Nazim’s bakery was known throughout the region and always had a high demand from customers. Both adults and children loved his delicious baked goods. For his young fans, Nazim always had a discount, bringing a smile and gratitude from their parents.
Nazim, along with his family, came to Russia many years ago when, following the collapse of a great state, mass unrest and total unemployment intensified in his native country. The hardworking man spent many years as a road worker and janitor until one day he stumbled into a cafe specializing in Eastern cuisine. There, to his surprise, he found that the baked goods offered were nothing like what he was used to from childhood. This was because there were very few qualified specialists in this industry.
That’s when Nazim got the idea for a mini-bakery, where together with his wife Fatima, he could delight customers with delicious Eastern baked goods. Of course, the path to his dream was difficult and thorny, but thanks to his perseverance and determination, he achieved his goal. Many years have passed since he baked his first bun, and during that time, Nazim has become a father and grandfather.
A kind and responsive man, Nazim loved children and often treated little ones for free, rightly considering children the flowers of life. He also always fed homeless animals and helped the city’s shelter for abandoned pets. The wise man rightly considered dogs and cats human 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 strays and a mangy old British cat, cruelly abandoned by its owners.
While Fatima was busy at the stove, flipping crispy buns and pastries, the owner took out a tray with leftovers from yesterday’s baked goods to feed the hungry animals.
“Now, now… Don’t rush, dears! There’s enough for everyone,” Nazim patiently waited while the poor creatures ate.
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 reaching out her little hand to him.
“What are you doing, little one… Why do you want yesterday’s stale baked goods? I’ll give you a fresh bun right now! Here, straight from the tray! Want one?” Nazim asked excitedly, his heart aching at the sight of the skinny pale girl.
“Sorry, uncle… But I don’t have enough money to buy anything from you,” the girl said guiltily, looking down 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… What would I look like taking money from you?” Nazim passionately responded and opened the door, entering the kitchen.
There, he took a paper bag and filled it with fresh pastries and buns. Then, after a thought, Nazim added a couple of peaches and a sweet apple.
“Here, take this… If you’re very hungry, you can sit on the bench and eat right here… slowly,” the baker suggested.
“Thank you very much for the treat, uncle, but I need to go,” the girl muttered guiltily, clutching the bag of baked goods to her chest, and walked towards the town square.
“Look at her, such a little one, already walking the streets alone… That’s not good,” said Fatima, tears forming in her eyes.
At that moment, Nazim caught himself feeling an inexplicable inner anxiety for the little girl. Giving in to an inner impulse, the man decisively took off his apron and promised his wife he’d return soon. Then, waving goodbye to Fatima, he hurried after the slowly departing girl.
Although she was still a child, Nazim only caught up with her at the square. The baker had just caught his breath to call out to the girl when he suddenly saw a large dog of an unknown breed running towards her.
“Lucky, Lucky come to me my boy! Look what I have for you,” the girl excitedly said and pulled a fresh bun from the bag.
Running up to his little mistress, the dog obediently froze and started wagging his tail.
“I missed you, my dear… 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 shoebox and a small rubber ball.
Apparently, just a little earlier, the girl had left the dog to guard this treasure while she went to find food for him.
Though, judging by her appearance, the girl was no less hungry than the dog.
“Well, Lucky… Are you ready? If so, then let’s start!” the girl commanded and, picking up the rubber ball from the asphalt, tossed it into the air.
At that moment, the dog gracefully jumped and caught it in flight. Then, standing on its hind legs, it elegantly returned the ball to its mistress. Then, the pair started to perform various tricks and stunts, which instantly attracted the attention of passersby. Watching this scene, Nazim whistled in surprise and nodded approvingly.
Meanwhile, a crowd gathered around the girl and her pet, expressing their admiration for the performance of the little artists, clapping their hands and laughing merrily. It seemed the girl and her dog understood each other with half a word and acted like a unified, cohesive creative collective honed by years of training. The street performance lasted about ten minutes, during which the joyful laughter of the spectators never ceased.
At the end of the performance, the girl and her pet bowed to their admirers and then walked around with the shoebox among the audience rows. The act shown by the little girl left no one indifferent, causing shiny coins and crumpled small-denomination bills to fly into the box immediately.
