Posted by TerryS (198.133.22.93) on March 29, 2001 at 03:06:54:
> Roses for a Dime
>
> 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. Somehow it 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 salesperson 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 ten cent 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's eyes, 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
> a dozen. 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.