Homeless Girl Sits on Same Place for Two Years until Wise Lady Stops and Asks Why — Story of the Day

A homeless girl sat begging for alms at the same spot for two years, ìgnored by people until a wise woman stopped to ask why.

Zola Matthews was famous in her town, but not for a good reason. She was a weird girl who sat at the town square all day long with her bowl set in front of her and a straw hat perched atop her head.

She was different from all the other beggars in the town because of her unique behavior. Zola seemed to be a child trapped in a girl’s body, and it showed in the way she lived.

First, she had a high-pitched voice which she rarely used whether she was emotional or not, and second, her thought process was very similar to a little girl’s.

People mostly just ignored her whenever they came across her; if she was lucky, they would drop some change for her out of pity, and if not, they would scorn her for being in such a position.

If she was particularly hungry and desperate enough, she would call out to the passing strangers.

“Please leave me some money to get rid of my hunger,” she would say, but most people were content to pretend like she did not just call out to them.

So Zola sat out there with her bowl and straw hat in the same place for two years. No matter the weather, scorching sun or pouring rain. When it got too cold, she would often wander around until she found shelter anywhere that could contain her.

The locals thought someone needed to do something about her, but they walked by her each day, occasionally dropping money into her bowl. This went on until a woman named Rebecca Simmons stopped one day.

It had been on a hot afternoon, and Zola had tilted her hat forward to cover her face while she dozed, so she had not seen Rebecca approach. It took her noisily clearing her throat to wake Zola.

“Hi,” Rebecca said with a wave as soon as Zola opened her eyes.

“Hallo,” Zola said, looking befuddled. She was used to getting ignored, so this was a surprise.

“What are you doing on the streets?” Rebecca asked.

“I don’t have a place to rest my head at night,” Zola...