Homeless Man Finds Girl’s Personal Diary in Dumpster and Rushes to Help Her – Story of the Day

David discovered the diary of a girl while searching the trash and was shocked by its contents. He needed to help her and employed his friend Stephen's help to save the girl from a terrible situation.

“Ok, I gotta go, man. See you later!” David said goodbye to his friend, Stephen, who had just scored him some day-old bread from his work. Stephen was in his 60s and had been baking for the shop for many decades. One day, he befriended David, a 25-year-old, when he saw him scavenging through the trash behind the store.

The rest is history. David came by almost every day to see if Stephen had something for him, and he always did. The older man had even offered to let David move in with him for a while, but David didn’t want to take too much advantage.

“Cool, man! See you tomorrow,” Stephen called out as he entered the back door and went back to work.

Now that he was alone, David rummaged through some of the trashcans. The bakery was located in a commercial area of New Jersey, and almost every lot discarded their trash there. So he would often find perfectly fine food and even old clothes sometimes.

This time, he was looking for books or newspapers. He loved to read but couldn’t afford anything new with those seriously high prices, but sometimes, someone would throw something away, and he would read away. He was lucky because there was a big stack of newspapers in one can. He didn’t know how old they were, but it was a great option to pass the time.

But he discovered something else. A few notebooks were discarded there, and someone wrote on one. “It’s a diary,” he said to himself and took it. He wondered if a little girl had lost it at some point, and maybe he would return it. But for now, that was his new form of entertainment.

“Yeah, but I’ll help you under one condition.”

He went to his usual corner, placed a cup in front of him to see if anyone would drop a penny or two, and started reading. He never imagined what he would discover in those words.

***

David closed the diary in one snap and ran a hand through his face, thinking deeply. It belonged to a girl named Lorraine Martin. She was born an orphan and bounced around foster homes before turning 18. But her real nightmare had begun afterward. She met an older man in his late 30s and decided she was in love.

They got married, and now, she was trapped. He was a tyrant and treated her like a maid. Furthermore, she discovered that he had been married and divorced several times in the past because of the way he treated women. He also had a criminal record and a history of domestic violence, which she was experiencing now.

But David was struck by the last page where she wrote:

Please, I’m throwing this out there, hoping that someone will read it and help me. I need to get out of this situation. This is my address. If you can help me, please come! I can’t take much more of this, and the police won’t help me because he hasn’t hit me yet. But every day gets worse. I get yelled at all the time, and he is always drinking. I can barely leave the house anymore. Please help me!

David couldn’t let the issue go. He read the address before that short message and realized it was nearby. But what could he do? He was homeless and had no way of protecting the young woman. Obviously, her husband had found a vulnerable girl and tricked her. Now, he was mistreating her to hell, and someone had to stop him.

He had to ask Stephen what he thought.

***

“I think we should call the police,” Stephen said when David explained the situation and asked him for advice.

“But she already said that the police won’t help because he doesn’t actually hit her, but abuse comes in different forms. We have to do something, man. Poor girl,” David pleaded with his friend.

“Jesus, this could get complicated, but I actually know a women’s shelter where she could be safe,” Stephen revealed.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I’ll help you under one condition.”

“What?” David asked, confused.

“You let me help you too. We get this girl out and to the shelter, and you come live with me. Let me help you get a new job and get your life back together. How about it?” Stephen offered, as it was an excellent opportunity to save more than one person that needed it.

David thought about it for several moments. He wasn’t sure he was ready to enter the world once again after being homeless and an outcast for so many years. But someone had to help this girl. “Deal.”

“Let’s do it. But first, we must get you out those clothes,” Stephen said, shocking David.

***

“Yeah?” a burly man with gray hair and a beer belly opened the door to Stephen and David, who were dressed in nice clothing.

“Is Lorraine here?” Stephen asked as politely as he could.

“Who’s asking?” the man scowled at them and crossed his arms. His pose told them he wouldn’t let Lorraine talk to them easily.

“My name is Stephen. I’m Lorraine’s grandfather and David is her brother. We recently learned about her after trying to find her for years, and we need to talk to her now,” Stephen continued while David nodded along.

“Lorraine has no family. She’s my wife, and she’s not coming out,” the man told them and was about to close the door in their faces when David stopped him.

“If you don’t let us talk to her right now, we will call the police and come for her later,” he threatened as lightly as he could.

The man pursed his lips, scowled, and finally bellowed for Lorraine to show up. Obviously, he didn’t want the police to be involved with this in any capacity. His criminal record must be bad.

“Yes?”

“These men want to talk to you. Do you know them?” the man sneered at Lorraine, a tiny girl who hunched as soon he started talking.

“Lorraine, is that you?” David asked, interrupting the man and looking at her with kind eyes.

“Yes, who are you?” she asked in a small voice.

David reached out and got her diary out. Suddenly, her eyebrows raised, and she looked at them hopefully. Stephen looked at both of them and mouthed the word “run” because her husband was still right behind her. He got distracted by the phone inside the house for one second, and the three of them took off.

David grabbed Lorraine's hand, and Stephen followed closely behind them. The man yelled at them, but he couldn’t catch up with them and started coughing right outside the house.

David and Stephen took Lorraine to the women’s shelter nearby, and they received her with open arms. She was going to get help, therapy, and possibly guidance on finding a job.

Now, David had to make good on his promise to accept Stephen’s help and get his life back together. He would forever be grateful for his baker friend.

What can we learn from this story?

• Help someone if you can. If you have the capacity to help someone when they most need it, try to do it.
• Learn to accept help. Unlike Lorraine, who was calling out for help, David was more reluctant to receive assistance. Sometimes, that’s even harder, but he finally allowed his friend to help him out.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman looking for the son she gave up for adoption.

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