On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to go to the supermarket to buy 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...'
I started to curse the prices, wondering if 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 this doll was 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 towards him and asked who he wanted 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 say that Mummy 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 mummy not to go yet. I
asked him to wait until I come back from the supermarket' Then he showed me a very
nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me: 'I also want mummy to take
this photo with her so that she will not forget me.' 'I love my mummy and I wish she
doesn'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 bills and said to the boy. What if we
checked again, just in case if u 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 mummy can give it to my sister. He heard me' 'I also wanted to have enough money
to buy a white rose for my mummy, 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 mummy loves white
roses . A few minutes later, the old lady came again and I left with my trolley. 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 get out of the coma. Was this the family of the little
boy?
Two days after this encounter with the little boy in mind, 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 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 that day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk man
had taken all this away from him.
FRIENDS ARE LIKE ANGELS, WHO HELP US FLY WHEN OUR WINGS HAVE
FORGOTTEN HOW TO FLY.