Nazim’s bakery was renowned throughout the district and always enjoyed high demand from customers. Both adults and children loved his delicious baked goods. For his little admirers of his culinary talents, Nazim always offered a discount, which brought a pleasant smile and gratitude from their parents.
Nazim, along with his family, came to Russia many years ago, when, following the collapse of a great empire, mass unrest and total unemployment intensified in his native country. The hardworking man spent many years as a road worker and janitor until one beautiful day he stumbled upon a cafe specializing in Eastern cuisine. There, to his surprise, he discovered that the bakery offered by the baker was nothing like what he was accustomed to from childhood. This was because there were very few qualified specialists in this industry.
That was when Nazim got the idea of a mini-bakery where, together with his wife Fatima, he could delight customers with delicious Eastern pastries. Of course, the path to his dream was difficult and thorny, but still, thanks to his perseverance and determination, he achieved his goal. Many years have passed since the first bun he baked himself to the present day, during which time Nazim has become a father and a grandfather.
The kind and responsive man loved children and often treated them for free, rightly believing that children are the flowers of life. Also, Nazim always fed stray animals and helped the city shelter for abandoned pets. The wise man rightly considered dogs and cats as man’s friends, and if he managed to save even one small life, then the day was not wasted for Nazim. And today, the morning for the compassionate baker began with feeding a couple of stray dogs and a bald old British cat, which cruel owners had thrown out into the street.
While Fatima was busy at the stove, turning over crispy buns and pies, the owner brought out a tray with leftovers from yesterday’s baking to feed the hungry animals.
«Now, now… Don’t rush, darlings! There’s enough for everyone!» Nazim said, patiently waiting for the poor creatures to feed.
Suddenly, someone gently touched his shoulder and asked in a quiet voice:
«May I have a piece of bread too?»
Nazim turned around and, to his great surprise, saw a ten-year-old girl extending her small hand towards him.
«What, little one… Why do you need yesterday’s stale baking? Here, I’ll give you a fresh bun right now! Do you want it?» Nazim asked excitedly, his heart painfully contracting at the sight of the thin, pale girl.
«I’m sorry, uncle… But I don’t have enough money to buy anything from you,» the girl said guiltily, lowering her eyes and counting the coins clenched in her fist.
«What are you talking about! What money? Just take it, hear? I have a grandson your age… How could I possibly take money from you?» Nazim responded warmly and opened the door, entering the kitchen.
There, he took a paper bag and filled it with fresh pies and buns. Then, thinking it over, Nazim added a couple of peaches and a sweet apple from himself.
«Here, take this… If you’re very hungry, you can sit on the bench and eat right here… take your time,» the baker suggested.
«Thank you so much for the treat, uncle, but I need to go,» the girl murmured guiltily, smiling and clutching the bag of pastries to her chest, walking towards the town square.
«Look at her, such a little one, and already walking the streets by herself… That’s not good…» Fatima said, tears welling up in her eyes.
At that moment, Nazim caught himself feeling an unexplainable inner anxiety towards this little girl. Giving in to an inner emotional impulse, the man resolutely took off his apron and promised his wife he would return soon. Then, waving goodbye to Fatima, he hurried after the slowly departing girl.
Despite the fact that she was still a child, Nazim only managed to catch up with her at the very square. The baker had just taken a deep breath to call out to the girl when suddenly, he saw a huge dog of unknown breed running towards her.
«Lucky, Lucky, come to me, my boy! Look what I have for you,» the girl excitedly said, pulling a fresh bun from the bag.
Approaching her little mistress, the dog obediently froze and began wagging its tail.
«I missed you, my good boy… Didn’t I tell you I’d be back soon?» the girl said, running her fingers through the pet’s thick coarse fur.
After the dog ate the bun, the girl approached a folding chair under a tree next to which lay a shoe box and a small rubber ball.
Apparently, a little earlier, the girl had left the dog to guard these belongings while she herself went to get food for him.
Although, judging by her appearance, the little girl was no less hungry than the dog.
«Well, Lucky… Are you ready? If so, let’s begin!» commanded the girl, and picking up a rubber ball from the asphalt, she tossed it upwards.
In that instant, the dog gracefully jumped and caught it mid-air. Then, standing on its hind legs, it returned the ball to its owner with showy elegance. After that, the duo began performing various tricks and stunts, instantly drawing the attention of passersby. Nazim, watching this scene, whistled in surprise and nodded in approval.
Meanwhile, a crowd of onlookers gathered around the girl and her pet, clapping and laughing joyously, expressing their admiration for the performance of the little artists. It seemed the girl and her dog understood each other with just half a word and acted as a unified, well-coordinated team honed by years of training. The street performance lasted about ten minutes, during which the joyful laughter of the audience never ceased.
