Rose, a spirited 102-year-old woman, was excited to celebrate her birthday with her best friend, Arthur, but found him missing from their nursing home. She fled the facility with her last savings and traveled alone to a new city to find him, but the money ran out in the middle of her trip.
The wooden door creaked open, and a sliver of sunlight illuminated the stooped figure of 102-year-old Rose as she gingerly stepped into the grocery store. Customers flocked in and out as Rose shuffled across the aisles on a wooden cane for support.
With trembling hands, she lifted some assorted candy bars and a bottle of water from the shelf and shakily walked toward the checkout. “That would be $15, Ma’am!” The cashier, Mr. Andrews, who was also the store owner, chirped with a smile as he curiously looked down at Rose.
“$15? That’s too much. I don’t have that kind of money,” she said, and her face sagged with disappointment. Rose reached into the depths of her faded floral purse and searched for the change, only to realize all she had was her last $5…
For illustration purposes only | Source: Pixabay
“I’ll just have the bottle of water, please,” she sadly said as she extended the coins to the cashier. “Thank you, young man!” she said again before leaving the store and slumping onto the wooden bench outside.
Rose was starving, and the aroma of freshly baked croissants from the bakery nearby seeped into her nostrils. Her stomach growled wildly as the smell grew stronger, but Rose refused to look in the bakery’s direction and just sat there.
It was half past five in the snowy evening as Mr. Andrews stepped out of the store rubbing his palms, ready to call it a day. He hurried to his car in the parking lot when his eyes fell upon Rose, who was still sitting on the bench, all alone and shivering.
For illustration purposes only | Source: Getty Images
She had been sitting there for the past five hours, and at first, Mr. Andrews ignored her the few times he vaguely looked out the glass wall of his store. He had assumed the Grandma had just retired on the bench for some rest or was waiting for someone.
But something bothered him when he saw Rose sobbing bitterly, and he approached her right away. He noticed Rose’s tear-stained face and felt compelled to find out what was wrong and why she...