Occasionally, there were paper bills, but mostly there were two and five-ruble coins. At the sight of this scene, tears involuntarily welled up in Nazim’s eyes, and his hand reached for his wallet. The baker, moved by respect for the girl and her dog, approached closer and scooped out everything he had, including a couple of thousand-ruble bills and a handful of small change.
When the girl saw all this wealth, she looked up at the man and said in surprise:
“Uncle, you must be mistaken… There’s too much money here… You’ve already helped me and Lucky with food…”
“Take it, dear… You’ve earned it… Look at the show you put on! Just like a real magician!” Nazim exclaimed in admiration and pushed the girl’s hand, which was offering him the large bills, away.
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 gathered the folding chair.
“Well, it’s time for me and Lucky to go home,” the girl said seriously and, attaching a leash to the dog’s collar, headed towards the nearby apartment blocks.
At the very last moment, it occurred to Nazim that it would be a good idea to escort the girl home. That way, he would feel more at ease, and the girl would reach her destination without any adventures. To his surprise, the girl gladly agreed. On the way home, she told Nazim her story.
As it turned out, the girl’s name was Nastya, and she lived with her mother in a nearby apartment block.
“My God… What kind of mother would let her child do this?” 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 small puppy in a canvas bag by the garbage bins. The puppy was no more than two weeks old and was plaintively crying, nosing around 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, unaware that a little miracle with a black wet nose and bead-like eyes was lying in the bag.
The girl brought the puppy home and fed it milk from a bottle for over a month. Nastya named the dog Lucky, which in English means “Lucky.”
From the conversation, Nazim understood that the girl did well in school and was an excellent student.
The man looked at Nastya with respect and a touch of envy, then immediately thought of his grandson Ruslan, who struggled with his studies.
“Well, here we are… If you want, you can come in for a visit… My mom will be glad to see you!” the girl said, pointing to the entrance door.
Nazim, initially a bit taken aback by such an offer, then looking at Nastya’s smiling face, could not refuse.
Approaching the door of the apartment on the ground floor, the girl turned the key in the lock and loudly announced her presence:
“Mom… I’m home! And we have guests… This is Uncle Nazim… He helped us a lot with Lucky today!”
The baker, momentarily embarrassed, then gathering courage, crossed the threshold. Following him was Lucky, who impatiently squealed, pushing the reluctant guest with his nose and paws.
“How was your day, daughter? You played outside for so long… I understand it’s summer vacation, but still,” the woman asked in a tired voice, slightly swaying and holding onto the walls as she moved towards Nastya and Nazim.
“No… It just can’t be! Is she drunk? How can this be!? Making her daughter beg while she’s an alcoholic!” an angry thought flashed through the baker’s mind.
Instinctively, Nazim stepped back towards the door, but when Nastya’s mom appeared under the hallway light, his heart skipped a beat, and his eyes began to burn and sting as if they were full of river sand…
The young, beautiful woman was blind and held onto the wall to avoid falling.
Nazim barely held back his tears, especially after Nastya took her helpless mother by the hand and seated her in a kitchen chair.
Then, the little girl deftly poured aromatic tea into cups and after that filled a bowl with dog biscuits for Lucky.
“How did this happen? Were you born with it?” Nazim asked the blind woman, named Tatyana, stumbling over every word.
“No… not from birth… It was all because of a car accident we had with my husband seven years ago… Nastya was visiting her grandmother then, and that saved her… My Kolinka died, and I… am doomed to live in darkness for the rest of my days,” the woman said sadly, trying to feel for her tea cup with her hand.
“But not for the rest of your days!!! … Don’t curse yourself, mommy! … Didn’t you tell me yourself that the consequences of such injuries are treated in foreign clinics!” Nastya exclaimed resolutely.
“Maybe they do treat them… But where would we get such money? How much can I earn in the society for the blind, assembling clothespins and electric switches?” Tatyana replied sadly, having long lost hope for healing.
Nazim painfully clenched the tea cup, then turned his gaze to the old refrigerator on which stood a three-liter jar, one-third filled with small change.
Attached to the jar was a note, written in shaky, childlike handwriting:
“For mom’s surgery” And then, the middle-aged baker understood everything. From the realization of this truth, Nazim wanted to shout out loud… He realized that to raise money for her beloved mom’s surgery, Nastya secretly gave street performances with her dog Lucky. Nazim’s heart ached, and he felt very sad to have learned about the girl’s and her mother’s plight so late. As he prepared to head home, Nazim promised Tatyana that he would do everything possible and look after Nastya.
