“Thank You M’am” is a heartwarming story by Langston Hughes about a big, strong woman named Luella Bates Washington Jones and a young boy named Roger who tries to steal her purse. Her purse is as big and heavy as its owner, and instead of getting away he gets tripped up and caught by Mrs. Jones, who takes him to her house in a headlock and makes him wash his face and comb his hair. She reprimands him with maternal care and asks him to eat dinner with her, seeing as he has no one at home to make him anything. It comes out that he wanted to steal her purse so he could get money to buy some blue suede shoes, and so Mrs. Jones gives him ten dollars for that purpose, with the warning not to go stealing anymore, “because shoes come by devilish like that will burn your feet.” Roger feels immensely sorry and grateful, but before he can fully articulate the words “Thank you Ma’am,” Mrs. Jones has closed her front door and he is left on his own.
This is of course just an example of the sort of thing you could write on your own – the story is short and easy to read, and a summary would take no time at all. It’s always a good idea to tailor these sorts of things to your own judgment and what you find noteworthy in a story. After all, there are other important elements that I haven’t mentioned in the five sentences above, such as Mrs. Jones’s past struggles and the boy’s active decision not to run away once his “captor” has released him.
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