A Poor Family
Joyce knocked gently on the door. The door opened slightly and a pixie-sized wrinkled face peered out. When the old lady saw who was at the door, she beamed and opened the door wide.
Joyce smiled warmly at Mrs. Francis. She had two big bags of groceries for her. Mrs. Francis welcomed her into her house. It was dark and dingy. There was hardly any furniture except two single mattresses and a small television set. A baby was crawling about on one of the mattresses. Joyce dropped the bags and ran to pick up the baby. The baby gurgled when Joyce played with her. Mrs. Francis thanked Joyce for making another trip to her house. She was sixty years old and was too ill to work. Her son had left after leaving his daughter in her care. Mrs. Francis was so poor that she sometimes had to go hungry the whole day so that she would be able to feed her granddaughter. Joyce helped out by buying groceries for her and cleaning her house.
Joyce took a colourful rubber ball from her backpack and gave it to the baby. Then, she talked to Mrs. Francis as she helped her to sweep and mop the floor. She left a few hours later, promising to visit Mrs. Francis again.
