A christmas story


 On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to go to the
supermarket
to  buy the remaining of the gifts I didn't manage to buy
earlier. When I saw all the people there, I started to complain to
myself:
It is going to take forever here and I still have so many other places to
go... 'Christmas really is getting more and more annoying every
year. How I wish I could just lie down, go to sleep and only wake up
after it...'
Nonetheless, I made my way to the toy section, and there I
started to curse the prices, wondering if after all kids really play
with
such expensive toys. While looking in the toy section, I noticed a
small boy of about 5 years old, pressing a doll against his chest. He
kept on touching the hair of the doll and looked so sad. I wondered
who was this doll for. Then the little boy turned to the old woman next
to him: 'Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?' The old lady
 replied: 'You know that you don't have enough money to buy this doll,
my dear.' Then she asked him to stay here for 5 minutes while she went
to look around. She left quickly. The little boy was still holding the
doll in his hand. Finally, I started to walk toward him and I asked
him who did he want to give this doll to. 'It is the doll that my sister
loved most and wanted so much for this Christmas. She was so sure that
Santa Claus would bring it to her.' I replied to him that maybe Santa
Claus will bring it to her, after all, and not to worry. But he replied
to me sadly.

 'No, Santa Claus can not bring it to her where she is now. I
have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when
she goes there.' His eyes were so sad while saying this. My sister has
gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy will also go to see God very
soon, so I thought that she could bring the doll with her to give it to
my sister.'

My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and
said: 'I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I asked him to wait
until I came back from the store.' Then he showed me a very nice photo
of himself, where he was laughing. He then told me: 'I also want mommy to
take this photo with her so that she will not forget me.' 'I love my
mommy and I wish she didn't have to leave me but daddy says that she has
to go to be with my little sister.' Then he looked again at the doll
with sad eyes, very quietly. I quickly reached for my wallet and took a few
notes and said to the boy, 'What if we checked again, just in case you
have enough money?' 'Ok' he said. 'I hope that I have enough.' I added
some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it.
There was enough for the doll, and even some spare money. The little boy
said: "Thank you God for giving me enough money.' Then he looked at
me and
added: 'I asked yesterday before I slept for God to make sure
I have enough money to buy this doll so that mommy can give it to my
sister. He heard me.' 'I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white
rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God too much. But He gave
me enough to buy the doll and the white rose.' 'You know, my mommy loves
white roses.' A few minutes later, the old lady came again and I
left. I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I
started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered
a local newspaper article 2 days ago, which mentioned of a drunk man
in a truck who hit a car where there was one young lady and a little
girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a
critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on
the life-assisting machine, because the young lady would not be
able to come out of the coma that she was in. Was this the family of the
little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy,
I read in the newspaper that the young lady had passed away. I
couldn't stop myself and went to buy a bunch of white roses
and I went to the mortuary where the body of the young woman was exposed
for people to see and make a last wish before burial. She was there, in
her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of
the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place
crying, feeling that my life had been changed forever. The love that
this

little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard
to imagine.

And in a fraction of a second, a drunk man had taken all this
away from him.