“Stop destroying my plants you annoying little brats!” shrieked Mrs Tan.

My friends
and I quickly ran where she was not able to see us. Mrs. Tan was my old,
cantankerous neighbour. She was disliked by all the children in the neighbourhood.
She was the most ill-tempered, cross and crabby person you could ever meet. Mrs.
Tan had many plotted plants near the basketball court and was always screaming her
head off at us when the ball bounced near her plants.

“I wonder what mum is preparing for dinner? I hope its…” My thoughts were abruptly
interrupted by an old woman glaring at me. Mrs. Tan started advancing towards me.
Suddenly, she tripped over a large rock and landed with a ‘Crack’ sound on her arm.
I stood still for a moment, contemplating walking away from her. Then a voice which
was all too familiar in my mind said ,”A compassionate heart is the most important
quality anyone can have.” Heaving a heavy sigh, I walked over to her and helped her
up. Mrs. Tan was whimpering in pain and her arm was twisted in an awkward angle.
Immediately I brought her to the nearby clinic for a check up. “She has a broken
her arm and will take at least two months for it to heal,” said the doctor
worriedly. Mrs. Tan had a cast on her arm after the visit to the clinic.

I brought her home and could not wait to leave! However, I felt pity as Mrs. Tan
cried helplessly so I made her a soothing cup of barley tea and reluctantly helped
her to wash the dishes in the sink. I found some instant noodles in the cupboard
and cooked it for her. She ate them ravenously while I helped clean her house.

“I will be back tomorrow after school to check on you, okay?”I said while leaving
the house. She nodded thankfully and continued enjoying her instant noodles.

I trudged home as slow as a snail due to the tiring amount of housework at Mrs.
Tan’s house. When I finally arrived home, I noticed mom glaring at me. “Where have
you been? I have been worried sick! It’s already 7.23pm!” mum questioned. I related
what had happened that evening as mother beamed at me and said that my kindness
would always be remembered by Mrs. Tan. Then, she cooked dinner for me and I gulped
down the food whole.

The next day, I started off my Thursday with my usual cereal. Finally, school ended
and I rushed off to Mrs. Tan’s house. Somehow, Mrs. Tan turned over a new leaf and
became a changed woman. From that day, she smiled more and often and told me
stories about the time when she was a child in Singapore in the 1950s. Everyday
after school, I would water her plants and wash her dishes and tidy her house. When
she got better, she baked delicious chocolate chip cookies for the children in the
neighbourhood.

I learnt a valuable lesson from the incident. I will always remember what Mrs. Tan
had said to me when she was better. She had held my hand and thanked me for my good
deed that faithful day when she had fallen down. She said that if the world had
more helpful people like me, it would be a better place. I was happy that I had
helped Mrs. Tan. The reward was in the good deed itself.