Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

A Cold Stranger

Cold Stranger

Mark Hudson

One winter, when I was still living at home, rent-free, I was walking home and there was a blizzard out. Snow was pouring out of the sky, and a wind was blowing off lake Michigan. It was late at night, and there were no humans in sight. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a homeless man stumbled through the blizzard.
"Excuse me, sir," he said, " I just need five more dollars and I can get a room for the night. Please say you have it!"
I checked my wallet and gave this man some money. " Can I pray for you?' I asked.
So I put my hands on this homeless man and prayed he would find shelter. " I don't know where you came from," he said, " But the Lord must've sent you." I looked back, and it was like he had vanished into thin air!
When I look back on previous points of my life I was a lot more likely to be generous. I know with the recession the way it is, everyone is hurting for money, even me. When someone comes up to me on the street and asks for money I'm not as compassionate as I used to be, because my money goes like water, too. But I will never forget that night, with the cold stranger!

More writing by this author

Blogs on This Site