The air was filled with the smell of smoke and rain, and ash covered the snow. He stood frozen, holding a small, shivering kitten in his shaking hands.
“Sir… are you alright?” I asked.
“They’re all gone,” he murmured. “The house, the pictures, everything. She’s the only thing I have left.”
My heart ached. Later, I found out his name was Elias. He asked for a warm place for the kitten and some milk. I brought them to my house, where Elias told me he had found Spark just as the roof was falling, and she became his hope.
In the days that followed, Elias started talking about his late wife, Clara, and little by little, he began to heal. One day, his granddaughter Lena arrived, worried after hearing about the fire. They hugged, both feeling relieved. Lena moved in, and together, they started to rebuild their lives.
When I visited them, the house was bright and filled with laughter again. Elias showed me a photo of his new family and said, “I lost everything, but I found even more. There’s always a little hope.”
Elias’s story taught me that loss is a part of life, but how we handle it is what truly matters. Even in the hardest times, there’s always something to keep us going.