Centuries ago, in a forest just north of the equator there was a village. It was a small community where everyone knew each other and nobody was treated with disdain or contempt. Everyone was accepted and supported. Strong values such as respect and honor were followed by all of the village. All but one. In the outskirts, right where it is just close enough to be a part of the village, but too far to be involved with other people, lived Kind.

Kind has been known to be the village grouch since he first moved into town. He never said “excuse me” or “please” or “thank you”. He always shoved and growled at the others when they tried to talk to him. Because of this, everyone grew quiet when they saw him coming, immediately moving out of his way, and then returning to normal after he was gone.

One night Kind was walking home from a long day of work when he bumped into a stranger dressed in a black cloak and hood, causing the stranger to fall.

“Move out of my way. Can’t you see where you’re going?” questioned Kind angrily.

The stranger tried to stand up, but failed, “My knee is weak and I can’t get up, could you please help me?”

Kind scoffed, “you bumped into me and expect me to help you? Why should I? Watch where you’re going next time and you won’t be in this situation.”

The stranger lifted his head, looking at Kind, “I notice you lack compassion and caring. Those things are very important and will take you far.”

Kind laughed at the man’s face, “I don’t need any of that to get by. Being the way I am, people don’t have to tell me things I don’t care about, I get what I want, and I don’t have to help people when they need it.”

The man finally gets up from the ground, and reaches into his cloak. He pulls out a wand and says to Kind, “Soon you will realize the help you refuse to give to others will be the help you need.” The man points to the sky with his wand and a sudden scream of thunder echoes around them. Clouds blanket above and lightning crashes the area. Kind looks up in curiosity, just in time for one ray of lightning to strike him in the head, causing him to black out.

Kind wakes up hours after, although he is not in the same forested area he last remembers being in, he is in his bed.

He lays still, but turns his head to view around him. Nobody seems to be near. Kind attempts to get up, but is hit with a sudden jolt of pain in his back, causing him to fall forcefully back onto the bed.

He tries again slowly, only causing the pain to be worse, but pushing through to sit back up again.

Kind thinks about what he could have done to cause such a big pain in his body that he can’t even get out of bed because every bone hurts, and then the memories of his encounter with the stranger flood back to his mind.

“Oh no,” said Kind, “I need to fix this.”

Although he felt much pain in his legs with every step that he took, he left his house and began what felt like a long journey into his village center.

When he arrived, and saw the crowd of people, smiling and speaking to each other as they normally would he sighed of relief and a small smile curved on his mouth. But the normal attitudes of theirs quickly faded after seeing Kind, everyone shuffling away to make a path for him.

Kind’s relieved expression faded after witnessing what they had just done, and all of a sudden his knee was hit with major pain, and snapped onto the floor, shocking and concerning the bystanders.