Most of the days in our lives are mundane and then one day everything changes. This is the story of the day that changed my life. My name is Lily and I am 18 years old. I come from a rich family. One can say I was a spoilt brat. I got everything I wanted, no questions asked. My room, which could probably fit a small apartment in it, had more clothes and toys than a regular store. That reminds me, I had to clean up my room.
The day in question was Christmas Eve. I was walking on the street, sulking, because I was only allowed to get only a few clothes for myself that year. Apparently, I had way too many clothes that I didn’t wear and I had used my allowance for my 18th birthday last month. Can you believe that?! Yeah, neither could I. I called my friend Amy, knowing she would understand my pain.
Amy- Hey girl! Long time!
Lily- Hey Amy! I missed you.
Amy- What are you up too? Getting any big presents?
Lily- No (sigh). My parents said only 2 bags of new clothes.
Amy- Oh my god! That is a tragedy. My parents are getting me a HUGE closet, just for me. It will be just like in the stores.
Lily- Lucky! I just might buy the new Gucci shoes and stuff. That’s the only thing I can afford with the money mom gave me.
Amy- Okay. Maybe we can do a fashion show with it later!
Lily- Sounds great girl. See ya later!
Amy- See ya!
I cut the call and watched my breath in the cold air, miserable. The one person who I thought would understand was wrapped up in her own happiness. What sort of friend was so selfish! I shivered in the cold winter breeze. I looked around for the designer clothing store and went in. I searched the multicoloured racks for the shoes, finally finding it at the edge of the shoe rack. It was what I dreamed of. Green flats, with Christmas tree decoration designs surrounding it.” Perfect for the holiday season!” I thought giddily. I tried them on and twirled around the store a bit to see if they fit and everything. After doing so, I went around the shop picking out various clothing. “Ugh, so many clothes were taken up. Why are people so selfish?” I thought to myself. I took the few good clothes available and headed to the trial room where I did a pretend model shoot. “I do look good if I say so myself.” I thought smugly. I went over to the cashier, but was disappointed to find it extremely crowded.
I flipped my glossy dark hair over my tanned shoulder. There was a little girl about 10 years old in front of me. She was holding a similar pair of shoes I had picked out earlier in her hands and was shuffling from foot to foot nervously, counting a small amount of money in her hands. Her dirty blonde hair was hanging over her shoulders very unattractively. She was wearing a dirty striped t-shirt with ratty and torn denim overalls. “Well, someone needs a HUGE makeover.” I sneered under my breath. Luckily (or unluckily) she didn’t hear me. The girl was in front of me, pacing around like most kids her age. She also kept talking under her breath, saying things like “… hope Mama…. good shoes” “…will look beautiful…” among others. She kept doing it until we were at the start of the line, which was to say, a looong time. She finally stepped forward.
“Can you please bill this fast.”
The cashier looked up and said, “Can you please wait for a minute. I will be with you in just a moment.”
The girl said, ”My mother is really sick and the doctors are saying she might die at any time. I just want her to look her best if she does.”
Her bright brown eyes were filled with tears and, I admit, mine were starting to water too. Suddenly I felt embarrassed about my thoughts earlier. This was such a sweet girl who was thinking of her sick mother and I was making fun of her in my mind. I felt disgusted.
The cashier slowly counted out all the loose change given by the girl. The loose change apparently had come from her piggy bank.
“I’m sorry, but there isn’t enough money in here. These are costly shoes and you don’t have enough” The cashier told her.
I could see the sadness creep up her innocent face as if in slow motion. She turned to me, tears threatening to spill out of her foggy eyes.
“My mother is the one who made Christmas good in our house. She bought any gift for me, no matter how costly. And I always used to ask for the costliest items. One Christmas, she gave up buying shoes like these as I had asked for a costly doll and she did not have enough money. And I did not even care. I never thought about my mom and now I don’t have the time. I just wanted to give her one last gift to try to make up for those years.” She sniffled.
I felt my heart break hearing those words, remembering all the times I made my own family sacrifice stuff for me. I felt emotions roll inside me like the broken glasses in a kaleidoscope. Guilt, shame, regret and other emotions I have rarely ever felt in my life, and certainly not for this particular reason.
I knew I had to do something. I was not a God fearing person. But somehow I felt God had sent this sweet little kid to make me realize the reason for Christmas.
So I put down the money and said “The shoes are on me.” While smiling at the astonished girl.
“But… you don’t even know me!” she said.
“Maybe so, but I have been selfish all my life. Never caring about the other people, my family, in my life. By helping you, I can start to change my ways.” I said smiling at her.
She smiled at me through tear-filled eyes. “Thank you…. thank you.” She murmured over and over again as she engulfed me in a hug and a new kind of warmth just spread across all my body. I felt a new kind of happiness. Not like the happiness when you get a new card or the happiness when you score a goal in football. I never knew you could feel…..happy, just by helping other people. Surely, this must be the easiest way to get happy.
I didn’t even care that she was grimy and that she was soaking my dress.
“How can I ever repay you?” she asked once she pulled away.
“Just get the shoes to your mother okay?” I answered.
She nodded really fast, scooping up all her money and the shoes. The cashier and I watched her run out.