At the end of the performance, the girl and her pet bowed to their fans, then walked through the rows of spectators with a shoebox. The act performed by the little girl left no one indifferent, and shiny coins and crumpled small-denomination bills soon flew into the box.
Occasionally, there were paper bills, but two and five ruble coins predominated. Tears welled up in Nazim’s eyes at the sight, and his hand reached for his wallet. Moved by respect for the girl and her dog, he approached closer and emptied his wallet of everything it contained, including a couple of thousand-ruble bills and a handful of change.
When the girl saw all this wealth, she looked up at the man and said in surprise:
«Uncle, you must be mistaken… This is too much money… You’ve already helped me and Lucky with food…»
«Take it, dear… You earned it… Look at the show you put on! Just like a real magician!» Nazim said admiringly and pushed away the girl’s hand as she tried to return the large bills.
The girl responded with a sweet smile and theatrically bowed her head in a half-curtsey.
Then, she put the box into her backpack and folded up the chair.
«Well, it’s time for Lucky and me to go home,» the girl said seriously, attaching the leash to the dog’s collar and heading towards the nearby high-rise buildings.
At the very last moment, Nazim thought it would be a good idea to walk the girl home. That way, he would feel more at ease, and the girl would get home without any adventures. To his surprise, the girl happily agreed. On their way home, she told Nazim her story.
It turned out her name was Nastya, and she lived with her mother in a nearby high-rise.
«My God… What mother would allow her child to do such things?» Nazim thought, deeply moved by the girl’s street performance.
But Nastya didn’t see anything shameful in it and told how two years ago she found a little puppy in a burlap sack by the trash bins. The puppy was no more than two weeks old and was plaintively crying, nudging its nose from side to side in search of its mother’s breast. If it weren’t for the loud squeak made by the little one, Nastya would have walked by without knowing that a small miracle with a black wet nose and beady eyes was lying in the bag.
The girl brought the puppy home and for over a month fed it milk from a bottle. Nastya named the puppy Lucky, which means «Lucky» in English…
From their conversation, Nazim understood that the girl did well in school and was an excellent student.
The man looked at Nastya with respect and a bit of envy, then immediately thought of his own grandson Ruslan, who found studying much more difficult.
«Well, here we are… If you want, you can come in for a visit… My mom would be happy to see you! She’s good,» said the girl, pointing to the front door.
Nazim was initially taken aback by such an invitation, but then, looking at Nastya’s smiling face, he couldn’t refuse.
Approaching the apartment door on the ground floor, the girl turned the key in the lock and loudly announced her presence:
«Mom… I’m home! And we have a guest… This is Uncle Nazim… He helped us a lot with Lucky today!»
The baker was momentarily embarrassed, but then, gathering courage, he stepped over the threshold. Following him was Lucky, who impatiently squeaked and hastened the reluctant guest with his snout and paws.
«How was your day, daughter? You played outside for so long… I understand it’s summer vacation, but still,» asked the woman in a tired voice, slightly swaying and holding onto the walls as she moved towards Nastya and Nazim.
«No… This just can’t be! Is she really drunk? How is it possible!? Making her daughter beg, and she herself is an alcoholic!» thought the baker, angrily.
Instinctively, Nazim stepped back toward the door, but when Nastya’s mother appeared under the hallway light, his heart fluttered anxiously, and his eyes started to burn and sting as if they were full of river sand…
The young, beautiful woman was blind and clung to the wall to prevent herself from falling.
Nazim barely held back his tears, especially after little Nastya took her helpless mother by the hand and seated her on a kitchen chair.
Then, the little girl skillfully poured fragrant tea into cups and afterward filled a bowl with dog biscuits for Lucky.
«How did this happen? Were you born with it?» stuttering with every word, Nazim asked the blind woman named Tatyana.
«No… not since birth… It’s all because of a car accident we got into with my husband seven years ago… Nastya was visiting her grandma at that time, and it saved her… My Kolya died, and here I am… doomed to live in darkness for the rest of my days,» the woman said sadly, groping for her tea cup with her hand.
«But not for the rest of your days!!! Don’t jinx yourself, mommy! You yourself told me that the consequences of such injuries are treated in foreign clinics!» Nastya exclaimed resolutely.
«They might treat them… But where would we get that kind of money? How much can I earn at the society for the blind, assembling clothespins and electric switches?» Tatyana replied sadly, having long lost hope for healing.
Nazim clenched the tea cup painfully, then glanced at the old refrigerator, on which stood a three-liter jar one-third filled with coins.
Attached to the jar was a note in shaky, childlike handwriting:
«For mom’s surgery» And then, the not-so-young baker understood everything. From the realization of this truth, Nazim wanted to scream at the top of his lungs… He realized that to collect money for his beloved mother’s surgery, Nastya secretly performed street shows together with the dog Lucky. Nazim’s heart was scratching like a cat, and the man felt very sad to learn about the girl’s and her mother’s misfortune so late. On his way home, Nazim promised Tatyana that he would do everything possible and look after Nastya.
