42 A Christmas Gift
- Original story by Dzung Nguyen
Snow kept falling in the days near Christmas. The air was thick with music praising God. Inside a small house at the poor neighborhood, a young boy named Ben and his two sisters named Andrea & Hannah was talking to each other.
"What's that delicious smell? Are you baking a cake?" asked Ben.
"Yes, but not for us," answered Andrea.
"So, whose cake is it, then?" asked Hannah.
"Guess what day tomorrow is?" Andrea asked back.
"Oh, oh, I know. Tomorrow is Christmas day, right?" Hannah said excitedly.
"That's right," replied Andrea. "Tomorrow is Christmas day and mom is still working at the hospital today. that's why I want to bake this cake as a Christmas gift for her."
"I drew a Christmas tree for mom!" Hannah said. "Hey Ben, what gift did you get for mom?"
"I don't have anything for mom yet, "whispered Ben sadly.
Ben quietly stepped outside. He was getting cold sitting out in his backyard in the snow. Bình didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyways, he didn't own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes inthem and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold.
Ben's friend Bobby came over and Ben told Bobby his plight. After an hour of brainstorming together in the backyard, try as they might, they could not come up with an idea for Ben's mother's Christmas gift. Bobby then had to go back home and Ben thanked his friend for trying to help him. Ben shook his head and he thought to himself, "This is useless, even if I do come up with a good idea, I don't have any money to spend!"
Ever since Ben's father had passed away three years ago, the family of four had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care or try, but there just never seemed to be enough money to suppor the family. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning could only be stretched so far. Wiping a tear from his eye, Ben kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were. However, something caught the corner of his eye.
"Oh, What is that shiny thing along the curb?" wondered Ben. "Hey, it's a dime! All right, I have money now!"
Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Ben 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.
"Hi, I want to buy that dress for my mom. How much is it?" asked Ben.
"It's $89," replied the sales lady.
"Whoa, that's way too much! What can I get with this dime?" asked Ben.
"Kid, you can't buy anything here with a dime," replied the sales lady with contempt in her voice as she turned away from Ben.
Ben's excitement quickly turned cold when the sales lady 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, Ben presented the dime and quietly asked if he could buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift.
The shop owner looked at Ben and his dime, then asked Ben, "What kind of flower do you want to get?"
"Sir, I would take any kind of flower to give to my mother for her Christmas gift, but I have only one dime."
"Okay," replied the shop owner. "Would you mind waiting for me at the corner there? I'll see what I can do for you."
As Ben 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 Ben back to reality. Ben realized he was all alone in the shop and he began to feel afraid.
Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter. There, before Ben's eyes, lay twelve long-stem red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow. Ben's heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them gently into a long white box.
"That will be ten cents," stated the shop owner as he held out his hand.
Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime! Sensing Ben's reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents. Would you like them?"
"Sir, I would love to buy them so very much! Thank you!" Ben exclaimed as his eyes started tearing.
"Merry Christmas, son," the shop owner smiled.
The shop owner walked Ben out the door and closed the flower shop. As he returned inside, the shop owner's wife walked out.
"Who were you talking to back there and where are the roses you were fixing?" asked the shop owner's wife.
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 preparing 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 for mother for Christmas. 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 whose voice that 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, but they somehow didn't feel the cold at all.
- Recommended reading: Matthew 25:34-40
