Time spent with a Stranger (Joey)

One afternoon, Fred got a call from his son's school that Jack was not feeling well. So he called his wife & asked her to pick up the son from the school. She went to school immediately & took her to the hospital. Jack was suffering from fever. The doctor gave him medicines. He got cured soon. He had fallen in the school & got his tooth injured. As he was afraid of the Dentist & Injection, he did not tell his parents.

Days passed. Jack had toothache more often. He couldn't bear the pain. So he informed his mom. She was sad hearing that. His wife discussed the matter with Fred. So his dad scheduled an appointment to meet the dentist. Fred told his son that he should not hide anything from his parents. It was crucial to inform him if he had any concerns. He understood & agreed. He was reading a Storybook while going. He was fond of Stories. It was a habit for him to read bedtime stories daily.

After two days, Fred came with his seven-year-old kid Jack to the polyclinic. Jack was quite annoying & was playing. He was causing disturbance to the people. On observing this, a man next to them who was anticipating for his turn called Jack & started to make him peaceful by communicating to him. He gave candy to Jack. After some time, Jack mingled with the man. Jack was playing with him. Fred also chatted with the man. The man introduced himself as Joey. He came for a check-up as he had an operation last month. He had persistent toothaches. As Jack was attached to Joey, he forced Joey to tell him a story. As Joey liked Jack, he thought of narrating him a nice story. He started describing the following story.

The Powerful Hurricane destroyed a cruise. All the passengers die except two men. They somehow swam & reached a nearby island. One was Richard & the other was Mike. Both were different by financial status. As they were working in the same company, they turned out to be friends.

There were stones & grass on that island. They couldn't find any food or shade as there were no trees. They dint know how to survive on the island. In the end, they both decided to Pray the Lord for their Protection.

They decided to stay at the extreme ends of the island. Their first and foremost prayer was getting Food. As per the Prayer, Mike saw Fruits floating along the sea coast. He ate those fruits immediately. But Richard did not get any food to eat.

Mike completed tasting the fruits. He felt tired after some time. He wanted to spend time with a companion. He prayed for that. Surprisingly, there came a boat & a lady stepped out of it. Mike started talking to her & they became friends. On the other side of the island, Richard was still in hunger without receiving any food. Mike got everything that he prayed. But, Richard felt heartbroken as he did not get anything.

At last, Mike decided to pray for a yacht to reach his home along with the lady. That dream also came true to him. The next day, there came a boat for his rescue. He was happy that his wishes came true. But he didn't bother to take Richard with him. He was ready to leave the island. Richard dint knows anything that was happening to Mike & was still in hunger.

Mike thought that Richard was not good for anything. He did not even get blessings of Almighty. A small prayer of Food was also not fulfilled to him. Mike was selfish & so he dint want to take Richard with him.

When hearing this story, Jack had fallen asleep. Fred made him sleep on his lap. He wanted to know what will happen in that story. His son, when at home, will ask the rest of the story and he had to explain it. He was excited to know. So he told Joey to continue the story.

Joey asked Fred that when you hear this story, you feel anger. Then the boat started to leave. There was a sudden voice heard from the Sky. The voice asked, " Why are you leaving?". Mike answered, " I prayed to God. He blessed me with everything that I wished. God didn't hear the prayers of my friend. He dint deserve the blessings of the Lord".

The Voice said "What you were thinking is wrong, I am the Almighty. Your friend Richard's Prayers are as follows: My friend Mike is a sophisticated kind-hearted person. He hasn't felt any pain like this in his life. Fulfil Mike's Prayers. That alone is enough for me. I lived a poor life. These situations are not new to me. I don't have anything to ask for myself."

After hearing the words, Mike was stunned, cried, pleaded for his mistake. Ran to Richard and Hugged him. He gave him the fruits that he got. Mike felt how bad he was. Richard forgave Mike. They started their voyage to leave from the Island together.

On completing the story, Joey was the next patient. So he waved Goodbye to Fred. Fred thanked him for making his son happy and for the astonishing story. Fred spent his time well with Joey.

Later, Fred & Jack were in the home. As Fred thought, Jack asked about the story & the continuation. He told the full story to his son. He explained the Moral of the story - We don't get everything from our Prayers alone. It's others wishes that help us to succeed in Life. We should not ignore anyone who shows love towards us. We must respect Friendship.

Jack learned a new story and felt good about it. He not only kept the story in his mind but also spread to other friends as well. Jack never thought he would meet Joey on that day. We do not know who we meet unexpectedly can teach us life's greatest lesson.