Olga Petrovna became very ill last night. The old lady suddenly woke up at three o’clock in the morning and felt that her heart began to ache and beat wildly. Her breath caught in her throat, beads of sweat stood out on her forehead.
“Is it really the end,” she thought with horror and, gathering her strength, reached for the bedside table, where, just in case, there were emergency heart pills.
There is nothing worse than a heart attack in the middle of the night, especially if you are alone and you have absolutely no one to call for help.
Olga Petrovna took a pill under her tongue, began to dissolve it, and soon felt with relief that her heart began to calm down a little.
Fortunately, the heart rate gradually returned to normal, but Olga Petrovna was very scared and did not sleep until the morning. In the morning, she got out of bed all broken and, remembering today’s nightmarish night, she thought: “I won’t survive another such attack. It’s all ended well now, but what would have happened if the medicine hadn’t helped me? It’s scary to imagine.”
Tonight’s incident had left its mark on her, and she had been walking under the impression all morning. A clear and clear realization came to her that her time was coming to an end…
Olga Petrovna was 90 years old, and she was lonely. In her youth, the woman worked as a math teacher, she had a wonderful husband, Nikolai, and a caring daughter, Yulia. They lived in the North, in Murmansk, but thirty years ago they moved to another city. Yulia was a long-awaited child, Olga Petrovna gave birth to her at the age of forty.
Yulia grew up a wonderful daughter – kind, caring, she entered the institute, studied economics, quickly moved up the career ladder, and one day she was offered a job in another city, which was south of Murmansk. Yulia immediately agreed and persuaded her parents to move with her – it’s warmer there, and the climate is milder. The parents did not refuse. And why refuse if life is changing for the better? The most important thing is that everyone was together, and when the family is happy and friendly, you can move anywhere. Gathered – and left. After all, home is where your family is. Everything was fine, the family settled in a new place.
Soon Olga Petrovna and Nikolai Ivanovich retired. They thought that a happy old age was waiting for them, but quite unexpectedly a misfortune happened. Yulia was found to have a serious illness, and soon she died, leaving no children behind. Everything happened so quickly that it was a real blow to the parents. Then Olga Petrovna had heart problems because of her worries. And a few years ago, Nikolai died. And now the woman was 90, and she was completely alone. After today’s terrible night, Olga Petrovna was not herself.
“I am an adequate person, I understand perfectly well that I am not eternal here on earth, and I may not survive another attack,” she thought. – But who will get my apartment? If I die but have no heirs, all my property will go to the state.”
Naturally, Olga Petrovna had been thinking about the issue of inheritance before, but it was only after tonight, which almost became her last, that she thought about it seriously. Previously, she had thoughts of unsubscribing an apartment, for example, to friends, but she did not get close friends in this city, then she thought of unsubscribing neighbors, but some neighbors were dysfunctional, and others had just moved in, she had not even had time to get acquainted with them yet.
“I want my apartment to go to some good kind person who really needs it,” Olga Petrovna was thinking now.
– But how to understand who is kind and good?
She had been pondering this question all morning, and the answer came quite unexpectedly. To distract herself from the night’s event, the old lady turned on the TV and settled into an armchair. They showed an interesting program – a social experiment. One young guy stood on the street and pretended that he was suddenly getting sick. He was checking who would come to him to help. And all this was filmed by a hidden camera. People’s reactions were very different. Some helped, others passed by. This experiment showed the behavior of people in a situation where they did not know that they were being filmed. Olga Petrovna was so interested in watching this story that she leaned forward straight.
– Well, wow, how can they pass by! – an elderly woman commented emotionally. – And this guy is great, he immediately came up and helped! That’s a kind soul, I wish there were more of them! What an interesting show! You can immediately see who is responsive and who is indifferent!
And then Olga Petrovna was thunderstruck.
“I will also test people for their compassion! – she decided. – That’s what I’ll do – I’ll dress more poignantly and go to the market. I will approach the sellers and ask them for free … I don’t know what … for example, a kilogram of potatoes! Well, or not potatoes, but some fruit! And if some seller helps me, but not so much as to get off, and if it’s a really kind and unselfish person, I’ll get to know him after that, talk to him, and who knows, maybe we’ll become friends, he’ll help me when I become she is very weak, and it is to him that I will leave a legacy! I want to do a generous deed, but I will leave a legacy to someone who turns out to be generous himself! I’m not going to delay this case, I’m going to get dressed right now and go look for kind people!”
This idea added strength to Olga Petrovna. Without thinking twice, she rushed into the pantry and found her old holey coat, in which she used to go to the dacha, an old hat, put on these things and took a shopping bag.
