Public Affairs Story

“Hannah and Charlie”

By: Kelsey Nau

There once was a rich family that lived in New York. They are known as the Westmoreland’s. They have a son who is 13 and a daughter that is 17. The Westmoreland’s have a lot of money and are investing smartly. They know how to pay off taxes and even have money left to give to charities and organizations for major issues like world peace. They have the luxuries that everyone wished they had like going out to eat every night. There were no worries with the Westmoreland’s, yet.

Little did the Westmoreland’s know, the death of their very close neighbor would give them a new perspective on life. Their neighbor was a poor workman that worked in an amusement park and ran the Ferris wheel. He was busy all the time but unfortunately did not have the money to pay for bills.

Charlie was his name and he was 77. His wife had died a couple years earlier and ever since he looked very saddened when he came home. The Westmoreland’s 17-year-old daughter would always go visit him to try and cheer him up and make him happy. She would run across the street to his front porch in the morning and listen to his stories about adventures he had growing up. Hannah had always dreamed of going on adventures like him. Before Hannah would leave to go to school, she would kindly say “Thanks” and run to the bus stop.

Hannah and Charlie began to form a bond and he was almost like a grandpa. Hannah started to visit him everyday after school before dinner because she got so interested in his stories. One day, Hannah would decide not to go visit him because dinner was starting early and didn’t have time. The whole time she was eating she felt sick and began to worry about the old man. Before she went to sleep, she was singing one of her favorite songs and Charlie suddenly popped into her head.

Hannah couldn’t stand it she had to check on him. She was running as fast as she could and was leaping down the stairs. She felt this sudden weight of worry on her shoulders. She could feel her heart beating really fast and she heard her feet moving as fast as they could as she ran across the street up to the porch. She remembered he didn’t lock his doors so she slowly walked through he house. Hannah made it to his bedroom and found Charlie. She tried to wake him up but he didn’t. She began to realize that her very close friend was gone. Hannah began to cry but knew that he was happier because he was with his wife again. Although she couldn’t hear the rest of his stories, she would always remember him.