1 . As I was walking along the river one day, enjoying some hot chocolate with the sun shining down on me on a nice spring day, I was in the mood to do something nice for a ________ and started looking around for an opportunity. Not long after that, I found I was ________ by a complete stranger and he started talking to me aggressively. I could tell he was probably ________ due to a strong smell of alcohol, so I just stayed calm and kept walking ahead. There were hundreds of people ________ around nearby, so I wasn’t that worried.

As I tried to change my ________, he kept following me. At one point, he literally cornered me near the rail next to the river. I got really ________, praying that one of the many people nearby who watched this whole episode unfold would be ________ enough to help me out of the situation.

________ later, a couple passed by me and had seen everything happen. Just when I felt completely helpless, the lady came along, linked her arm into mine and said, “Darling, why don’t you come with us?” and started ________ me away from the guy. ________, her husband stayed between us and the guy and gestured for him to walk in the other direction. The guy started swearing and getting angry, while the sweet lady ________ me, saying don’t worry. Finally, once he left, she said, “Why don’t you carry on walking where you were going and we’ll make sure he goes away and leaves you ________.” As I rushed away, I was still badly shaken, but at the same time had feelings of immense ________ for this random couple who chose to ________ me. Here I was, thinking I was on a mission to do a random act of kindness, when instead, I ended up on the ________ end. I guess it is equally important to learn how to receive and to feel grateful for the kindness of others.