The Door That Was Always Open

There was an old house in the village with a door that was always open every day. No one lived there, yet no one ever closed the door. Someone found it strange and asked the person in charge of the house: "Why don't you lock the door? Aren't you afraid someone will go in?" The old man replied: "A person used to live here." "He always said, 'In case someone needs a place to rest someday, at least they won't have to knock first.'" Later, that person left. The house became empty. But the door remained open. Many years passed, and the villagers slowly got used to this. Then one night, during a heavy rainstorm, a lost child took shelter under the eaves. He saw the door and tried to push it. It opened. There was nothing inside but a chair and a lamp. The child sat for a while until the rain stopped and then left. The next day, he placed a small bouquet of flowers at the doorstep. Later, people noticed that the flowers at the door kept increasing. No one knew who was leaving them. The old man looked at the flowers and said only one thing: "So, if a door stays open long enough, someone really will remember." Some acts of kindness are strange. When you do them, you might not know who will receive them; you might even forget you ever did them yourself. But it can become a reason for a stranger to think, 'Maybe I can still believe in something.' We may not be able to change other people's lives, but we can leave behind one more door in this world that people don't have to be afraid to push open.