“I want to meet a person who will help another, regardless of his appearance,” Olga Petrovna thought and, as far as her health allowed, wandered to the market.
But before leaving, she prayed. She stood near the icon of the Savior and said:
“Lord, let my apartment go to someone who really needs it! May I come across a truly compassionate person! Let everything be as You wish!”
And with such thoughts, she left the house. At first, Olga Petrovna decided to go to the market closer to home, but she realized in time that everyone knew her here, so she got on the bus and went to the market in another area.
It was February, it was cold, a light snowball was falling from the sky, but it was a very busy day at the market. The counters were just bursting with abundance. Fruits, vegetables, milk, cheeses, eggs, homemade sausage, bread – everything was very tasty and tempting! Olga Petrovna looked around the market, smiled slyly and thought:
“Among these people there is one whose life will change today! And everything depends only on them! Whoever turns out to be the most worthy will most likely be my heir!”
“So, who should I start with?” – she thought, and went to the vegetable counter. The seller was a man in his fifties.
– How much does a potato cost? Olga Petrovna asked.
The salesman gave her an appraising look. Olga Petrovna looked very pitiful.
“Fifty rubles,” the man replied.
“It’s gone up in price…” the old lady drawled.
– For two rubles only, – the seller responded. – Is it money?
– For someone, it’s not money, but for us old people, every ruble is money, – getting used to the role, – Olga Petrovna replied. – So I want potatoes, but they haven’t sent me a pension yet…
– Well, as soon as they send it, so come! the salesman chuckled. – Why do you go to the market without money?
– Do you have any free potatoes?.. Maybe what is unnecessary?.. Olga Petrovna asked hopefully, thinking that now he would take pity on her and give her potatoes.
But it wasn’t there.
– Why are you messing with my head? – the seller clicked his tongue with displeasure. – you won’t take it, go on, you’re delaying all the buyers for me! There are so many people like you coming to me here every day! I have a product here, not charity! I’ll give it all away now, but where can I get the money myself?
Olga Petrovna replied in disappointment and walked away from the counter, giving way to customers with money.
“You don’t know what you missed,” she thought, looking at the seller. – And it’s not even that you didn’t give the potatoes, but that you are very rude. I could have refused, but in a kind way, and you were rude.”
The old lady went on to continue her social experiment. She went to the counter where they sold delicious fruits.
– What beautiful oranges! Grandma said enthusiastically. – So orange! Sweet, perhaps?
– Of course, sweet! – the saleswoman replied. – We don’t have sour!
– And how much do they cost?
– One hundred and ten rubles.
“Oh… more than a hundred rubles…” gasped Olga Petrovna. – How expensive…
– Well, these are not potatoes for you, they are being brought from abroad, – the saleswoman snorted. – Will you take it?
– Yes, I would like to, but I can’t… The pension hasn’t arrived yet… And how I want to… They are so useful…
“Maybe at least this one will help?” the elderly woman thought hopefully, waiting for a reaction.
The saleswoman looked thoughtfully at Olga Petrovna, sighed heavily and went up to her assistant.
– Roma, have you already taken the garbage to the trash? – lowering her voice, she asked.
Surely the woman thought that the old lady would not hear her words, but Olga Petrovna, despite her age, had excellent hearing.
“Not yet,” the guy replied and took out from under the counter a box containing spoiled oranges.
The saleswoman took the box and put it in front of Olga Petrovna.
– Take it.
Olga Petrovna looked at these oranges. They were crumpled and covered in gray mold.
– Yes, they are rotten, – the old woman was amazed, – you can’t eat them!
– I’m in shock, – the saleswoman was amazed at her in response. – They give you oranges, and you are also dissatisfied!
– Do you think these are oranges?
– And what is it? the saleswoman snapped.
– You yourself just called it garbage. Do you think you can eat them?
– We would like to eat, – the interlocutor answered irritably and removed the box from Olga Petrovna. – That’s it, woman, go. You do good to them, and they still turn up their noses!
– If you think that rotten oranges that you didn’t have time to take to the trash are good, then you misunderstand the meaning of the word good, – Olga Petrovna said edifiingly and went on.
The situation was similar with the other sellers.
– This is not my product, but the owner’s! I’ll give it to you now, and I’ll pay for it myself! – said one salesman.
– How tired I am of these beggars already! – the other was indignant. – They walk in a string! Well, I can’t give everything away for free!
– Do you have children? So let them provide for you, I have nothing to do with it, that you are without money! – said the third.
