Every Day Old Lady Sees Lonely Triplets Playing All Day Long on the Beach and Follows Them — Story of the Day

An older woman grows concerned about a set of triplets who spend the entire day on the beach unattended and return home late in the evening daily. One day, she follows them and what she discovers in their house changes her life forever.

"I've heard she's a single mother whose husband abandoned her. Have you seen her sons? She has triplets, and they don't look older than 6. God knows how she manages to look after them alone. Must be hard for her," Mrs. Brooks overheard one of her neighbors saying as she walked down the front aisle of the supermarket to get some bread and milk.

"I don't believe that," Amelia interjected. She lived across the street from Mrs. Brooks and was a rigid woman. "I think there's something wrong with her. I saw her a few days ago when she first moved here, but she vanished without a trace after that. I believe she ran away. She must have realized she didn't want to look after her children! What a jerk!"

"What?" Caroline, Mrs. Brooks' next-door neighbor, gasped. "Did she really leave her kids? Then we must notify the cops. Those poor children must be going through a lot."

"Are you insane?" Amelia yelled at her. "Don't meddle in other people's affairs unnecessarily. Who will deal with the cops and the CPS? It's best if we keep our distance from her."

"But what if…." The neighbors continued to speak about the new woman who had moved into their area, but Mrs. Brooks was uninterested and strolled away to the next aisle.

Mrs. Brooks was 85 years old, often aloof and alone, and disliked spending time with the other women in the area because they were similar to the whining chatterboxes who loved to discover flaws in other people's lives while ignoring the flaws in their own. So she finished her shopping fast, paid, and left the store.

However, while she was sitting on her balcony a week later, her attention was drawn to three handsome, fair-haired triplets playing on the beach.

Oh, so those are the kids the women were talking about. They look pretty adorable, but they look weak too. Did their mother really abandon them? The older woman pondered while she sipped her tea and turned to the next page of her book.

Soon, the sun descended a little, and evening started approaching. Mrs. Brooks was so engaged in her book that she didn't notice when the time changed from afternoon to evening. She decided to head inside and start dinner preparations, but when she turned to look at the beach, she found the triplets were still there. Even though it was getting cold, those kids were running around on the beach, shirtless, playing with their toys.

Those boys will catch a cold! How irresponsible is their mother? She grumbled as she entered her home and shut the balcony door behind her. She had always preferred to keep her distance from others, but when she saw the triplets, she couldn't stop thinking about them. Perhaps it was due to her affection for the adorable boys, or maybe it was due to their circumstances, as she reasoned their mother was no longer with them — that she felt obligated to help them.

"Don't call the police, Mrs. Brooks. I beg you...please don't do it," he cried again and again.

So, when she realized that the boys were at the beach every day till late evening, she decided to follow them. Little did the woman know it would reveal something that would leave her stunned...

"Hello, darling, My name is Mrs. Brooks. I am your new neighbor. Can I please come in?" She inquired as one of the triplets greeted her at the door.

He glanced at her for a moment and then said, "Hello, Mrs. Brooks. I'm Sam. Mommy is not at home. Can you come later?"

"Could you please tell me when your mom will return?" she asked.

"I don't know, Mrs. Brooks. But I think she'll come tomorrow," answered Sam.

"Do you mean you can sleep in an empty house without adults?" Mrs. Brooks was alarmed.

"Yes, don't worry, Mrs. Brooks. We're grown-ups...we've slept many days alone here...everything is alright, as you can see."

Mrs. Brooks was shocked to hear that and asked the boys to let her in.

“I'm sorry, but my mother told us not to let strangers in," told the boy.

Mrs. Brooks agreed with him and proposed to call the cops as it was prohibited for kids to stay alone without adult supervision. To her shock, the children begged her not to do it and let her in.

Mrs. Brooks followed the boys and pushed the door ajar behind them. The first thing that hit her was the horrible stench — a mix of rotting food and dampness that sent a sense of uneasiness down her spine.

