Once upon a time there was a big building at the end of our town. It had lots of windows and about three floors. It was grey and at first glance it looked sad. It was a children’s hospital where sick children went. Some were there for a while, they just needed to be treated and could go home, others had to stay for days because they were too sick. Some were even brought in by ambulance. Sara was one of those children.
A little girl with black hair, straight as nails, a beautiful smile, but a sick heart. She had been in the hospital for a long time, so she knew all the doctors and nurses. She had to walk very slowly around the hospital because she was not allowed to take a deep breath. Her heart wouldn’t be able to take it. But she got used to it, and even though she was so sick, she kept smiling and giving joy to others. She made it her goal to enjoy every day at the hospital and cheer up the other children, doctors and nurses.
One morning, while Sara was sound asleep, she heard quiet crying from a distance. A soft sobbing, from a distant room. She slowly got up and went to see where the sobbing was coming from. Three rooms away, the door was closed. Sara peeked in. On the bed she saw a boy about the same age as she was. He was sitting there, his head drooping in his hands, his hands wet with tears, crying quietly.
Sarah cautiously walked over to him, sat down next to him on the bed and asked, “Hey, you’re new here, right? Can I ask why you’re so sad? Are you in pain?” The boy looked at her and replied brusquely, “Leave me alone and go away. I’m sick, what could be wrong with me?”
Sara hadn’t expected this. She said nothing and left. She knew that he didn’t mean it, he was just really worried about something and was sullen. But because our little patient was a smart girl, she didn’t give up. She wasn’t going to let a new boy’s bad mood discourage her. She started asking the nurses who he was, what kind of illness he had, and what could be bothering him so much. She found out that the new patient’s name was Andy and that he had a bad knee. He was an athlete and was going to have a big race. But with his bad knee, he couldn’t go, even though he had trained hard and long. Now, instead of racing, he was in the hospital and all that effort was for nothing.
Sara wondered what she could do to make him less sad until she figured it out. There are a lot of kids here and he can do the races here in the hospital. First she begged the doctors and nurses to let her do it. Then she picked the longest hallway in the hospital. She decorated the whole thing, made medals and little prizes for the participants. Then she called all the kids from the hospital together. Some just watched and some raced in wheelchairs and some even made it on foot. Doctors and nurses supervised everything to make sure they followed the rules and nobody got hurt.
For Andy everything was a surprise. Not wanting him to know anything, Sara arranged with the nurse to take him to the wheelchair and tell him that he was going to be examined. Instead of taking him to the sickroom, she took him to the hallway where the hospital races were taking place. He was completely surprised and very happy. He participated in everything he could. It was his best day at the hospital.
In the evening, as he sat on his bed holding the medal he had won, he had Sarah called to his room. She slowly approached him at her own pace and he asked her, “Why did you do all this? I was mean to you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” “You weren’t mean. Just too sad. I’ve been here for months and I know everyone who comes here is sad. But it’s not that bad here. I wanted to show you that,” Sara replied. Andy thanked and hugged Sara. He was glad that she had shown him that not everything was as bad as it looked at first sight.
