In the bustle of a big city, it’s easy to get turned around. Thankfully, for one wild bird who lost her way, a little human kindness saved the day.
While going about his business near downtown Zurich, Switzerland, entrepreneur and author Clive Bucher noticed something was amiss. A swan had wandered up from a nearby canal, but due to a winding series of railings and steps along the waterfront, she wasn’t able to figure out her way back home.
Seeing how distressed and disoriented she seemed, Bucher knew he couldn’t just walk by.
In the sweetest way, he gently guided the swan back toward the canal — where her worried mate had been waiting all along.
Knowing she was safely back where she belonged was reward enough. But, in her own way, the swan got the chance to express something more.
When Bucher visited the spot again a week later, the swan was there to greet him.
“She swam straight toward me, with her partner — the same one who had been waiting for her the last time — right beside her,” Bucher wrote, adding: “They stayed close for a while. I had nothing to give her, but somehow it felt like she was happy to see me again.”
The moment felt like a thank you.
Bucher’s simple act of kindness ensured that hers was a happy ending.
“Sometimes it doesn’t take much for someone,” Bucher wrote. “But for somebody else, it means the world.”
And for one swan in Zurich, it meant finding her way home.