Approaching her bedroom, but still out of sight of John and Miles, Mary overheard Miles talking to John.
"You don't need them, John. Come hang out with my family for Christmas. It'll be so much better than anything here."
"I don't know, Miles. I couldn't just abandon my family like that, but I'll think about it." replied John.
Then Mary coughed, allowing Miles and John to notice that someone was just outside the door.
"Who is it and what do you want?" came from John.
"It's just me, you know, Mary, the one that shares this room with you. I just want to check something quickly. Let me in."
Mary opened the door, not even bothering to wait for permission. Inside she went to her bed and crouched under it, reaching for her piggy bank. Once she had gotten it, she unscrewed the cap and dumped her coins. One of her dimes rolled under her bed, too far for her to reach.
"Oh no! My dime!" Mary exclaimed in frustration.
"What does a dime mean to you anyways," said Miles, "you're too poor to buy even a little gift for anyone, so why do you even care?"
Sure enough, after counting her money, Mary only could come up with sixty-seven cents. There was no way that this would be enough to buy all of her family gifts for Christmas! Christmas was only days away so there was no way that she could make more money in time. I can't disappoint my family, especially my mom. What should I do? Mary thought to herself.
"Are you done yet?" asked John, eager for her to leave.
Probably so that he and Miles could finish their conversation, Mary guessed.
"Yeah, I'll be on my way."
Mary left the room, her mind spinning too fast for its own good, trying to figure out how she could ration her money. It just wasn't possible, or so it seemed.
YOU ARE READING
The Perfect Gift
General FictionThe Perfect Gift is a story leading up to Christmas during the late 1930's, when Canadians are beginning to recover from the Great Depression. It shares the story of a young girl, Mary, who is trying to make Christmas special, after her Ma's passing...
