Nene had been toying with ending it all for quite sometime and it seemed an opportunity had finally presented itself.

Nene was depressed, very depressed, had been for a while. She had somehow been holding up but now, she was tired of living. Life had been unfair to her, so the sanest thing to do would be to end it.

On her way to the market to do her Aunty’s bidding, she made her plans.

She had lost her parents some months ago and been an only child, that, as far as she was concerned, had only meant her death also. But family members had rallied around her and all pledged their undying support; that had given Nene some kind of hope.

They had finally decided she stay with an aunt who was wealthy and wouldn’t have been inconvenienced feeding another mouth.

But instead of finding solace in her aunt’s home, she had been relegated to the attic to bunk. Instead of getting busy with school work, house keeping had become her duty.

Nene couldn’t believe it but somehow, she had taken it in good fate.

She had been able to hold it together till she discovered all her friends had also deserted her. She hadn’t noticed at first that all their excuses had been a way of avoiding her – she couldn’t treat them out any longer anyways – but when she had, it had finally dawned on her that she really had no one in the world, she was all alone.

It would have been easy to cope with all the ill-treatment meted by her aunt if she had a confidant, someone who would share her pain, but she was on her own.

She decided today was the day to stop hurting, her last day on earth.

She had figured it all out, she would get rat poison from the market with her aunt’s change and just tell her the prices of one of the items had increased. Rat poison was going to the job faster than drug overdose and not to mention, it was cheaper.

She wouldn’t be missed anyways, so it wasn’t a selfish act. She was actually doing the world a favour, the world would be better off without her compounding its problems.

She boarded a bus and sat at the extreme end. She noticed the other passengers took one look at her and found another position and her heart bled.

When all other seats were taken and only the one beside her was left, she wondered what the unlucky person would do.

She was still musing over her predicament when this awesomely dressed lady climbed in.

Nene noted the lady’s appearance with a feeling of nostalgia. This used to be her, she thought, but now her dress barely covered her body, not that she was immodest, – at least that would have been better because it would have been by choice – her dress was just worn and torn.

Nene was shocked when the lady took a seat beside her without so much as a cringe, and her jaw literally dropped when the lady looked at her, sent a smile her way and said, “good morning.”

Nene managed to mumble a reply but her tongues were tied in knots.

Had the lady actually smiled at her? Looked at her and smiled?

This lady that looked like she just came out from the cover of vogue treated her like a human being while others had been acting like she was some virus.

She couldn’t believe it, there were still nice people in the world. She felt hope bloom within her, like flowers in summer. There was still hope, she decided.

She couldn’t commit suicide today. The lady had brightened her day and given her something to relish with just a smile.

You can also change a person’s day with as little as a smile. You don’t want to go around, treating people to a contorted and twisted face like they are the reason behind your problems.

It is the Christmas holidays after all, a time to show love. Brighten someone’s day by giving them a smile today, you might just save that person’s life.