The Perfect Gift

Chapter 16

It WAS cold. Colder than the previous week, but that was to be expected as Christmas drew closer. Mary didn't like the cold. She always wondered why her mother always liked being outside during winter. She would build people- like sculptures and would call them snow sculptures. However, Mary didn't mind the cold as much when she was with her mother. It had given her a warmth that nothing else could.

Here goes my heart. Tearing in two, she thought. Her eyes were becoming watery. She wiped them with her hands and sniffled a few times.

When she arrived at the candy shop a few minutes later, she opened the doors and walked inside. The first thing she noticed was when she breathed out, the white fog that was normally there, did not appear anymore. I wonder why that is, she thought to herself. The next thing she noticed was all the candy that was piled everywhere in the store. There was so much! She couldn't imagine how the store could even afford to be open. How would the owner make money? Who would buy this much candy? Mary only knew of these questions because her father had taught her important definitions like supply and demand, and other key values of a business. Her question was quickly answered when a bunch of school kids she had seen passing the mercantile in the streets, walked in with a handful of money. Who had that sort of money... especially now? Aren't they struggling like our family too? Mary was confused. How come some people were better off than others? It didn't seem fair. She decided to ignore these thoughts for now, but promised herself she would have a good think about them later. She walked to the back of the line, just like her father had taught her to. She had seen many people, both kids and adults, cut in front of people in line. Sometimes she wished she could too, but she knew it wasn't right. She stopped at the back of the line behind a tall, slim man. She couldn't see his face, but she could see the outline sticking out. She was inspecting the man, when her eyes caught sight of a dollar bill floating slowly down to the ground. Wait a minute! No, not one! There are two! They landed on the ground without a sound. She looked up. Nobody had noticed, and certainly not the man in front of her, who she figured the money belonged to. Everything seemed the same as it had been before the money was dropped. She looked down again. Ooh! Two dollars! I could buy way better gifts for my family with this kind of money! She stopped, and then thought, what am I thinking? I can't steal this! I shouldn't steal at all! Mary looked at her surroundings. Nobody would even know, and I need this if I want to make Christmas special! Mary was caught in a hard situation. She wanted to make Christmas special...but she would have to do that by doing the right thing, and with this in mind, she decided to ask the man in front of her if these bills were his.

Mary bent over, picked up the money, and tapped the man on his arm. The man looked to his left and right, searching for the person who had tapped him. Then he turned around and looked at Mary.

"Hey kid. You looking for me?" he asked, with a casual tone.

"Yeah. I think you dropped these." She held up the paper bills. "I found them on the floor."

"Oh, how silly of me! I should be more careful. Thanks -uh..."

"Mary," she informed him.

"Well, thanks Mary."

By this time, Mary hadn't even realized how quickly the line had moved. She was standing beside the man now, watching as he put his candy on the counter and gave the clerk at the front, one bill. Then she heard the man speak.

He said, "Keep the change. I see it goes to charity."

He pointed at the sign that was standing up on the counter as he stated this. Mary couldn't read it, but she guessed it said something like, All money is going towards charity. She imagined it would have a red cross drawn out on it too. One day, when I own my own mercantile, I'll create a sign just like that! If only I can learn to read and write better by then.

The clerk answered with, "Why, yes it does! Thank you sir."

The friendly man Mary had given the money back to, smiled and walked out. Mary followed him out the doors.

Without even turning around, the man asked, "Are you going to follow me everywhere I go now?" It was like he had eyes on the back of his head. Mary always hated that expression... it just seemed so strange to her! Of course she knew it wasn't true, but still, it gave her an eerie feeling.

The man sat down on a bench just a few steps away from the store, and Mary mimicked his action. Then, Mary snapped out of her daze. "Oh. I didn't even realize I had followed you out, and I also forgot to buy my candy!"

"Here." The man said, holding out his hand that had a wrapped candy in it."

"You don't understand. You see, I wasn't getting the candy for me. I was buying them for-"

"Take it! I don't mind, really!"

"Okay. Sure. Thank you."

Mary took the candy and unwrapped it. She looked at the pink, hard candy in her hand. Yum, watermelon flavor! she thought. She couldn't wait another second! She popped the sweet into her mouth and sucked on it for a while. About a minute later, she remembered what the man had done with his money. He had been awfully generous.

"You know," Mary said quietly, making sure she wouldn't startle the man beside her. "I just wanted to say that what you did with your money, giving it to charity, was very nice of you. I couldn't do what you did. Not now anyways. My family is struggling, and we don't have that kind of money." She was worried that the man would be offended, or think she was too nosy, but the man had a surprising reaction.

"Well, thank you, Mary."

At that point, Mary scolded herself. I forgot to ask his name. How impolite of me! I'll ask him in a minute, she told herself.

Meanwhile, the man kept talking. "I know exactly what you mean. It can be hard to give when you have so little."

"Then, how do you do it?" She asked in response.

"Well, I'm not always good at it, but I guess part of me wanted to support that charity because of the cause."

"Oh. What was the cause?"

The man looked at her questioningly.

Mary responded to his quizzical look and said, "I can't read very well."

"Ahh. It said, 'donations will go to the homeless and people in need.' Before you ask, you should know... I am one of those people."

"What people? Homeless!?"

"Yeah. So I thought that I could give to those in rougher situations than me."

"Wow. That's amazing, that you would give to people before helping yourself. Wow."

Mary was shocked. How could he do this?

"Well... it's not much, but at least it's something."

"Uh huh. It could do so much good for someone!" Mary exclaimed, thinking of how the money the man had given could feed a homeless person. Someone like Samuel!

"Absolutely! Well, I better be off. I still need to sort out my sleeping arrangements for tonight. It was nice meeting you, Mary."

"It was nice meeting you too..." she paused, waiting for him to tell her his name.

"Brian."

"Brian. I like that. Well, see you!"

Brian stood up, and started walking down the street, away from Mary. As he was walking, he turned around and yelled, "Always remember... money isn't everything; give what you have! It doesn't matter the quantity, the size, the quality, or even how much it costs or is worth! The thought is what counts, not the..." His voice trailed off.

The thought is what counts. The thought is what counts!

Mary knew something wise had just been said, but she didn't know quite yet how it applied to her life. Something is important about what he said. I just have to figure out what! she thought.

Mary walked home with Brian's actions and words in mind, not bothered in the slightest by the cold.