A GOOD DEED

by PHYLLIS OWEN

Mildred sighed as she finished the last of her homework and packed all her books neatly in her suitcase ready for school the next day.  She was ten years old and in Form Four.  Her light brown hair was short and curly and she had large green eyes.

  She frowned when she thought about what Miss Jones, their teacher, had told them at school that morning about the underprivileged children in Africa.  There were millions of them who will never learn how to read and write.  They hadn’t enough food to eat and were always hungry.  It was hard to imagine anyone being hungry.  Miss Jones also said there were many children living in slums and shantytowns, and how they had never seen flowers or trees.   She had shown them pictures of these shantytowns.  The children looked like skeletons with skin covering their bones and they had large sad eyes

  ‘Everyone must remember the needy children in the world,’ she said, ‘and try to help in any way possible to raise money for them.

  Mildred thought long and hard. She badly wanted to help, but what could she do?  ‘I will speak to Cindy-Lou.’  Cindy-Lou was her best friend.  She lived in the house next door.

  Mildred went to Cindy-Lou’s house and found her sitting on the lawn playing with Scruffy, her maltese poodle.

  ‘Hello, Mildred,’ greeted Cindy-Lou.  ‘Look at Scruffy.  I have taught him another trick.  He’s such a clever dog.’  With that she held up a small piece of biscuit and Scruffy got up on his hind legs and followed her around the lawn.  Then she gave him the biscuit.

  Mildred grinned.  ‘Clever boy,’ she said.  Soon Scruffy was walking round and round the lawn for her too.  ‘My, you really are such a clever dog,’ she crooned, giving him a piece of biscuit.

  After a while she and Cindy-Lou were completely exhausted and flopped down on the grass.

  Then Mildred remembered why she had come.  ‘Cindy-Lou, I so want to help raise money for all those children in Africa Miss Jones told us about this morning.  What can we do to help?’

  Cindy-Lou nodded and was thoughtful for a few moments.   ‘Mildred, I have an idea,’ she said, brightening.  ‘This morning my mother told me to get rid of some of my old books and comics as there is no more space for them in the bookcase.  We can ask the children at school if they have any old books and comics, also toys, old CDs and videos.  No one minds giving them away and if we sell them at a reasonable price we will be able to make quite a lot of money.’

  Mildred was thrilled with the idea.  She hurried home to sort out her books and comics and she also found a few puzzles.  The next day at school they asked the children for their old comics, books, toys, videos and CDs and told them to bring these to their home in the afternoon.  On the way back from school, Mildred and Cindy-Lou called on Mr. Brown, the grocer, to ask him if they could sell their goods outside his shop on Saturday morning.

  When Mr. Brown heard their story he was very happy to help.  He told them he had a table for their goods and a box for them to keep their money.

  The response at school was overwhelming and they soon had a large variety of goods for sale.

  Mildred and Cindy-Lou were up early on Saturday morning.  Mildred’s mother helped them to get everything to Mr. Brown’s shop.  It didn’t take long to pack out the variety of goods neatly on to the table and they placed all the excess in two large boxes under the table.  Even before they had finished unpacking, the customers were queuing to buy.

  The morning passed so quickly.  Just about everything was sold, except for a few rather tatty books.  These they gave to a couple of passers by.  Very satisfied with their morning’s work, Mildred and Cindy-Lou sat in Mr. Brown’s shop counting their money.  They had made forty-three pounds and sixty-five pence, and to top it all, Mr. Brown took all their small change and gave them a shiny new fifty-pound note.