Rescued by Kindness

     The Green Draik climbed out of his bed and walked over to the window. Snow was frantically falling as the wind was howling like a Ghostkerchief Petpet. The Draik looked over at his fireplace and noticed there was no wood to light a fire and a look of disappointment took over his face. “I knew I should have prepared for extra wood before this snowstorm arrived. Now I will probably freeze to death in this tiny cabin of mine!” he said out loud as if he were speaking to someone. The Draik walked over to the door of his room and opened the door handle. The Draik wasn’t being dramatic about the size of his cabin as the main room consisted of an Ogrin print bean bag chair, a small area that contained a tub, sink and toilet and another fireplace that had a cauldron which dangled above a metal railing that normally contained wood. “Wow, I’m also out of wood here too, so now I will freeze and starve to death!” said the Draik. A brown blanket was sitting on the bean bag chair and the Draik grabbed it to wrap around himself for extra warmth.

     The winter howls continued to echo in the room as the Green Draik stood wrapped in his brown blanket. The Green Draik was beginning to get lost in his thoughts. A short moment later, there was a sudden knock at the door. At first, the Draik didn’t seem to notice and shook it off as a piece of wood hitting the tin roof of his cabin from the wind, but then a second knock at the door came. The interest of the second knock arose in his mind, but the Green Draik was too occupied with other thoughts to act on checking the door. An hour went by and the Draik was now sitting on his Ogrin print bean bag, wrapped in his brown blanket while staring blankly towards the other end of the room. A sudden orange light flashed through the windows, illuminating the room, and slowly faded away. The Green Draik’s eyes awoke from the blank stare and his eyes positioned towards the window. As the Draik stared at the window with wonder in his brain, a boom into the distance blared all around, causing a slight shake within the cabin.

     “What was that?” the Draik said to himself. The snow was rapidly falling, and the wind continued to howl. The Draik began to feel nervous as the sound of the boom was unknown and eerie. He immediately threw off the blanket, got up and ran to every window to close the curtains. The Draik then went to retrieve his lit candle to blow it out. Standing in the middle of the room, the Draik started thinking about his safety and how he shouldn’t have watched that scary movie a few nights ago at the movie theatre. As he was standing, the Draik could hear a voice outside his cabin. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but dread started to sink in, and he rushed over to the tub, got in and quickly closed the curtain. The Draik was laying in the tub, curled up and deeply frightened; he didn’t know what to do! All that was in his thoughts were that he was out in the middle of the Neopia Central woods, in a tiny cabin with no neighbours for miles.

      The Green Draik heard a tap on one of the windows in the main room along with a soft voice. “My spaceship has crashed, and I need help,” said the voice outside. The Draik's eyes widened, and he put both paws on his mouth to prevent any sound from leaving his body. The soft voice continued, “Please help, it’s cold out here and I don’t know where I am or what to do!”. The Draik listened but didn’t move an inch; he was frozen in fear. “I’m sorry to bother you and I know you must be frightened, but I promise you, I’m not here to hurt anyone and I come in peace.” the voice explained. The Draik could hear hail hitting the tin roof and the wind was picking up intensely. “Ouch, please, whoever is here, I won’t make it much longer out here!” screamed the voice. A feeling of empathy rose within the Green Draik and a memory of himself being rescued as a child by a Brown Lupe emerged in his mind. “Snap out of it!” he said to himself, “I must help this fellow Neopian, just the way she helped me years ago!”. The Draik rose quickly, pulled the shower curtain open, and stepped out of the tub. He then rushed to the door, unlocked it, and opened it. Appearing in front of the door outside was a petite Alien Aisha. The Alien Aisha looked up at the Green Draik and a smile washed upon her face. “Thank you so much!” she screamed with glee! “My name is AA487, and my spaceship crashed over yonder. I am visiting from Kreludor, to go see my grandmother, but the snowstorm complicated things and caused my spaceship to malfunction,” she explained. The Green Draik was deeply concerned for the Alien Aisha and told her she could come in.

     The Draik walked toward the fireplace with his head tilted down and said, “I’m sorry AA487, but I do not have wood to warm the place, nor do I have any food to share”. He continued, “The only thing I can offer you is my brown blanket”. The Draik walked towards the Ogrin bean bag chair, retrieved the brown blanket, and handed it to AA487. The Alien Aisha gently grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her. “Thank you. What should I call you,” she asked. “I’m sorry AA487, my name is Simonkun” the Green Draik responded. AA487 eyes widened. “I thought you looked familiar, but now that I know your name, I’m certain it’s you!” stated the AA487. “My grandmother is a Brown Lupe named Delores8 and she lives around an hour away from you,” said AA487. Simonkun knew Delores8; she was the one who rescued him as a child! “Oh, my goodness, you are right AA487! Your grandmother rescued me when I was a youngling. I was ice skating on a pond and the ice broke, causing me to submerge into the icy water. Your grandmother pulled me out and took me to her cabin to keep me warm!” explained Simonkun. “Sadly, after she rescued me and I healed, I left without ever thanking her. I remembered her name, but I could never locate her all these years” said Simonkun with a sigh of sadness.

