Many years ago, a grouchy old homeless man lived in a dirty cardboard box next to some bushes. He survived by eating the leftovers that people threw into the garbage.

Every day, he would take a trip into town. The neighborhood kids were afraid of him because of the way he looked. His clothes were torn and very dirty. He wore a hat that had a hole by his eye. He would use this hole to peek through as he walked while holding his crooked cane. If there was anyone in his way as he walked, he would grunt and wave the cane high in the air causing those in his path to quickly move far away.

On his way back he would stop by a stream and sit under the shade of the tree. A little girl lived near this stream and saw the grouchy old homeless man as he sat, so she went to talk to him. She offered him some of the sweet cookies and water that she had with her. The grouchy old man just grunted. Remembering that she had something to do, she scolded the homeless man saying, "You better eat all of those cookies by the time I get back!" As soon as she left, the homeless man ate and drank everything. When the little girl returned she was happy because she noticed that all of the food was finished. The homeless man smiled at her and went back to his garbage home made from cardboard boxes.

Every day, the girl would visit the homeless man by the stream. She would always bring him something to eat. One day though, the little girl found out that she was going away later that day on a trip. Hearing the news, she hurried to the stream to look for the homeless man but he wasn't there. She left a sandwich and a note saying where she was going and didn't know when she would be back.

When the homeless man arrived at the stream, he read the note and started to cry. The homeless man waited every day under the tree for the little girl. Weeks turned into months, but still the homeless man went to the tree daily to wait. After a cold and rainy night, the homeless man got sick and became very ill. He hardly ever went into town because he was very weak. On a rare trip into town, he collapsed. A crowd gathered around him and stared. The little girl who recently returned from her trip wondered what the crowd was looking at and went to investigate. She saw the homeless man lying on the ground so she quickly pushed her way to the front of the crowd so she could help the homeless man. Seeing the little girl, the homeless man reached into his dirty clothes and gave her a doll and died. The little girl cried.

Wherever the little girl went, she brought the doll with her. One day, the little girl's mother noticed that the doll was falling apart and needed to be repaired. She started to patch it up and noticed a note hidden inside the doll. It was the homeless man's "will." It turns out that he was very wealthy and he wanted all his money to go to building a beautiful school for children.

To this day, the school stands near the stream where the homeless man visited. He can now look down from heaven upon the happy children that attend the school created because of a little girl that showed respect and sympathy for a lonely homeless man.