One day a poor blind old lady named Martha came to the market. She was wearing black spectacles and white stick in her hands as she always does. Though she was blind, no one was there to help her and so she did her all chores and groceries all by herself.
Anyway, she went to the market and went to a fruit shop. She asked the shopkeeper that she was looking for the sweetest and ripest strawberries. She seemed to be very happy as she could buy it. The saleswoman assured her that she had some delicious ones. Martha asked her to give two kilos from them.
The saleswoman was not honest. The cunning lady deceived the blind old woman giving her the rotten ones. She put 2 kilos of the rotten strawberries into Martha's basket. Martha took it and was very happy. She told the saleswoman that she didn't usually buy that for herself because it was expensive. She was expressing herself but the cunning woman did hardly heed to her.
Martha took her basket and left the market. She hurried home because she was expecting her only son Jack to visit her. She had met him about a month ago. She had only his son in this world and she loved him a lot. So, she always did the best thing for him.
It was 30 years ago when Martha had a family. Her husband and son. When Jack was 5 years old, his father was diagnosed with cancer. That time he was the only earning member and his illness changed everything. Martha did everything to save her husband. She managed money and then rushed to the hospital to see him.
But there was not enough money any time for treatment. The poor family even had no insurance that they could use at this bad time. Martha had no job but she was bound to earn money. Then she decided to sell everything.
Martha first sold all of her jewelry. She had not much but she sold all of them to gather the treatment money. She run from one jewelry shop to another to get a increase than others, but it helped little.
Then she started selling off the furniture. One day little Jack was watching cartoons and then Martha went to the living room. She unplugged all the wires and took the television for selling. Jack cried and said that he wanted to watch cartoons. But her mom had nothing to do and replied that they would buy a new one when his dad got well.
But that was not enough either. And she had only the house left. She decided to sell the house too to save her husband. As Martha had to sell their house, they ended up on the street. But she assured her little Jack that they would be back in the house soon.
But Martha was wrong. The disease was fatal and her husband left. She had done a lot of efforts to save him. But these couldn't save him. This made them to become the permanent dweller of the street. Moreover they had a bunch of debts.
Martha no longer had the strength to fight. But she realized that she had to live on for the sake of her son. She managed a job at a factory. Everyday she did overtime and it was 12 hours a day. It was hard for her, but she was the one who could stand by her son.
At first, she and her son lived in an old basement. But soon she bought themselves a new home. Martha worked so hard that she almost ruined her health. She had to take a lot of medicines everyday. Soon she fell ill with diabetes and became blind gradually.
One day she asked her son that she had become blind due to that illness. So, Jack should take care of her. But he said something different that he wanted to open his own restaurant in the big city. His mom could understand him and also she believed him. So, she gave him all of her savings.
After this at first, Jack came to visit his mother often. But there was a lot to do in the restaurant. So, he didn't come in the expected day. Martha waited for him to come but he began to come only once a month.
That day Martha bought strawberries and was waiting for him. She got a knock and opened the door to welcome her son. She told his son that she was very glad to have him at home. His son said that he was not alone that day. He was with his girlfriend, Kira. Then she welcomed both of them.
Martha couldn't see Kira, but Kira could easily recognize the old blind lady she cheated that morning. But she remained silent.
Martha welcomed them to the table. She told them that she had bought some presents for them. They followed her to the table and sat. Jack could see the strawberries were rotten and he felt ashamed of it. Martha asked him how he was doing at the restaurant. Jack said that the business was not going good and he needed some more money.
Martha didn't think twice and forbade him to worry about it because she just had got her pension. They took tea and started getting ready to leave. Martha could understand this and so asked them why they were not eating strawberries. Jack told her that they were not hungry. And they left.
Jack breathed a sigh of relief when they left his mother's house. He begged pardon from Kira for her mother and her strawberries. He told her that his mother was blind and can't distinguish the rotten thing. But Kira couldn't answer instantly but felt guilty for her deeds.
She felt sorry for Martha because she was deceived twice in a day. When they returned home, she angrily told Jack that he didn't had a restaurant. Jack told her that he couldn't find a decent job. Kira asked again if that was the reason he lived off that poor old lady. Jack assured her that his mother had a big pension.
Kira could understand that Jack grew up ungrateful and cruel. And she told him that the strawberries were not rotten, the only rotten thing was Jack himself. Jack broke up with her after that but she didn't felt sad.
The next day, she came to visit Martha with a basket full of fresh strawberries. She beg pardon to Martha that the previous day they had left so early. Kira began to visit the old woman everyday and cooked delicious food for her to take care of her because Jack never came to see her.
Helping one person might not change the whole world. But it could change the world for that one person.