She jerked back, not sure if she'd still want to step inside. But her concern for the children got the better of her as she walked in and was shocked by the house's interior. Her hand went up to her nose as the stink of the place grew stronger the further she went in. "Jesus, what just happened here?" Mrs. Brooks gasped, tip-toeing on the dirty floor.

Stale, rotting food and dirty dishes buzzing with flies were scattered around. The walls looked miserable and bare. Not a picture was there except for tiny muddy holes and ugly cracks. The broken windows were boarded up, blocking the autumn sunshine from entering the dingy house. Water droplets dripped on her hand as she looked up and saw brown-stained water spots on the ceiling.

An old bed furnished with a tattered, disgustingly dirty mattress lay in the corner. "The children sleep here…on this smelly bed?? Oh my, it must be so cold," Mrs. Brooks was alarmed. She couldn't believe they managed to stay in such horrific conditions these many days without adult supervision.

The musty, damp odor irritated Mrs. Brooks when she entered the kitchen. Cockroaches swarmed and hid behind the darkness as she walked in and stood near a pile of cereal boxes and pasta the rodents had nibbled away. "How disgusting! How could she even leave her kids in this place??" Mrs. Brooks grumbled and tripped over something that startled her even more. Used syringes, not one or two, but over a dozen, were scattered on the floor near the dustbin.

"What mother on earth will throw her syringes like this? I'm sure she took drugs in front of her children...Jesus, what a horrible woman she is!" Mrs. Brooks was furious with the kids' mother. "She didn't even dispose of her syringes properly? Doesn't she have any sense? It could be dangerous to her kids... And where the hell did she go leaving them alone?"

Mrs. Brooks was then drawn to some old framed photos near the boys' bed. She lifted one of them and wiped the dust off the picture of a beautiful young woman holding three babies.

"She must be their mother," thought Mrs. Brooks. "Oh, just look at her! Young, spoiled brats like her need counseling. How could she even leave these poor things like this??"

"Sam, sweetie, where is your mother? Did she tell you anything?" Mrs. Brooks asked the little boy.

"Mommy said she is going somewhere to find work...a job int...int..."

"A job interview?"

"Yes, a job interview..." said Sam. "She told us to be good boys...and stay in the house...She said she will come home soon. But mommy has not come home. We are still waiting for her."

"Oh, dear! Do you have anybody else? Your dad? An aunt or uncle? Do you have the phone number of someone I could contact for help?" Mrs. Brooks pressed the boy for more details.

"No...I don't know anybody...Daddy died long back."

Mrs. Brooks felt sorry for the poor things and curiously looked around the shabby house for a phone number of some friend or relative the children's mother might have left. But when she didn't find any, she told Sam she would have to call the cops, especially after seeing the condition of the house.

"Please, Mrs. Brooks, don't call the police...please, we beg you... we're scared of them," they pleaded with her.

"I think only the police can help you boys now. Stay right here...I'll be just back, alright? Don't go anywhere until I come back."

But Sam wouldn't let Mrs. Brooks move from there. He grabbed her dress and cried, asking her to stop. "Last year, police took my cousin Amy after her mommy and daddy died. Amy did not come back. Police will take us like her...and we will not see mommy again. Mrs. Brooks...Please don't call the police."

Mrs. Brooks let go of Sam's grip and swiftly made it to the front door to leave. But she stopped when all the boys started crying. Sam ran to her and held her tight, looking up at her with big, dewy eyes. "Don't call the police, Mrs. Brooks. I beg you...please don't do it," he cried again and again.

The older woman knew that reaching out to the cops was the only way to figure out what needed to be done with the children and to find their mom. But she was worried about the boys, and their loud cries kept ringing in her head. So she decided to take them home with her for a night. I cannot leave them alone after seeing all this mess… I'll see what can be done. But for now, I'll take them with me, Mrs. Brooks decided.

"Fine, I'm not calling the cops, alright? I'll not do it only if you be good boys and come to my house."

Sam and his brothers, Alan and Roman, held each other tight and disappointedly nodded to go with Mrs. Brooks.

