It was raining cats and dogs. James was at the bus-stop waiting for the bus to take him home. The bus-stop was very crowded. The bus which James had been waiting for had just left. He sighed as he had to wait for the next bus.
Suddenly, out from the corner of James’ eye, he spotted a young man putting his hand into a unsuspecting woman’s handbag, taking out her purse, and whistling at the same time to avoid suspicion. James’ eyes gleamed with horror and mouth agape. He stood rooted to the ground. The scene was enough to curl his hair and blow his mind away. Upon recovering from his stupor, he started bawling his lungs out.
“Help! Help! This man has just stolen this lady’s purse! Help! Help! This man has just stolen this lady’s purse!”
Hearing that, the man quickly retrieve his hand away from the lady’s bag. He waved his hands in protest and denied it. The woman looked shocked. Everyone turned their heads and stared at the man. He looked flustered and face turned pallid.
“I did not steal it!” the man quivered.
The crowd surrounded him and began threatening him to admit if not they would call for the police. Upon hearing the word ‘police’, he fell to his knees and begged us for mercy. He finally admitted stealing the purse. He went to to explain that he had owed loan sharks a huge sum of money and they would kill his whole family if he did not return them their money. The woman felt pity for him. To the surprise of everyone present, she took out a wad of $100 notes from her purse and gave it to him.
“Take it and return it the loan sharks. Don’t owe them money again,” said the woman kindly.
The man thanked her profusely and then left. Just then, James’ bus arrived. He hopped onto the bus and went home with the incident repeatedly replaying in his mind. He admired the lady’s generosity but doubted the man’s reason for stealing. He truly hoped the lady had not lost her money in vain.