Josef Wukovits owned a small farm on the eastern side of Cross. He was a diminutive man, who grew enough food to keep himself and his animals fed. Josef was a widower, and he and his wife had not been blessed with children.
He lived a solitary existence, and he was pleasant with his neighbors. Josef’s childhood was one filled with sadness and hunger, and anyone who needed a meal could sit at his table, often eating the meager food he had prepared for himself.
On the evening of December 21, 1949, during a snowstorm, there was a knock on his door. When he answered it, he found a young woman, clad in worn clothes and a thin jacket and nearly frozen to death. Without hesitation, Josef took her into his house, sat her by the fire, and wrapped her in warm blankets. He plied her with chicken soup, rubbed the warmth back into her hands and feet, and allowed her to sit in silence.
Slowly, color returned to the woman’s cheeks, and when she seemed capable of walking, he helped her to his bedroom, where he laid her down and heaped quilts upon her.
For the remainder of the night, Josef kept the fire burning brightly, and he checked on the young woman repeatedly. Towards dawn, exhaustion overcame him, and he fell asleep.
Before midday, he awoke and hurried back into his room. The young woman was gone, and the bed was made as though it had never been slept in. On his pillow was a note, which read: Thank you, Josef. Never again shall you be hungry.
Beneath the note was a single golden coin, and each morning another would be in its place until he died a decade later.
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