For the first time in years, the floorboards in Mrs. Brooks's old house creaked to footsteps other than just hers. She'd been living in this house all alone ever since she lost her only son in a car crash years ago. She never mingled much with people due to grief, and her home hadn't had a guest in years. People thought she was grumpy, but she didn't care what they said. But that day, a strange joy struck Mrs. Brooks's heart when she led the little boys into her house.

"So, what would you like to have for dinner?"

"Tomato soup!" Alan shouted in delight.

"Something warm and delicious like mommy cooks," Roman chimed in.

Sam only shrugged. He was distracted by a shelf full of vintage collectibles and showpieces like mini brass bikes and scooters.

"Alright, sweethearts! You can watch TV or play while I make dinner, okay?"

Mrs. Brooks made her best dinner that night. Usually, she went to bed without caring much about making something nice for her to eat. But that day, her house smelled of the most delicious tomato soup, sandwiches, and bacon mac and cheese the boys had ever eaten.

Sam and his brothers devoured the food before Mrs. Brooks could even finish hers and kept looking at her for more. She understood they were hungry and hadn't eaten something nice ever since their mother disappeared. So she happily served them another plate of the meal, slowly asking them about their life in detail.

"So, how did your daddy die? ... And how is your mommy at home? ... Does she take good care of you?" Mrs. Brooks spoke as she chomped on her food. "There's ice cream in the fridge, boys. I'm sure you'd love to have some! There's vanilla, strawberry, and who likes butterscotch?!" The retired teacher she was, Mrs. Brooks, just knew the tactics to churn out the truth from little kids.

"Daddy was sick," Alan said.

"He was always sick and sleeping on the bed…and mommy used to cook...wash...comb his hair, and take care of him," Roman added.

"I see...so what happened after that? How did he die?"

"Mommy said doctors did not have the power to save daddy, so he died. Then big, bad men wearing uniforms took our home. Mommy said she was selling the house to them. She brought us here...on the train. Mommy was going out to find a job every day. She was sad and was always crying. Because she was missing daddy..." said Sam.

"Alright! So when did she start using syringes? You know what a syringe is?"

"Yes, I am scared of si..si—."

"Syringe!"

"Yes, I'm scared of syringes every time mommy takes me to the doctor. Mommy told us she is not well like daddy. So she uses syringes every day."

Mrs. Brooks was furious. "What an idiot! How could this stupid woman even shoot up in front of her kids? Now I understand how their dad died. He must've been an addict, too ... Why do such people want to have kids and ruin these innocent lives? Generation these days! I wonder what happened to their mother," she mumbled.

"Goodnight, sweethearts! I'll be in the next room, so don't feel shy to knock on my door if you need something, alright?" she said, closing the guestroom door. Through the half-open door, she saw the children were already asleep. They were exhausted and had fallen asleep in a wink on the fluffy and cozy bed under the warm fleece blanket.

Mrs. Brooks sighed and walked away, certain she could shelter the children for a few more days, considering she was a former teacher and had even raised a son alone. But she immediately changed her mind when she thought about the boys' mother. Mrs. Brooks was enraged, so she decided to teach the woman a lesson for daring to leave her kids unattended under horrible circumstances.

She rang social services, but the thought about the kids' house haunted her. "They will deprive their mother's parental rights if they see the condition of that house. Shall I clean it before CPS arrives in the morning?" worried Mrs. Brooks. But she changed her mind. "No, let them see her house. Only then she'll learn her lesson. Such irresponsible people like her don't deserve to be parents."

The next morning, the children woke up to the sounds of two men and a woman talking to Mrs. Brooks. They recognized that uniform. They'd seen their cousin taken by people wearing similar outfits and started to panic. After seeing the CPS enter their room, the boys sprang from their beds and hid underneath the cot and pillows.

"You are a bad woman...you lied to us!" Sam yelled at Mrs. Brooks.

"Let us go...we want to go home...to mommy...let us go," the boys whined and kicked, ferociously staring at Mrs. Brooks as the social workers took them out.

"Let me go...please…let me go!" Sam cried. But he and his brothers were put in the car and were driven out of the gate.

