Page 12 - Good News December2006 paper

A CHRISTMAS STORY (Continued from p. 1) cents a dozen. Would you like
give her. Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked them?"
the snow and started to walk down to the street This time Bobby did not
where the shops were. (It wasn't easy being six hesitate, and when the man
without a father, especially when he needed a placed the long box into his
man to talk to). hands, he knew it was true.
Bobby walked from shop to shop, looking into Walking out the door, he heard
each decorated window. Everything seemed so the shopkeeper say, "Merry
beautiful and so out of reach. Christmas, son."
It was starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly In the meantime, the shop-
turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes keeper's wife had come to the
caught the glimmer of the setting sun's rays front and asked, "Who were you
reflecting off something along the curb. He talking to back there and where
reached down and discovered a shiny dime. are the roses you were fixing?"
Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby Staring out the window, and
felt at that moment. blinking the tears from his eyes,
As he held his new found treasure, a warmth he replied, "A strange thing
spread throughout his entire body and he walked happened to me this morning.
into the first store he saw. His excitement quickly While I was setting up things to
turned cold when salesperson after salesperson open the shop, I thought I heard
told him that he could not buy anything with only a voice telling me to set aside a
a dime. dozen of my best roses for a
Finally he saw a florist and went inside to wait in special gift. I wasn't sure at the
line. When the shop owner asked if he could help time whether I had lost my mind
him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he or what, but I set them aside
could buy one flower for his mother as a anyway.
Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at Bobby Just a few minutes ago, a little
and his ten cent offering. Then he put his hand on boy came into the shop and
Bobby's shoulder and said, "You just wait here wanted to buy a flower for his
and I'll see what I can do for you." mother with one small dime.
As Bobby waited, he looked at the beautiful When I looked at him, I saw
flowers and even though he was a boy, he could myself, many years ago. I too
see why mothers and girls liked flowers. was a poor boy with nothing to
The sound of the door closing as the last buy my mother a Christmas gift.
customer left, jolted Bobby back to reality. All A bearded man, whom I never
alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel forlorn and knew, stopped me in the street
afraid. and told me that he wanted to
Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to give me ten dollars.
the counter. There, before Bobby's eyes, lay When I saw that little boy
twelve long-stem, red roses, with leaves of green tonight, I knew whose Voice that
and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big was, and I put together a dozen
silver bow. Bobby's heart sank as the owner of my very best roses.”
picked them up and placed them gently into a The shop owner and his wife
long white box. hugged each other tightly, and
"That will be ten cents young man," the shop as they stepped out into the
owner said reaching out his hand for the dime. bitter cold air, they somehow
Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his didn't feel cold at all!
dime. Could this be true? No one else would give http://www.all-creatures.org/
him a thing for his dime! Sensing the boy's stories/xmasstory.html
reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just
happened to have 20 some roses on sale for ten