The sun finally showed up after a week of constant drizzling, and the blue skies were more than inviting. “Here’s a day to be spent outside”, decided I and undertook a task I had long been thinking about – cleaning a little square in front of our house. (Notably, there is a container to be found at the corner, yet the rubbish has a unique tendency to bypass it.)
With a bucket in hand and selfless thoughts of preserving our beautiful Earth, I commenced scanning the little grassy area to and fro. With the bucket No. 10 I stopped counting. The funds were not spectacular. And my dog kept on finding delicacies of bony substance even after the mission was over.
Some neighbourhood kids were hanging around. I shyly lifted my head to greet them and carried on my humble venture. As it is proper for a solitary hero, I didn’t request help. Yet out of the blue comes one teenager, takes his jacket off and eagerly starts piling all the trimmed grape vines. Later, his friend shows up and adds to the company. The professor living across the street (the only person I had earlier observed cleaning somebody else’s mess) joins the crowd as well. Now we attract not just the looks, but even the comments of the passer-by’s. Eventually even a local “bad boy,” who doesn’t do much throughout the day except for lingering and the selected corners of our block, grabs the shovel and gets to work.
I left smiling. Looking from our window, the square doesn’t seem any cleaner, yet unsolicited help made my day. I should venture out more often.
