Postman Hears Loud Cry from Abandoned House and Rushes Inside — Story of the Day

Henry saw a little boy crying on the porch of an abandoned house and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't answer. He was there every day except for one occurrence, which Henry thought was odd. But as he started walking away, he heard a loud cry and went inside only to discover something shocking.

"Hey, kid. What are you doing here all alone? Aren't you playing with your friends?" Henry asked the little kid sitting on the porch of an abandoned house in Bisbee, Arizona. No one had lived in this house for years since the original owner, Mrs. Wright, died. He would've known if someone had moved in because he knew everyone in town due to his job as a postman.

Mrs. Stanley, who lived in the house next door, once told him that Mrs. Wright's children were still fighting over the house, and they couldn't make a decision. So, they left it abandoned. The kids usually played around the area, pretending it was a haunted house, but this little boy was alone and looked extremely sad.

Unfortunately, the boy ignored him, and Henry moved on because he had many letters and packages to deliver that day.

He often saw the boy on the front porch walking through that neighborhood. He was there every day, and he never talked or waved at Henry. Eventually, he stopped trying and moved on. It wasn't his place to care about a strange kid.

***

One day, the boy was not on the porch at all. Hopefully, he was no longer and was running around with the other children. Although it was still strange that Henry couldn't recognize him among the neighbor's kids. But again, it was not his business, so Henry moved along.

Aaaaaaah!

A gut-wrenching cry echoed from inside the house. It didn't sound like a child at all, but incredibly distressed nonetheless. Henry rushed inside, leaving his mailbag discarded on the ground.

He entered the abandoned house and coughed at all the dust that assaulted him. He didn't realize how bad a place could get without proper maintenance. He saw a dirty kitchen, cobwebs everywhere, and some leaks from the roof. He waved his hands and tried to get the dust off his face as he heard another cry coming from somewhere deep in the house.

He rushed and saw the little boy hugging a woman, crying heavily. She hugged her son tightly, and Henry had no idea what to do. Maybe, he shouldn't have come in. "Ma'am, are you alright? Do you need me to call 911?"

The woman stared up at him through watery eyes, and the little boy didn't acknowledge his presence at all. He clung to his mother tightly. "No, it's ok," the woman stated, but her body rocked with her cries, moving the child with her.

Henry waited in the bedroom until she calmed down and wiped her tears away. She disengaged from her son and said, "Tommy, why don't you go off to play. Let me talk to the kind man here."

The little kid stepped away, not looking at Henry, and the postman stared at the lady. "Hey, I'm Henry, by the way. I'm the postman on this street and have been for years. I know everyone, but you're new here, right?" he said, keeping his tone gentle and kind.

"It's nice to meet you, Henry. I'm Alice. That's my son, and I'm sorry I scared with my cries," she said, using her shirt to finish cleaning her face.

"That's fine. But can you tell me what happened? Maybe, I can help you," he insisted.

"Oh, I don't think. My family just called me and told me to get out of here. I can't believe some people can be so cruel," Alice replied and looked at Henry's confused face. "I'm sorry. My grandmother owned this house. My mother and her siblings have been fighting like crazy for it."

"I heard that from a neighbor, but why are you here? This place is hardly livable," Henry added, looking around at the disaster. The bedroom had recently been cleaned, but it still looked shabby.

"Yeah, it's a mess, and I could fix it. But my family is so stubborn," she said, wiping sweat from her forehead. "I mean… they can't even let me stay for a while since I just lost my home in a fire. They know I'm desperate. They know Tommy is having a hard time, and they are still fighting over this."

"Wow. I'm so sorry. Why is your boy having a hard time?"

"The fire affected him. I had him in therapy for a while, but I just lost everything in the fire. I need to save money to get a new place, and I thought staying here would be fine for a while, but again, my family…ugh…," Alice stated, shaking her head.

Henry placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be alright."

Alice continued shaking her head. "No, it won't. My uncles and aunts are coming to kick me out of here. It's going to be an even bigger disaster than this house."

Henry nodded sadly, and he had no idea how to help the woman. But he had to continue working. "Listen, I have to keep working. But anything you need, you can call me," he comforted, giving her his phone number. He left and kept thinking about her predicament during his route.

He came up with an idea and talked to his family about it. They were going to fix the house up and be there when Alice's family arrived. He also discussed the matter with Mrs. Stanley, who arranged for the whole street to join them in repairing the house.

A few days later, everyone joined up and went to the abandoned house to work on it. Alice was scared when they knocked on the door, believing that her relatives had arrived, but she smiled and started crying when Henry revealed what was going on. They got to work immediately.

Other neighbors who had previously not wanted to join decided to help out. One of them even brought his barbecue and hot dogs for everyone, and the entire day of fixing the house became like a giant block party.

Alice introduced herself with tears in her eyes, and Tommy actually started talking to the neighborhood kids. It was a delightful sight.

However, the fun ended when a rented SUV arrived. Five older people got, including Alice's mother and her siblings. One of her aunts started yelling at everyone to get off their property, and others began screaming too for no discernable reason.

Henry tried to dissuade the situation, and Alice's mother tried to settle things with her siblings. But it was useless. "ENOUGH!" he yelled, and everyone finally settled down and looked directly at Alice's aunts and uncles. "You know your niece is going through a hard time. You know she could really use this house."

"That doesn't matter! We have to sell it!" One of the aunts exclaimed disdainfully.

"Fine! You can sell to me! I will pay anything you want for it!" Henry bellowed at her. Everyone looked at him in shock, not believing what he said. "That's right! You heard me. Give me a number!"

Mrs. Stanley stepped forward, too. "I'll help buy it!"

Suddenly, the other neighbors joined in, and all decided to donate to the cause.

Alice's aunts and uncles looked at each other, and even her mother had no idea what to say. Finally, Maria, one of her aunts, spoke up, "I'm so tired of this fight. Look at us. We can't even help our flesh and blood. How come an entire neighborhood is willing to help our niece, but we can't? We're monsters! Besides, Alice has a stake in this house, too. Why can't she stay."

The others looked at each other in shame and regret. Maria's words sat heavy in their hearts. Eventually, they decided to sell the house for a token amount of 5 dollars, representing each sibling. The neighbors and Henry cheered at the decision, and he paid that amount out of his pocket.

Her relatives joined the party and helped whatever was left. Eventually, everyone left, and Alice went straight to Henry and gave him a big hug. "I can't believe you arranged for all of this and what you did out there with my uncles and aunts. That was heroic. Thank you so much!"

Henry left Alice's home extremely happy with himself, and his family was incredibly proud of his efforts. Alice and her son settled into their new home, becoming close to the neighbors and enriching everyone's life.

What can we learn from this story?

• Trouble can unite people, even if they are not family. Alice's problems united the neighbors in a way her own family couldn't. But they eventually learned from their example.
• Money can make families fight, but it's important to look at the bigger picture. Thanks to Henry's and Maria's words, Alice's relatives learned their lesson and saw what was important.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a boy who discovered an old backpack in an abandoned house and was surprised to learn who used to own it.

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