On a freezing winter night, I noticed a teenage girl standing alone beside a deserted road. She was visibly pregnant, shivering beneath her thin clothes, and looked as though she hadn’t eaten properly in days. I pulled over and gently asked if she needed help. At first, she stepped backward, frightened and suspicious, but the cold was becoming unbearable, and eventually, she agreed to come with me.

I drove her to a small roadside diner and ordered her a hot meal and something warm to drink. She ate desperately, as though every bite mattered. When she finished, tears rolled down her cheeks. She told me nobody had shown her kindness in weeks. I removed my coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. Before leaving, she placed a cheap plastic ring in my palm and whispered, “Keep this. Someday, you’ll understand.” Then she disappeared into the snowy darkness.