The Dime
Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in
the snow. Bobby didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyway he didn't own any. The
thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the
cold.
Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. And, try as he might, he could
not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift. He shook his head as he thought,
"This is useless, even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money to
spend."
Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had
struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try,there just never seemed
to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning
could only be stretched so far. What the family lacked in money and material things, they
more than made up for in love and family unity.
Bobby had two older and one younger sister, who ran the household in their mother's
absence. Three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother. Somehow
it just wasn't fair. Here it was Christmas Eve already, and he had nothing.
Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the
street where the shops and stores were. It wasn't easy being six without a father,
especially when he needed a man to talk to. Bobby walked from shop to shop, looking into
each decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach. It was
starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his
eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun's rays reflecting off of something along
the curb. He reached down and discovered a shiny dime. Never before has anyone felt so
wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment. As he held his new found treasure, a warmth spread
throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw.
His excitement quickly turned cold when the salesperson told him that he couldn't buy
anything with only a dime. He noticed a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When
the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could
buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten
cent offering. Then he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder and said to him, "You
just wait here and I'll see what I can do for you." As Bobby waited he looked at the
beautiful flowers and even though he was a boy, he could see why mothers and girls
liked flowers.
The sound of the door closing as the last customer left, jolted Bobby back to reality. All
alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid. Suddenly the shop owner came out
and moved to the counter. There, before Bobby's eyes, lay twelve long stem, red roses,
with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow.
Bobby's heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them neatly into a long
white box. "That will be ten cents young man." the shop owner said reaching out
his hand for the dime. Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime. Could
this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime! Sensing the boy's
reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten
cents a dozen. Would you like them?" This time Bobby did not hesitate, and when the
man placed the long box into his hands, he knew it was true. Walking out the door
that the owner was holding open for Bobby, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry
Christmas, son."
As he returned inside, the shop keeper's wife walked out. "Who were you talking to
back there and where are the roses you were fixing?" Staring out the window,
and blinking the tears from his own eyes, he replied, "A strange thing happened to me
this morning. While I was setting up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice
telling me to set aside a dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn't sure at the
time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway. Then just a few
minutes ago, a little boy came into the shop and wanted to buy a flower for his mother
with one small dime. "When I looked at him, I saw myself, many years ago. I
too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man, whom I
never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten
dollars. "When I saw that little boy tonight, I knew who that voice was, and
put together a dozen of my very best roses." The shop owner and his wife hugged each
other tightly, and as they stepped out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn't feel
the cold at all.
May this story instill the spirit of CHRISTmas in you enough to pass this act along Have a
Joyous and Peace-filled season. |
