On a quiet street where houses stood close but people rarely spoke, an old man lived alone near the corner.
Every evening, just before sunset, he placed a small lamp in his window and lit it.
No one knew why.
The light was not bright.
It didn’t decorate the street or guide travelers.
Still, every night, it was there.
Across the street lived a young boy who often watched from his window.
“Why does he light a lamp when the street already has lights?” the boy wondered.
One evening, curiosity won.
The boy crossed the street and knocked gently on the old man’s door.
The door opened slowly.
“Yes?” the old man asked with a kind smile.
“Why do you light a lamp every night?” the boy asked.
The old man didn’t answer right away.
He stepped aside and invited the boy in.
Inside the house were shelves filled with books, old photographs, and small tools carefully arranged.
“I light the lamp,” the old man said, “because someone once did the same for me.”
He pointed to a photograph of a much younger man standing in the rain.
“Long ago, I was lost in a storm. Cold. Afraid. I didn’t know where to go.”
He paused.
“One house had a light in the window. That light told me I was not alone.”
The boy listened quietly.
“But no one comes now,” the boy said. “Why keep lighting it?”
The old man smiled.
“Because someone might need it tomorrow.”
Days passed.
One evening, a heavy storm hit the town.
The power went out.
Streetlights failed.
Darkness covered the road.
The boy’s family car broke down near the corner.
Rain poured.
The wind howled.
And then the boy saw it.
A small, steady light glowing in the darkness.
“Follow that,” his father said.
They reached the old man’s house safely.
The lamp in the window was still burning.
The boy looked at the light and understood.
From that night on, more lights began appearing in windows along the street.
Not because people were asked.
But because kindness, once seen, is hard to forget.
🌟 Moral
Small acts of kindness can become guiding lights for others.
Review The Light in the Window.