After 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?” Fatima asked with concern, wiping a tear with the hem of her apron.
“Well, for starters… We need to take her off the square… If she wants, let her perform at our bakery… That way, she’ll always be fed… and under supervision, again,” Nazim suggested, furrowing his brow in search of a way out of the situation.
In general, after discussing it, the relatives decided to proceed as the head of the family suggested.
And the next day, thanks to Nazim’s initiative, Nastya, along with Lucky, was already giving her circus performance at the walls of the bakery.
To the baker’s surprise, the street performance by the girl and her dog generated unprecedented demand for the baked goods, which enthusiastic customers swept off the shelves in just ten minutes.
Nazim could not remember a day when his sales had been so high. Overwhelmed with emotion, the man cried and hugged Nastya, while Lucky was fed to his fill with meat pies…
In addition to the funds collected during Nastya’s performance, the man added several large bills of his own.
“You’re a real 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 day, to her great surprise, she woke up famous.
The reason for the sudden fame, which fell like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, was owed to the baker’s grandson Ruslan, who filmed her performance on his phone and posted the video on the Internet.
The video went viral within hours and instantly circulated all the country’s news websites, 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 meet customer 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 directly impacted Nastya, who was approached by thousands of advertisers with lucrative collaboration offers. In no time, a photo of Nastya standing in an embrace with Lucky became a brand that guaranteed successful sales for large industrial companies in the country. The story of the girl and her sick mother caused a wide public resonance, and many charity foundations offered them their help.
The necessary sum was collected in just a few days, and Nazim, who had already established contact with an eye microsurgery clinic in Switzerland, shared the joyful news with Tatyana.
“Lord… I feel like this is all a dream… and as soon as I wake up, I’ll find myself back in abject poverty and darkness,” Tatyana whispered, blindly shaking Nazim’s hand.
“No, mommy… It’s not a dream… Now, they’ll perform the surgery, and your eyes will see again!” Nastya whispered, carefully selecting the most festive clothes for her mom.
Not to leave the little girl alone with her sick mom during the flight, Nazim sent his nephew, who had recently come to help his uncle with the expansion of the bakery.
Timur turned out to be a kind and responsive young man and stayed close to Tatyana and Nastya throughout, surrounding them with attention and care.
The only one saddened by this fact was Lucky, who, due to the lack of necessary documents and vaccinations, Nastya could not take with her on the flight. While Tatyana underwent treatment and postoperative rehabilitation abroad, the dog lived at Nazim’s, flinching at the slightest noise outside the door. Lucky pined 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 is known, nothing lasts forever on Earth, and everything comes to an end… Including sadness as well…
And when a smiling Tatyana, holding Nastya by the hand, independently descended from the airplane’s ramp, Lucky joyfully rushed into their arms, impatiently squealing and trying to lick his beloved owners on the cheek.
“Easy, easy, my boy… Or you’ll knock us over,” Nastya laughed.
But the dog, starved for its master’s attention, was simply unstoppable…
And behind this happy trio walked Timur, who during the two months of interaction with Tatyana, had developed sincere, heartfelt feelings for the beautiful young woman with such a difficult fate. The most astonishing thing was that Tatyana felt mutual feelings for Timur, tinged with tenderness and love. This happens when people, involuntarily united by a common misfortune, become close and dear to each other.
Back home, Nastya and her mom were greeted as heroes. Inspired by their example, people who found themselves in difficult life situations believed in themselves and saw a light at the end of the tunnel, which became brighter with every step. Nazim’s business grew from an inconspicuous bakery to a chain of stores with signature baked goods and Eastern sweets.
Tatyana, now married to Timur, works as a manager in one of such stores.
Her beloved daughter Nastya no longer performs on the streets with shows. Now, she studies with straight A’s and, after finishing school, dreams of enrolling in a theatrical college. And Lucky, as before, loves his owners and Nazim’s sweet baked goods more than life itself, which the elderly baker always treats the smart and loyal dog. Little could the compassionate man know that by helping a little girl, he would start a chain of kindness that would ultimately make not only his family happy but every participant in this remarkable story.