Telling his relatives about the problem of the lonely blind woman and her daughter, the baker saw understanding and tears in their eyes.
«Of course, we need to help the little girl… But what, specifically, can we do for her?» asked Fatima, wiping a tear with the hem of her apron.
«Well, for starters… We need to take her from the square… If she wants, let her perform at our bakery… That way, she’ll at least always be fed and under supervision,» Nazim suggested, frowning as he searched for a way out of the situation.
Overall, after discussing it, the relatives decided to proceed as the head of the family had suggested.
And the next day, thanks to Nazim’s initiative, Nastya and Lucky were already performing their circus act by the walls of the bakery.
To the baker’s surprise, the street performance of the girl and her dog caused unprecedented demand for the baked goods, which enthusiastic customers swept from the shelves in just ten minutes.
Nazim could no longer remember a day when his sales had been so high. Overwhelmed with emotions, the man cried and hugged Nastya, and Lucky was fed to the brim with meat pies…
In addition to the funds that Nastya collected from the performance, the man added several large bills of his own.
«You are a true magician, dear…» Nazim whispered, patting the girl on the head.
Nastya performed at her friend’s bakery for two more days, and on the third, to her great surprise, she woke up famous.
The thing was, the fame that struck like thunder from a clear sky was due to the baker’s grandson Ruslan, who had filmed her performance on his phone and posted the video on the Internet.
The video went viral within hours and instantly spread across all the country’s news sites, and Ruslan, without intending to, made a great advertisement for his grandfather’s bakery and brought fame to Nastya and her dog Lucky.
Now, to keep up with the demand for baked goods, Nazim had to expand his staff and work in two shifts.
But the dramatic changes affected not only the bakery… They also directly touched Nastya, who was approached by thousands of advertisers with offers of profitable cooperation. In no time, a photo of Nastya, hugging Lucky, became a brand that guaranteed successful sales for large industrial companies in the country. The story of the girl and her ill mother caused a wide public resonance and many charitable foundations offered them their help.
The necessary amount was collected in just a few days, and Nazim, who had already established contact with an eye microsurgery clinic in Switzerland, delivered the joyful news to Tatyana.
«Lord… I feel like this is all a dream… and once I wake up, I’ll find myself in dire poverty and darkness again,» Tatyana whispered, blindly shaking Nazim’s hand.
«No, mommy… This is not a dream… Now, they will perform the surgery, and your eyes will see again!» Nastya whispered tenderly, choosing the fanciest clothes for her mom.
Not wanting to leave the little girl alone with her sick mom during the flight, Nazim sent his nephew, who had recently arrived to help his uncle with the bakery expansion.
Timur turned out to be a kind and responsive young man and didn’t leave Tatyana and Nastya’s side for a moment, surrounding them with attention and care.
The only one upset by this fact was Lucky, who, due to lacking the necessary documents and vaccinations, Nastya couldn’t take on the flight. All the while Tatyana underwent treatment and postoperative rehabilitation abroad, the dog lived with Nazim, flinching at the slightest noise behind the door. Lucky wasted away, refusing food and walks with the baker’s grandson. The dog longed for Nastya and Tatyana, having long considered them his family.
But, as it is known, nothing is eternal on Earth and everything comes to an end… Including sadness as well…
And when a smiling Tatyana, holding Nastya’s hand, independently walked down the airplane’s gangway, Lucky joyously rushed into their embrace, squealing impatiently and trying to lick his beloved owners’ cheeks.
«Quiet, quiet, my boy… Or you’ll knock us over,» Nastya laughed.
But the dog, longing for his master’s attention, was simply unstoppable…
And behind this happy trio walked Timur, who during the two months of communicating with Tatyana, had developed sincere, heartfelt feelings for her. The young man fell in love at first sight with the beautiful young woman with such a difficult fate. The most amazing thing was that Tatyana reciprocated Timur’s feelings with tenderness and love. This is what happens when people, involuntarily united by common misfortune, become close and dear to each other.
Back home, Nastya and her mom were greeted as heroes. Inspired by their example, people in difficult life situations believed in themselves again and saw a light at the end of the tunnel, which became brighter with each step. Nazim’s business, from a nondescript bakery, grew into a chain of stores with branded baked goods and Eastern sweets.
Tatyana, now married to Timur, works as a manager in one of these stores.
Her beloved daughter Nastya no longer performs on the streets with presentations. Now, she studies with straight A’s and, after graduating from school, dreams of enrolling in a drama school. And Lucky, as always, loves his owners and Nazim’s sweet baked goods, which the elderly baker always spoils the smart and loyal dog. Hardly could the kind-hearted man have known that by helping a little girl, he was thereby starting a chain of kindness that would ultimately make not only his family happy but every participant in this amazing story.