"You liar! You promised you wouldn't call them...you are a bad lady…you are such a horrible old lady!" the boys kept yelling at Mrs. Brooks. She could do nothing on her end and thought she'd indeed taken a wise decision.

Everything was calm until Mrs. Brooks saw someone familiar in the supermarket a few weeks later. She quickly recognized the woman as the boys' mother, who'd disappeared without a trace.

"What mother on earth would abandon her children again and loiter?? Didn't I teach her a lesson already? I think I'll have to do it again...how dare she repeat it?" Mrs. Brooks was enraged. She tossed the packets of mushrooms she was holding back on the shelf and angrily marched to the woman.

"Hey, you, young lady," Mrs. Brooks walked faster, waving at the woman with an unkind frown and fierce eyes. "Wait right there, will you?"

The woman was shocked, unable to comprehend who the old lady was and why she sounded so rude. "Who is she, and why's she yelling at me for no reason when I'm already...." she wondered.

"Didn't CPS tell you not to leave your children alone? Have you forgotten you're not supposed to leave kids unattended? You don't have the right to do it, alright? Do you want someone to report you again, lady?" Mrs. Brooks kept yelling and paused after noticing the woman's baggy tear-stained eyes and a bandaged wound on her forehead.

I'm sure it's a withdrawal symptom...She must've fallen somewhere and hurt her head...and she has the audacity to leave her kids again...how dare she? Mrs. Brooks thought.

The woman ignored Mrs. Brooks and tried to walk away. But she froze when she felt an intense tap on her arm.

"Where you goin', young lady? I'm asking you something, answer me. Did you leave your kids alone again?"

The woman turned pale and was stiff and uncomfortable. She coughed to clear her throat, tucking back her hair behind her ears, trying her best not to look into Mrs. Brooks's furious eyes.

"What happened, girl? I'm from the neighborhood you just moved in, and I heard you left your three little kids unattended in that dark, dirty house," Mrs. Brooks broke the woman's silence.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't know you were my neighbor. I'm Jamie, and I'm new to this town. Somebody had reported me to the CPS. I don't know why she did that, but I'd like to thank her for stepping up for my children," Jamie said, but Mrs. Brooks was too mad to calm down.

"I don't care who you are...Do you want child services to get involved again, lady? You had left your kids in such a mess three weeks ago. You have no idea what they were doing and how they were even surviving in that house all alone. And you've done it again. This time, I think you should face some serious action and never repeat it...People like you always need some hard lessons. How could you even leave your kids alone in that dilapidated house? You were happily roaming while your kids were starving, living with cockroaches...in that dirty house."

"Hey, one second, you've got it all wrong. I didn't leave my kids alone on purpose, okay?" Jamie interrupted. "Do you even know what happened to me that day? Quit shouting at me without knowing the truth…." Jamie cut through Mrs. Brook.

"You're right! I shouldn't have left my children alone, but I had no choice. I didn't know anybody here and was afraid to leave them with a stranger. So I thought it would be safer for them to stay on their own for a couple of hours. But everything went wrong."

"I was on my way home after the interview. I was trying to cross the road. I missed noticing the signal and got hit by a car. I was injured and lost consciousness, and when I woke up six days later, I was in the hospital. I heard the CPS had taken my kids away when I came home. I got a call from the authorities, and they told me some Mrs. Brooks had reported me for leaving my kids unattended. She had sheltered my sons in her house before calling the CPS. I haven't met her yet, but I'm really thankful to her for helping my kids when they were alone."

"Did you meet her after that?" Mrs. Brooks asked Jamie.

"I did go thrice. Her house was locked the two times I went, and she didn't answer me the last time I knocked on her door. I didn't go again because I didn't want to annoy her. I didn't leave my kids alone intentionally. None of it was my fault!"

Mrs. Brooks was so ashamed of herself for jumping to a hasty conclusion about Jamie without knowing the whole picture.

"I'm sorry about that, Jamie! But why are you sad? You look worried...is everything alright? And I heard they found many used syringes in your house...how do you explain that??"

