A smile for me

There are hundred of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all.

Her face and heart did not seem to have seen much of laughter. Her lips hardly seemed to curve to give a smile. Neighbors said it is very rare to see her smile. She did not pose the figure of being friendly to her neighbors. She stays all alone in her flat.

I saw her when I went to pay my electricity bill. She was standing ahead of me in the long queue. Standing for long under the heat made her sit down. As her turn came, she handed over the EB card and some cash to the counter lady. When her card, receipt and balance were returned to her, we saw our lady standing without any response as if in a trance. All efforts to call her seemed to fall into deaf ears. An elderly lady sought my help in making her sit down. The EB employee offered a bottle of water, which, I gave to this lady. She just took a sip and handed it back to me. I collected her card, receipt and the balance and helped her keep them in her bag. I offered to take her home which she refused. A few minutes after sitting down, she picked herself up and started to walk. I came to know then from my friend that this lady stayed in the apartments where we stayed.

I still neither know her name nor do I have any other information about her. I had not done much for her that day and I wish I could have done more. But I was rewarded beautifully for this simple gesture of mine.

And the reward is this:

Whenever she sees me, her lips curve to give me a beautiful smile.