“That was a nice thing you did for her.” she told me. I could see even the cashier’s eyes were moist. I had made someone well up with my kindness :)
“It’s like I told her. I want to change.”
She smiled at me and nodded.
“I am starting by putting all these clothes back and getting gifts for my family!” I stated, moving away. I heard the cashier laugh at me, popping her bubble gum.
I sprinted across the store and put all the clothes back, except for the shoes. I decided that they would always be a reminder to me to NEVER go back to my old ways. I picked out clothes for my mother, sisters and other family members who were visiting that night. I went back to the cashier. “Well, well. Looks like you were serious after all.” she said, her pink bangs flopping onto her face as she blew them away.
I just smiled, took my bags, and started checking the stuff. I found an extra snow globe in my bags.
“Hey, I think you made a mistake. I did not take this snow globe.”, I said to the cashier.
“No mistake. That one is on me. Happy Christmas!”, said the cashier with a wink.
Well, the day was getting better and better. Then I moved around the brightly lit mall, taking a few pictures near the HUGE Christmas tree, and buying various gifts for my family.
“This’ll surprise them!” I thought, smirking mischievously. Smiling, I went into my house with the various bags.
“Lily! That is waaayyy too many things to buy for yourself!” my mom said, surprised and angry, the same expressions that I thought would be on their face.
“We will have to take away your allowance if this continues!” my father continued, the same expression on his face.
“And why are you smiling mischievously AND have a wicked glint in your eyes?” said mom.
I looked in the mirror and noticed that I DID have a wicked glint in my baby blue eyes. I then laughed, which surprised them even more.
“These aren’t for me!” I burst out, unable to keep it to myself. That one sentence stopped everyone in their tracks.
“What?” my uncle asked, his voice showing that he expected this to be a prank. I smiled at their astonished expressions.
“These are for you guys.” I said, talking like they were little children, while passing around the gifts. They took them with murmured thank you’s and shocked expressions. I was laughing loudly inside, but kept a pleasant expression on the outside. But still a few stifled snorts escaped my mouth. Noticing their looks, I quickly explained what happened at the mall and why I changed my attitude. “Oh honey!” my mom sighed happily. “That was a wonderful thing you did. I’m so proud of you!”
My other family members nodded their agreement to her statement. I blushed at their praise. That was one thing that had never happened to me before.
“Thanks guys!” I said with a smile. “Now let’s celebrate this day of giving!” I said, getting the drinks and the cake out. Everyone cheered. I watched the scene, smiling, as I realised what I had missed in my 18 years of life. I decided that I was not going to miss another second of this.
One week later, I was walking home from the orphanage where I gave the kids New Year’s gifts. I smiled, remembering the happy and surprised looks on their faces when the clothes, food and toys were passed around. As the day was particularly cold, I was bundled up in sweaters and scarves. I was also wearing a light blue beanie over my dark curls which I had chopped up to shoulder-length. That, along with the fact that the streets were crowded and me being lost in memories, made me bump into a little girl.
“I am so sorry!” I apologized, helping her up and dusting her off. Then I properly looked at her and gasped. The girl had the same had the same dirty blonde hair and ratty clothes, but they were neater and cleaner, and her hair was properly combed. She gasped, coming to the same realisation that I had.
“It’s you!” I said, happy to see her again.
“How have you been? Is your mother….?” I mentally smacked myself for asking a girl I met one time if her mom was dead. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice or if she did, she didn’t say anything. “Hi.” She replied in the same quiet lisp from last time.
I felt my stomach drop when I looked at her sombre face. I didn’t know her mom or her at all, but she seemed like a good person and I was hoping she hadn’t died by some miracle. But suddenly, a small smile appeared on her pale lips and my heart soared with relief.
“I’ve been great! No, my mom isn’t dead. She has been getting better and better! It’s like a miracle! Maybe the shoes you bought for me were magic!”
I smiled despite myself. It was probably the doctors that cured her but I didn’t want to burst her bubble, so I said “I’m happy to hear that! I am so glad that I could help um… sorry what did you say your name was? I must’ve forgotten.”
The little girl laughed, her hair swinging into her eyes. “I didn’t tell you my name. It’s Mary. What’s yours?” “That’s a pretty name! Mine’s Lily.”
“Nice ta officially meet ya Lily!” she giggled, obviously in an extremely good mood. I couldn’t help it, I laughed with her. Her laughter was contagious. After a few minutes, I noticed the weird looks we were getting from the other people, so I steered her into the nearest Starbucks. We talked the day away. Mainly about the less personal questions like favourite colours or favourite fruits and the story behind it.
After a few hours, I looked at the time and said apologetically “I need to go, but we should do this again sometime!” She nodded; her mouth full of the delicious jam buns.
I waved at her, as she shouted a goodbye. That night, I lied awake, thinking about the gir…. No, Mary was her name (got to remember that). “She is the best thing that happened in my life and I’ll be damned if I stop seeing her.” Was the last thought I had as I drifted into the arms of Morpheus. Little did I know that she would go on to be the one of the best friends I ever had.
The End.
Disclaimer: Inspired by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christmas_Shoes_(song)
— C.N.Dhriti