The fourth also offered rotten fruit. The fifth approached the issue even more creatively – he advised the old lady to go to the nearest store and ask for expired products there.
The longer Olga Petrovna walked around the market, the more she wanted to cry. None of the sellers helped her. It was so creepy that Olga Petrovna did not believe that all this was happening in reality. This is an experiment! What a pity that she doesn’t take it all on camera! Olga Petrovna stopped at the wall at the end of the market and thought with horror:
“Well, is everyone really so greedy! Are there really no such people here who will help the old lady for free!! People who will give good products, not rotten ones! What kind of time is this! Is it really only money in their head? And compassion?! Where is the compassion for people?! Especially to the elderly!”
The elderly woman was so shocked that, without expecting it, she burst into tears bitterly. Tears rolled from her eyes. She couldn’t believe that she walked through several counters and no one helped her!
“Well, it can’t be, it can’t be that all people are so callous! well, all people can’t have no conscience!”- Olga Petrovna burst into tears, and suddenly at that second someone came up to her and took her by the hand.
Olga Petrovna looked at the man who came up through her tears. In front of her stood a very thin young woman of about thirty-five. It was February now, but she was wearing an old thin jacket not for the weather, and despite her age, she looked very tired and exhausted.
“Grandma, don’t cry,” she said and handed her a package. – Take it.
– what is it? Olga Petrovna was stunned.
– Take it, eat it. I saw you walking. Here you go,” she said and shoved the package into her hands.
Olga Petrovna took the package. Before she could figure anything out, the woman turned around and walked on. Olga Petrovna was taken aback by surprise. Everything happened so suddenly that she hardly realized that she had finally met a kind person. But he didn’t get caught when she was specifically looking for him, but met at the most unexpected moment, when she was already desperate to find someone kind!
– Wait! She shouted at the top of her voice. – Stop! Come here! Don’t go away!
Realizing that it was called to her, the woman stopped and returned. Olga Petrovna began to examine her carefully. This young woman was clearly finishing the last piece herself. It is quite obvious that these products that she gave away were not superfluous to her.
– What’s your name? Olga Petrovna asked, almost jumping with happiness.
– Light.
– Why did you decide to give me these products?
– What do you mean? – Sveta was confused. – Well, I saw that you went.
– Others saw it too, but only you came up, – the old lady reasonably remarked.
Sveta lowered her eyes.
“I know what it’s like to starve,” she replied softly. – I haven’t eaten anything myself for two days. There was no money. And today I found a part-time job, I washed the windows in that store over there, and they gave me two hundred rubles. I immediately went to that store and spent the money, bought these products there.
Olga Petrovna was in shock.
– So now you’re hungry yourself and gave me your food? “What is it?” she asked in shock.
Sveta didn’t answer anything, just sighed.
– And who are you? From where? Olga Petrovna began to question her.
The young woman began to talk to the old woman, and in the conversation it turned out that Sveta was an orphan. Her parents died when she was five years old. Seventeen years ago, she graduated from an orphanage, she was legally given an apartment, but naive Sveta fell into the hands of scammers, and her apartment was taken away, she didn’t even have time to live in it normally. And for many years now she has been wandering wherever she has to. And a few months ago it got even worse. She got a job in orchards to pick apples, but it turned out that it was a giant cow farm. She was kidnapped into slavery, her passport was taken away from her, forced to work for a plate of soup, but recently Sveta managed to escape from there, and now she wanders.
Olga Petrovna listened to Sveta, and she was overcome by a variety of feelings. The horror of what she had heard, and the joy of what a wonderful person she had met. Sveta was a kind, gentle, and friendly girl. And she looks so much like her daughter…
Julia was also a skinny brunette with green eyes…
– It’s cold outside, let’s go to my house, have a cup of tea, get warm, – Olga Petrovna suggested. “Are you in no hurry?”
– Unfortunately, nowhere, – Sveta sighed bitterly. – Yes, and I have nowhere to go…
Soon Olga Petrovna brought Sveta to her, and she stayed with her forever. Sveta turned out to be a wonderful person, she became like a native for Olga Petrovna. She was not spoiled, caring, kind and economical. Olga Petrovna’s search exceeded all her expectations. The old lady wanted to find a kind person, but she found not just kind, but merciful. Sveta gave her food not because she had a lot of them and shared them, but she gave food that she needed herself, and it was many times more valuable. She gave the food away and was not afraid that she would be hungry herself.
“Thank You, Lord, that I met the man I dreamed of! The man who made my old age happy!”, Olga Petrovna often thanked God afterwards.
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