The screams were faint at first—almost swallowed by the heat and noise of the afternoon—then they grew louder.

“Somebody help me.”

But no one stopped. Not a single soul.

In the middle of a scorching Abuja afternoon, traffic rushed past without mercy. Cars honked impatiently. Motorcycles swerved around the crowd. A few bystanders slowed down just long enough to look, shake their heads, and walk away.

Lying at the edge of the dusty expressway was an old man, likely in his late sixties. He wore a white kaftan that had once been clean and dignified, now soaked with blood and mud. His walking stick lay broken beside him.

Minutes earlier, a reckless taxi had struck him and sped off without slowing down. The impact had thrown him off the pavement, leaving him collapsed by the roadside, groaning in pain. People gathered—but no one moved.

Just a few meters away, a young girl in a red delivery jacket and black jeans screeched her bike to a sudden stop.

Her phone lit up in her trembling hand.

12:43 p.m.

She had only 17 minutes left to complete a crucial delivery. Miss it, and she’d be fired.

The package in the box behind her was clearly labeled:
URGENT. FRAGILE. PREPAID.

Her fingers tightened around the handlebars as she looked back at the old man. Around her, whispers filled the air.

“Don’t touch him.”
“If he dies, the police will blame you.”
“Didn’t you hear about that boy last week? He tried to help an accident victim—now he’s in prison.”
“Me? I’m not getting involved. I don’t want trouble.”

Adana heard every word.

But beneath the fear and noise, another voice rose quietly inside her heart—her mother’s voice.

Even if the world turns its back on you, never turn your back on those you can help.
Help, Adana. Always help.

Tears blurred her vision. This was the kind of moment her mother used to talk about—the moment where kindness costs something. Where doing the right thing could cost everything.

She had seconds to choose.

Her job… or a dying man.

Adana jumped off her bike.

“Help me!” she shouted. “Please—let’s take him to the hospital!”

No one moved.

Not one person.

Her heart pounding, Adana rushed to the old man’s side and knelt beside him.

“Sir, please stay with me,” she whispered.

She waved down passing taxis. None stopped. Drivers glanced at her and sped off.

She looked once more at the delivery box.

Then she made her choice.

Removing her helmet, she placed it carefully beside the box, bent down, and tried to lift the old man. He was heavier than she expected. Her arms shook, her legs trembled—but somehow, through sheer determination, she managed to hoist him onto her back and onto the bike.

Balancing him as best as she could, Adana climbed back on and sped into traffic—into chaos, into uncertainty, into the unknown.

She didn’t look back.

---

Twelve Hours Earlier

It was 5:00 a.m. in a cramped one-room apartment on the outskirts of Abuja.

Adana, barely eighteen, was already awake.

She had washed, cooked breakfast, packed lunch, ironed school uniforms, and was braiding her younger sister’s hair while standing.

“Sis, you should sleep more,” Mara mumbled with a yawn.

“I’ll sleep when both of you become doctors,” Adana replied with a soft smile.

Their lives had changed completely one year earlier.

That night, armed robbers broke into their home. They took everything—phones, jewelry, the car—and then shot their parents before fleeing. No suspects. No arrests. Just silence.

Adana became a mother overnight.

No uncles stepped up. No aunts offered help.

So she sold what little remained and withdrew from school. Survival came first. Her dreams would have to wait.

She took the only job available to someone her age without a certificate: delivery rider.

Her red SwiftSend jacket became her armor.

And on the day fate intervened, she had no idea that a single decision would change her life forever.

---

The Hospital

The hospital smelled of antiseptic and tension.

Adana burst through the glass doors, struggling under the weight of the old man. Nurses gasped and rushed forward.

“What happened?”
“Accident,” Adana said breathlessly. “A taxi hit him.”

Within seconds, doctors wheeled him into the emergency room.

“Are you his relative?” a nurse asked.

“No,” Adana replied. “I found him on the road.”

She searched his pocket and found a cracked phone. One contact stood out: My Son.

She called.

Thirty minutes later, a sleek black SUV screeched into the hospital. A tall young man in white agbada rushed inside, panic written across his face.

“My father—where is he?”

Adana stepped forward.

“You brought him here?” he asked, stunned.

“Yes.”

“On a bike?”

She nodded.

He rushed into the emergency room.

“I’ll pay anything,” he told the doctors. “He’s all I have.”

---

Consequences

Adana returned to the accident scene.

Her delivery box was gone.

So was the package.

Her phone rang.

“You’re fired,” her manager snapped.

She stood outside the hospital, numb.

But fate wasn’t done yet.

The young man returned.

“My father survived,” he said quietly. “If you had been minutes later, he wouldn’t have made it.”

Then he asked gently, “You lost your delivery… and your job, didn’t you?”

She nodded.

“I’m Andrew,” he said. “And I own the company you work for.”

Adana froze.

That day, Andrew didn’t just restore her job—he changed her future.

---

A New Beginning

Andrew helped Adana return to school. He supported her sisters. He gave her stability without pity.

Weeks turned into months.

The old man, Johnson, grew stronger and happier.

And somewhere between shared meals, quiet conversations, and healing wounds, something deeper grew between Adana and Andrew—slow, careful, undeniable.

---

Truth, Justice, and Healing

When the truth about her parents’ murder finally surfaced, Andrew stood by her through every step. Justice was served. Peace returned.

Adana went to university. Her sisters followed their dreams. Kindness had rewritten their story.

---

Years Later

Standing on a stage in Lagos, Adana addressed hundreds of young people.

“Once, I was just a delivery girl,” she said. “But I stopped to help a stranger when everyone else walked away.”

She smiled.

“Kindness changed my life.”

The crowd rose in applause.

Because sometimes, one act of kindness truly changes everything.