The woman could not hold back her tears. She dropped to the floor, crying to Mrs. Brooks and telling her how CPS would soon deprive her of parental rights.

"I didn't make it through the interview. And since I have no job and am sick, CPS is going to take my parental rights away," Jamie cried.

"Sick? What's wrong, Jamie? What happened to you?" Mrs. Brooks interrupted worriedly.

"I have diabetes, and I need an insulin shot every day. I dispose of the syringes every week, but I think my kids took them out from the trashcan while I was in the hospital. I could still raise my children once I get a job. But the authorities checked my house last week and told me it's awful to raise three little children there. I don't have money to renovate it as I had spent everything on buying that house. I'm still looking for a job and have a couple of interviews tomorrow."

"Oh, Jesus! I am really sorry you had to undergo so much trouble, Jamie. Maybe things wouldn't have turned this worse if that woman hadn't called CPS," Mrs. Brooks regretted. "Don't worry, dear. I hope something turns out in your favor and you don't lose custody of your kids. Don't lose heart and stay strong, alright? I'm getting late. I got to go now. It was nice talking to you!"

Mrs. Brooks left without revealing her identity because she was so guilty. That afternoon after returning home, she rang George, her ex-student. George was a lawyer, so Mrs. Brooks understood only he could help.

"Alright, Mrs. Brooks! Let's do this. That sounds like an amazing plan! When do we start?"

"By tomorrow afternoon, George! And please don't forget to bring them along, alright? I'll be waiting for you outside her house. I'll call you once I see her going out. She told me she has an interview tomorrow. Be there before she arrives, okay?"

Jamie was in for a tear-jerking surprise the following afternoon when she arrived home. She saw a man and some builders on her porch and didn't understand why they'd come. She marched through the dusty lawn and was stunned at seeing Mrs. Brooks standing there.

"Hey there! We meet again, but what's happening? What are you doing here, and who are these men?" Jamie was stunned. "What are they doing in my house?"

"They are here to fix it, dear! I hired them!"

"What? To fix my house? And you hired them? But why?"

"I'm Mrs. Brooks, the old lady who reported you to the CPS! I'm sorry for what happened, dear. I wanted to help you and make up for the damage I caused. So, I thought, why not repair your house and make it livable for your little kids?! That way, your children will not be taken away from you!"

Jamie was dumbfounded and moved to tears. In a month, the house got a stunning facelift. The leaking roof was fixed. The walls were painted white and pastel. The cracked floors were replaced with tiles. The doors and windows no more creaked. If that weren't enough, Mrs. Brooks went out of her way and furnished the house with secondhand furniture and bedding she got from the flea market.

"There, now you've got a comfortable home to raise your children! Are you happy, dear?!" Mrs. Brooks asked Jamie. "And don't worry about your custody over your kids. I spoke to one of my ex-pupils. He's a lawyer and will help you, alright?"

"Mrs. Brooks, I don't know how to thank you!" Jamie cried on Mrs. Brooks's shoulders. "This really means a lot to me. Thank you for doing this. I'll always be grateful to you!"

With time, things got better for Jamie. The lawyer helped her get custody of the kids, and she even found a good job. Most of all, she was more than pleased when Mrs. Brooks treated her and the boys as family!

What can we learn from this story?

• Refrain from overseeing things and ignoring people in need of help. You may never know how your small act of kindness could end up saving their lives. Despite not being social in her neighborhood, Mrs. Brooks was concerned about the kids when she saw them playing alone on the beach daily. She followed them and discovered they were alone at home without adult supervision. She took them to her house and called CPS.
• Do not jump to a hasty conclusion about someone. It would help if you verified the truth instead of judging a person blindly. After seeing the used and discarded syringes, Mrs. Brooks thought the children's mother was a drug addict. She decided to teach her a lesson and reported her to CPS. However, Mrs. Brooks regretted doing it after meeting the kids' mother in the supermarket a few weeks later.

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A mother gets a call from a cop telling her that her son was found living on the street. She freezes with shock when she sees a boy who is a carbon copy of her twins. Click here to read the full story.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.