BOBBY
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. All three of his sisters had already
made beautiful gifts for their mother. Somehowit 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 sales person after salesperson told him
that he could not buy anything with only a dime. He saw 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 tencent 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'seyes, 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 gently 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
adozen. 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
for Bobby, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry Christmas,
son." As he returned inside, the shop keepers 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 I 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 cold at all.
!
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