see her daughter’s reaction when she opened the door. Haley rubbed her sleepy eyes and yawned as she walked to the main door.
She opened it and stood stunned. “Mama, come here. Mommy, there are so many boxes at the door. Mommy, please come quickly.” Meg came out smiling and asked Haley to open the boxes and see for herself.
“New shoes!” she cried in joy. On one of the shoeboxes, it was written, “Hope Buddy loves them.” Meg then told Haley that the shoe store owner had overheard their conversation and had wanted to help. He’s an old friend and has two little granddaughters just like you.
Thank you, he told me he couldn’t see you sad. So, honey, are you happy? These are new sneakers for Buddy and his parents.” Haley inspected the shoes meant for Buddy and found they were the ones he wanted, inspired by his favorite TV series but an older version. As she scooped up the boxes, she found another shoebox with her name written on it.
She opened the box to see what was inside, and it made her cry. “New ballet shoes!” the girl cried in joy. It turned out that Megan once visited Bob’s shoe store to help her shop for new ballet shoes, but she couldn’t buy them because they were so expensive. He took the opportunity to reward Haley for her kindness and gifted her a new pair of ballet shoes.
Megan and Haley happily loaded the shoe boxes into their car trunk and rode to Buddy’s house to deliver the shoes. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Figgs will never forget your help,” Buddy’s parents were overwhelmed. His buddy wore his new shoes happily and jumped around in joy. His parents set aside some of the shoes to pass on the kindness.
They decided to donate a few pairs to charity and spread the message that kindness begets love and uplifts humanity.
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