Never judge a book by its cover by Stanley

"Are you sure? It's just not right!" I asked.

"Don't worry, Danny. We're just... exploring his way of life." Tom argued. 

I shrugged my shoulders and we hid in a bush near Mr. Tan's or as we called him, the creeper's house.

"Look! There he is!" Tom whispered, a little too loudly though. 

The old man turned around as I pulled Tom back just in time. I glared at him and diverted my attention to what the old man was holding. I almost screamed when I saw a bloody knife. Tom saw it too. He signalled me to run as soon as the old man entered his house. 

Once we saw the old man closing his door, we ran back home as fast as our legs could carry us. From then on, we were fearful of him.

Three months later, I was on my way home from a cafe', alone. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bulky brown envelope near Mr. Tan's house. Curiosity beat fear and I went to the envelope immediately. On closer look, I saw that a few words were written on it, 'To my dearest grandfather'. 

'A bigger mystery lies in that envelope' I thought. I was about to pick it up when...

"No! Don't touch it!" cried a voice as he or she or it grabbed my reached-out hand. 

I slowly turned my head and my eyes widened with fear when I saw...

"Mr. Tan! Ahh! Let go of me!" I struggled and pulled my arm free of his grasp. I took off without looking back but half-way down the road, something crying caught my attention. I looked back and saw Mr. Tan on his knees sobbing. Looking at his pitiful state, I could not help but head back. I approached him slowly and asked in concern, "Are you alright?"

He looked at me with his red eyes and wiped his tears away. He looked at the envelope and then to me. Tears started welling up in his eyes again as he handed me the envelope and told me to read the contents inside.

Moments later, my eyes too started to brim with tears. It was then when I realised, his family members had all passed away due to cancer except for his grandson but, last year, he too died but not before leaving this letter for his grandfather which was delivered not until now.

We became friends as it was not his fault for becoming so emotional. I explained his conditions to my friends and we were determined to make Mr. Tan smile once more. Whenever Tom and I were free. we would visit him. For the first time, we saw his wonderful smile.