The Milk Shop at the Alley Corner

On a late-autumn night, a girl worked overtime until the small hours. Cold and hungry, she turned into an alley and saw a grocery store that was still lit. The old woman running the shop noticed her red-rimmed eyes and, without a word, pressed a bottle of warm milk into her hands, refusing to take a cent. As the girl drank, the hurt that had built up over the past few days suddenly faded. From then on, a bottle of warm milk was waiting for her every night she worked late. Eventually, the old woman moved away. A note was left in the doorframe: "I've prepared your milk ahead of time. May the road ahead go smoothly. Remember to love yourself." Holding the note at the snowy alley's entrance, the girl could almost still feel the warmth of that milk in her hands.