One evening, when the sun was already setting and the road in a small town was empty, a man named Dmitry was driving along a deserted highway. He was an ordinary taxi driver, working at night to earn some money for his family. The weather was not the best; it was drizzling, and the light from the headlights barely made it through the fog.
Suddenly, at the very end of the street, he noticed the figure of an old woman standing on the side of the road. She was dressed in a long dark coat and a scarf, which had slipped slightly from her head in the wind. Dmitry decided to stop and offer help—who knows, maybe she needed assistance in such bad weather. He opened the door and kindly suggested, “Grandma, do you need to go somewhere? I can give you a ride.”
The old woman raised her head and smiled, nodding gratefully.
“Oh, thank you, young man! Yes, to my house outside the city,” she answered, swaying slightly on her feet.
Dmitry readily let her into the car, carefully helped her get into the seat, and drove off. On the way, they talked a little. The woman was kind and helpful, sharing stories about her life and seeming to be in absolutely no hurry. She said she had been living alone for a long time in a large house on the edge of the city and rarely went out in public, preferring solitude.
Dmitry listened to her with interest, although it seemed a little strange to him that she didn’t specify her name or any personal details. However, he was a well-mannered man and did not press her about her life. All he cared about was getting her safely to where she wanted to go.
When they finally arrived at her house—a large old mansion hidden in a dense forest—the woman thanked him and began to get ready to leave.
“Thank you, young man. You have done me a great service. I waited a long time for someone to give me a ride, and finally, I found a kind person. I need to give you something,” she said, taking an envelope from her bag.
Dmitry raised his eyebrows in surprise. “No need, Grandma, I just did my job. It is my duty to help people.”
But the old lady insisted. “No, no, this is not up for discussion. I want you to accept this, just for being kind to me.”
She held out the envelope and, without waiting for an answer, softly closed the car door, got out, and headed towards the house.
Dmitry sat in the car, not knowing what to do for a long time. Opening the envelope, he found ten thousand dollars inside. He was shocked. This was more than he earned in an entire month of work. He felt his heart sink—was such generosity really for nothing?
But then he remembered the old woman’s kind words and realized that perhaps she just wanted to thank him for his help. He got up to get back into the car but suddenly noticed that the old woman had already disappeared into the shadows of the large house. He wanted to thank her, but the words got stuck in his throat. Everything was too unexpected, and his mind struggled to process the turn of events.
Dmitry decided that this was a sign—a sign that there are people in the world who are ready to help, and that generosity is not always something ordinary. In this small gesture, he saw the true value of human kindness and understanding.
He sat in the car for a long time, holding the envelope with money in his hands, and thought about how unexpectedly fate can reward good deeds, even if it’s just helping someone during difficult times.
