This Cookie Crumbled Beautifully

(I’m on a five-hour coach trip. In front of me are a mum and dad with a little girl, about two or three years old, and next to them is another mum with a boy just a bit older. The families don’t know each other. As I can hear from hushed conversations between the mum and dad of the little girl, they forgot some snacks for her and can’t afford to buy anything from the small kiosk in the coach. When the boy in front of them gets a pack of cookies, the little girl starts crying because she wants some, too. Her parents try to console her but it’s not working.)

Little Boy: “Mama, why is the girl crying?”

His Mum: “I think she’s hungry, and she saw you get your cookies.”

Little Boy: “She doesn’t have cookies?”

His Mum: “No, she forgot her snacks like when you forgot your toy at grandma’s so you couldn’t play with it.”

(Obviously distraught at remembering this and hearing the little girl cry, the boy is quiet for a while before tugging on his mum’s sleeve.)

Little Boy: “Mama, I think I can make her happy. Can I share my cookies with her?”

His Mum: “If her parents say yes, of course you can.”

(The little boy leans over to the family and asks the mum if he can share his cookies with the girl, who immediately starts to beam and giggle when he hands her one. Her parents profusely thank him and his mum.)

Little Boy: “I got lotsa cookies and she has no cookies. Now we all have cookies and she is happy.”

(True to his word, he shared his whole bag of cookies with the little girl during the trip and also drew some pictures with her. It was one of the sweetest things I ever saw.)