The wind was cold that morning, blowing the autumn leaves in its wake.
On his usual walk through the old part of town Neil saw her, an elderly woman, sprawled across the sidewalk, a bruise the size of an apple on her knee.
Without a second thought, he rushed over, kneeling beside her “Are you alright?”
“Just took a fall, happens more than like to these days” She was breathless but composed. “Old bones are not what they used to be anymore”
He helped her up gently and offered to walk her home.
They strolled slowly, chatting about nothing in particular, the way strangers sometimes do. Her front gate creaked open, revealing a yard and at its center, a tree full of ripened persimmons.
“Wait” she said, disappearing for a moment. She returned with clipper in her hand, “Take as many as you want”
He hesitated “You dont need to…”
“I insist, I planted this tree when I bought the house 40 yrs ago, It has seen many falls.”
As he walked home, the fruits warm in his hand, he realized that sometimes a fall can bring two people together.
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