Little Girl Selling Her Only Bike Said Three Words That Made Four Bikers Cry

She pointed to her sign. “Selling my bike.”

“I can see that. But why? It’s a beautiful bike.”

She looked down at her pink sandals. Scuffed and worn. Too small for her feet. “Mommy needs medicine. She’s really sick. And we don’t have money for her medicine and my school.”

My heart cracked right down the middle.

“Where’s your mommy now, sweetheart?”

“Inside. She can’t walk good anymore. Her legs don’t work right.” The little girl’s chin trembled. “She told me I can’t go to kindergarten because we can’t pay. But my friend Lisa said if I sold something, I could get money.”

She patted her bicycle seat. “This is the only thing I have.”

Marcus, my youngest brother, made a sound behind me. I turned and saw tears streaming into his beard. Tommy and Robert weren’t doing much better.

“How much are you selling it for?” I asked.

She held up her tiny fingers. “Lisa said school costs a hundred dollars. So I need a hundred dollars.”

I knelt down to her level. “Sweetheart, what’s your name?”

“Lily.”

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