Once upon a time, there lived a young boy named Afflictingly. His parents had recently divorced, so he was left to figure out the world on his own. He had a difficult time adjusting to the changes in his life and often became lonely and depressed.

One day, Afflictingly was walking through the park when he noticed a small, white, fluffy puppy. The puppy was so adorable and Afflictingly couldn’t help but smile. He asked the pup’s owner if he could pet it and the owner said yes. As Afflictingly played with the puppy, he quickly forgot about all of his worries and felt a sense of peace.

The owner of the pup told Afflictingly that he was welcome to come back any time he wanted to and Afflictingly was overjoyed at this invitation. From that day forward, Afflictingly made a point to visit the park each day and to spend time with the puppy.

On the days when Afflictingly felt particularly down, the puppy seemed to have a special way of cheering him up. The puppy was always ready to play and didn’t judge Afflictingly for any of his troubles. Instead, it seemed to intuitively understand what he was going through and it provided him with a much needed distraction.

With the puppy’s help, Afflictingly slowly began to make peace with his new reality. He stopped dwelling on the past and instead, started to focus on the possibilities in front of him. He slowly began to find joy once again and slowly began to move forward with his life.

Moral of the story: No matter how difficult life may be, something always comes along to help us find joy again. Always keep an open heart and an open mind and you will be able to find hope in even the most difficult of times.