The box of letters

While Tom was tidying his grandmother's house, he came across a box of old letters. The box was falling apart, and the paper had turned yellow. The letters had been written in the forties by a man whose name Tom had never heard. They had clearly been kept in secret for a long time.

Tom's mother told him that the family's roots were in a small village by the sea. A fire had broken out there during the war, and the man's farm had burnt down. After that, the man was nowhere to be found.

Tom decided to visit the village in person. When he arrived, there was no sign of the farm, only a few old stones. But an old woman who lived nearby recognised the name at once. She explained that the man had helped many families during the war and had asked for nothing in return. In the square, a tree had been planted in his honour. Tom wishes his grandmother had told him the story, but perhaps she wanted it to remain a secret.