John was not surprised to see that nobody had met him at the station. The weather was awful — it was windy and it was raining hard. His feet got wet in seconds. His old jacket could not defend him from the rain or the wind. "If I don't find a shelter and a warm drink, I will get a cold, and no one will benefit from my coming here," John said to himself and went back inside the railway station. It was the first time the seventeen-year-old John had ever left his home village where he lived with his mother and two sisters. A letter from his uncle was a surprise but not a pleasant one. His uncle had written that his health was getting worse and that he needed someone to help him in his grocery shop. John's mother decided that he would go to the town to work in the shop. He was far from feeling delighted about it but he was the oldest child in the family and it was his duty to help his mother and to support his sisters.

John was not surprised to see that nobody had met him at the station. The weather was awful — it was windy and raining heavily. His feet got wet in seconds, and his old jacket couldn't protect him from the cold, biting wind or the rain. John thought to himself, "If I don't find shelter and a warm drink, I’ll catch a cold, and no one will benefit from my coming here." With that, he turned around and went back inside the station.

This was John's first time leaving his home village, where he had lived all his life with his mother and two sisters. A letter from his uncle had caught him by surprise, but it was not a pleasant one. The letter explained that his uncle’s health was deteriorating and that he needed someone to help him in his grocery shop. His mother decided that John, being the oldest child in the family, should go to the town to assist in the shop. Although John wasn't happy about it, he understood it was his responsibility. His family needed him, and he had to support them, even if he wasn’t excited about leaving home for the first time.