The store was noisy — everyone was busy shopping, and no one noticed the old woman struggling to move. She had almost reached the end of the aisle when she suddenly stumbled. A sharp, unbearable pain shot through her leg.

— “Ah… it hurts…” — the old woman cried out, falling onto the cold floor, dropping her cane.

Several people turned to look. Someone froze for a moment, then turned away. A woman kept picking out yogurts, a man at the register pretended not to see anything. The grandmother tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn’t obey. She grabbed her cane, tried to pull herself up — but fell again.

She looked around, hoping someone would help, but people remained indifferent. Her lips trembled, her eyes filled with tears. She reached out her hand as if asking for help, but no one came. A young man even pulled out his phone and started recording — he thought it was funny.

 

Gasping for breath, the grandmother crawled toward the exit. One hand clutched her cane, the other pressed against the cold tiled floor. The noise of the store seemed to fade away — all that could be heard was her heavy breathing and faint moans of pain. Every movement was agony, but she kept going, hoping to make it outside and somehow get home.

People stepped aside, but no one helped. In their eyes was a mix of pity and indifference. It seemed everyone thought it wasn’t their problem.

And then something happened that made many lower their eyes in shame.  The continuation was told in the first comment 

A little girl — no more than five years old — approached the grandmother. In her hands she held a teddy bear. She bent down carefully, looked at the old woman, and asked softly:

— “Grandma, does it hurt? Where are your children?”

The grandmother lifted her gaze. A faint, kind smile appeared on her face. The girl reached out her tiny hand, trying to help her up.

The girl’s mother, seeing this, quickly rushed over. She helped the grandmother up, sat her on a bench, and immediately called an ambulance. While they waited, the little girl held the old woman’s hand and whispered, “Don’t be afraid, everything will be okay.”

When the ambulance arrived and took the grandmother away, the store fell silent. The people who just moments earlier had watched her suffering with indifference could no longer look each other in the eye.

Only one little girl had shown what true humanity means.

She didn’t walk away, she didn’t turn her head, she wasn’t afraid. And in that moment, she — that small child — was the only person in the entire store who truly had a soul.