‘Watch your step, and mind the gap’ the familiar monotone of the MTR greeted me as always as I stepped out of the cabin. Feeling drowsy and just a bit nervous, I began my journey to school. After I had passed the gates, I immediately noticed that there was a faint sobbing noise. Thus, I did what any curious teenager would do: I followed my sense of hearing and squeezed through the crowd in an attempt to locate the crying.
I ended up heading towards the other section of the MTR station to where I would normally head towards. The sobbing grew more and more distinct as I slipped through crowds of people heading to work. And there it was. The sobbing was from a little girl, no more than five, standing near the wall, shaking with sobs. She wiped her eyes ever so frequently, and her sleeves were damp with tears from her actions, yet her tears kept running down her face and hands, soaking the collar of her clothes. The child looked helpless, yet to my utmost surprise, none of the passers-by had offered to lend her a hand, and instead they chose to walk around the child.
My heart went out to her, and without thinking twice, I knelt down and asked her what was wrong. She stuttered that she was lost, with sobs interrupting her words. Since her words were barely audible, I comforted her gently and asked her to what I could do to assist once her sobs had subdued. She asked to borrow my cell phone, still gently sniffling, saying that she wanted to call her mother.
I hesitated, remembering how teachers had repeatedly reminded me not to lend my valuables to strangers in case of them being stolen. Although it seemed very unlikely, the scamming industry often went out of their way to take money from the hands of others, and the newspapers had confirmed that the scammers were more creative now than ever before, even recruiting children as their part of their scam. However, the overwhelming pity won over the rational thoughts, and my sympathy towards the lost little girl overpowered my fear of being scammed, thus I reached out and lent my phone to her.
I breathed a gigantic sigh of relief in my head as the little girl returned my phone as promised. As she turned to look at me, I couldn’t help but notice that her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying. Overcome by an urge to protect the little girl, I knelt down and soothed her with promises of reunion with her mother soon.
Not long after, a woman with eyes equally as red rushed up to the little girl, hugged her ever so tightly for a few long moments, and burst into tears of relief and joy. The little girl returned the gesture by hugging her mother even tighter, and promised to never let go of her mother’s hand ever again. The duo reuniting was truly an indescribably touching moment. Tingles ran up my spine and my eyes filled with tears as I looked upon this heartrending scene. My heart filled with shame as I thought of how my selfishness had almost doomed the little girl from finding her mother. Relief flooded over me like a tsunami as the mother and daughter finally broke into dazzling smiles. They thanked me gratefully again and again, only stopping when I explained that I was going to be late for class.
Sometimes, all we need to do is to have a little trust in others in order to make a positive impact on others’ lives. Under the threat of scammers and thieves, people have grown more and more indifferent over the years. As a result, no one is willing to give a hand to those in need again, and relationships between strangers are filled with mistrust and suspicion. I believe that if everyone is can just have a bit of trust and compassion, building up a compassionate society would be a job done in no time. For better or for worse, the choice is all up to us.