The moonlight shone on the water, making it look silver and beautiful.
Amara went close to the water and carefully placed Nene down by the riverbank. Nene was breathing heavily, her hands on her big belly.
“Thank you, Amara,” Nene whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. “You saved me and my baby.”
Amara knelt beside her, tears in her own eyes.
“I pray you will be safe, Nene,” Amara said.
Nene managed a small smile and then slowly crawled into the water. As soon as the water touched her tail, it shone brightly and her strength returned.
She turned and looked at Amara one last time.
“Amara, your kindness will never be forgotten,” Nene said softly.
Then, with a soft splash, Nene swam away into the river, disappearing beneath the water.
Amara stood there for a long time, looking at the quiet river, the moon reflecting on it.
Then she turned and walked back home, her heart heavy but peaceful.
Seven days later, Amara woke up in the middle of the night because she needed to relieve herself outside. She tied her wrapper around her waist and opened the door quietly so she would not wake her children.
As she stepped outside, she suddenly stopped.
In front of her door, she saw three gold boxes shining under the moonlight.
Amara looked around quickly, but there was no one there.
She bent down and touched the boxes. They were real and heavy.
Amara was confused. She carried the boxes inside her hut and placed them in a corner.
She could not sleep that night, thinking about the boxes. Who had dropped them? Who did they belong to? Should she keep them?
She decided to wait for the owner to come and ask for them.
But days passed and no one came.
One day, Amara opened the boxes and found that they were filled with gold, coral beads, and silver coins.
Amara secretly sold some of the golden beads, and with the money she bought a bigger house in the village. She bought new clothes for her children, and they began eating good food every day.
People in the village began to notice that Amara was looking beautiful. Her children looked healthy, and she was no longer wearing old clothes.
Amara became the wealthiest woman in the village.
But she never told anyone how she got the gold.
Every night she would sit outside under the moon and look in the direction of the river, smiling and praying for Nene and her baby.
She knew in her heart that it was Nene the mermaid who had left the gold boxes for her as a thank-you for saving her life and the life of her baby.
Amara taught her children always to help people in need and to show kindness to strangers.
And whenever someone in the village asked her, “Amara, how did you become so rich?” she would smile and say:
“Kindness always comes back.”
And that was how a poor woman who helped a pregnant mermaid became the wealthiest woman in the village.
