A simple gesture

Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder. Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles. As they walked Mark discovered the boy’s name was Bill.

They arrived at Bill’s home first.

They continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, then both graduated from junior high school.

They ended up in the same high school where they had brief contacts over the years. Finally the long awaited senior year came and three weeks before graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.

Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met.

“Did you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?” asked Bill.

“I had stored away some of my mothers sleeping pills and I was going home to commit suicide. Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more, you saved my life.”