      AA487 walked towards Simonkun and gave him a hug. “Please don’t feel bad about that, look, you rescued me!” said AA487. “I will eventually see my grandmother and she will be thrilled to see you!” stated AA487. AA487 let go from hugging Simonkun and looked around the empty room. “Do you have a phone?” asked AA487 with curiosity. Simonkun nodded yes. “I do have a phone, but it’s broken. I dropped it last year and never got it repaired as I have no friends or family,” said Simonkun. AA487 gave a look of sadness and said “Well, you have a friend now!”. Simonkun smiled. AA487 paced in a circle and then paused. “May I see the phone? I’m an engineer at heart and could possibly repair it to working condition” she stated. Simonkun walked into his bedroom towards his desk. He opened the desk drawer and retrieved the broken phone. “I found it!” stated Simonkun. AA487 was standing in place, clapping her paws. Simonkun handed her the broken phone and AA487 quickly went to work. “I don’t need any tools, except for that fork on the counter,” said AA487. Clicking noises took over the room and Simonkun watched AA487 in amazement.

      It took 15 minutes for AA487 to state that she was finished repairing the phone. “Now, let's see if this phone works now!” said AA487 enthusiastically. AA487 started dialling a number and it was calling! She gave a thumbs up to Simonkun and was holding the phone close to her ear. “Uh, grandma, can you hear me?” asked AA487 on the phone. “Great, grandma, my spaceship crashed…I’m okay…I’m safe with a new friend. Do you remember Simonkun?” asked AA487. The voice on the phone gave out a shriek of excitement causing AA487 to hold the phone away. Simonkun heard the voice shout out “Yes”! AA487 pulled the phone close to her ear and said “Grandma, that’s great! Can you pick me up? I’ll send you my coordinates now!”. “Okay grandma, thank you! Yes, Simonkun is here. See you soon!” stated AA487 on the phone. AA487 then hung up the phone and gave Simonkun a bright smile.

      Simonkun and AA487 filled the room with conversation and laughter for an hour. Simonkun hadn’t felt this happy in a while and he was glad to have made a friend and was ecstatic about meeting Delores8 after all these years of searching! The room where Simonkun and AA487 was dimly lit by a single candle and as they were giggling, they both saw the glowing lights of a spaceship arriving at the cabin. “It must be Grandma!” shouted AA487. Both Simonkun and AA487 rushed to the front door. AA487 opened the door and happily shouted at her grandma that she was at the right place. Simonkun peaked over AA487 and witnessed a Brown Lupe exit a pink vehicle. Simonkun thought Delores8 looked very much the same and a rush of emotions took over him. Trying to withhold tears of joy, Simonkun gave a toothy smile!

     Delores8 walked towards the front door and gave AA487 a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay dear!” said Delores8 while she patted AA487’s back. “Grandma, I’m fine and it’s all thanks to Simonkun!” stated AA487. Delores8 put on her glasses and looked at Simonkun. “I’m so happy to see you, Simonkun! I’ve been thinking about you for years and have always told my family about you!” explained Delores8. “Yup, that’s how I heard about you!” said AA487. Simonkun nodded and said, “I always think about you and how you helped escape that frozen pond. I tried searching for you and always ran into dead ends. I never was able to thank you properly”. “We’ve found each other at last. Now it seems you have rescued my granddaughter. I knew you always were special!” said Delores8. The sun was now rising and the three Neopets talked for hours. Delores8 and AA487 gave their thanks and headed on.

     Years passed by and Simonkun kept in touch with both AA487 and Delores8. Ever since they met that cold and snowy night, Simonkun has made sure to always help those in need. His tiny cabin that was originally sparce has now doubled in size and has fully stocked wood and food for sharing. Simonkun makes sure he is there for any Neopian who may need help. The moral of this story is to showcase a willingness to help others, even when you can’t offer a lot. Just as Delores8 rescued a child Draik from a frozen pond, she knew there was no reward, but the gift of rescuing a life and planting a seed to help those in need. Just as Simonkun was originally scared of the stranger at the door, he remembered the help that was given to him and knew he had to help AA487. By choosing to help, he was reunited with an old friend and made a new one. Always chose to help!

     The end.

     The End.