Week 11 Story: The Restaurant Owner

Lily and her mother were incredibly poor. They were all on their own, living in downtown New York City, with no family or friends nearby. Lily's father had left when she was only a baby, and her mother had trouble keeping a job. She had never gone to college and did not have much experience in the working world. Therefore she typically had to work at least two jobs just to make ends meet. They lived in a small, dirty apartment behind a hamburger restaurant. It always smelled of grease and drew in bugs and rodents. Lily knew they were poor, however she loved her mom and knew they would be okay. She often went to school in clothes that were far too small. The other kids often made fun of her for the way that she looked or the way that she smelled. These things hurt Lily, but she never complained to her mother because she did not want her to feel bad that she could not provide for them. 

One day, the owner of the hamburger restaurant caught a glimpse of Lily coming home from school. "Are you okay sweetie?" he asked, noticing the condition of her clothes and her ragged backpack.

Lily nervously nodded yes and quickly ran into the apartment. She knew better than to talk to strangers. Later that evening, there was a knock at the door. Lily mother was at work as usual, meaning that she was not to open the door to anyone. After she heard the person walk away, she ran to the window. It was the owner of the restaurant. And when she looked to the front door, there was a large and on the steps. Lily quickly grabbed the bag before locking the door behind her. It was full of food! There was enough food to feed ten people! And there were even a couple of t-shirts from the restaurant and a new blanket as well. Lily thought she had died and gone to heaven! She was so excited to show her mom when she got home. 

For a few weeks, this continued. Every couple of days, the owner would leave fresh food and some other essential items on the door step. He even began to leave a toy every once in a while and even a new winter coat for Lily! He never forced her to talk to him or let him inside, but simply respected their privacy and safety and left the items. Lily started to wave from the window, and eventually she would even yell out "Thank you!" 

One day, after he had left a particularly high-value basket, Lily's mom began to think. 

"He's got to be pretty rich, right?" she would ask out loud as Lily nodded her head. "I wish he would just leave money and not all of this food" she would continue, ungrateful for the help of the man. 

Lily always just nodded along with her mother, too scared to tell her mom that she was being ungrateful. But then one day, her mother took it too far. 

"I bet he leaves cash lying around the office in that restaurant. If we could only get in there!" she exclaimed. 

And then a plan was formed. Lily's mom knew that the owner was particularly fond of Lily, therefore she knew she needed to use Lily to gain access. She told Lily she would have to go into the restaurant and ask to speak to the owner, that way she would be shown to his office and she could find out if there was money there. Lily did not like the plan at all. She liked the owner, and she did not want to steal from him. However Lily was never one to go against her mother, and therefore she agreed. 

When Lily entered the restaurant, she was instantly greeted with kindness. She told the employees that she knew the owner and would like to speak to him. They lead her back to his office, where she paid attention to the code to get in. As soon as she entered, he was overjoyed. Lily stayed for a while, thanking him for all of his gifts and telling him about herself. He was just so happy to finally meet her and learn her name. She gave him a big hug before running home to her mother. 

"Well? Did you see any money? And did you get the code?" her mother asked, not caring about how the meeting went at all. 

Lily nervously shook her head yes before reluctantly telling her mother the code. That night, her mom planned to break into the restaurant. She climbed in through a back window that had been broken for weeks. Once inside, she ran for the office. However as soon as she typed in the code, an alarm sounded through the whole restaurant, notifying the owner and the police. When the owner arrived and saw who the culprit was, he hung his head in sadness. He did not press charges, and let Lily's mom off for free. There was never another basket left by the door. 

                                                                Wikipedia: New York City 

Author's Note: My story is based off of "The Golden Goose" from the Jataka Tales. While I did change the characters and setting, I followed the same general plot and moral of the story. In the golden goose, there was a mother and daughter who were very poor. They came across a goose with golden feathers and would pick one at a time to sell in order to live comfortably. The mother grew greedy and picked off all the feathers without the goose’s consent. If that is done, the feather as no value. Therefore similarly in my story, there was very generous man giving what he could to a poor mother and daughter. However, the mother grew greedy and tried to take more from him without his consent. After the attempted burglary  the man stopped giving gifts to them. While I made the story more modern and only about people, I followed the same moral to be grateful for what is given.