“Oh, there you are, Jimmy,” said my mom. “What are you doing out here?”
I looked away from the store front window I had been staring at. Mom had been at the store next door to buy sewing stuff to make my new cousin a sweater or something. While she’d been busy looking at the sewing and crafts stuff in the store, I’d snuck out to stare at my latest obsession; a beautiful blue dress that was just my size. And it was on sale for only thirty-five dollars. Sadly, I didn’t even have thirty-five cents.
Looking at Mom for a second, I said, “I just wanted to come outside and look.”
Wrinkling her brow, Mom walked over to me, looked at the store front and said, “Why are you looking in this window? They just have girl stuff in there. Nothing for boys.”
The store was April’s Formals and Bridals and they always had the most beautiful dresses. Mom of course, had no idea that I thought any dress was beautiful. I was always careful and never left much evidence that I had been in hers or my sister’s clothes and make-up. I also managed to squirrel away a bra and several pairs of my own panties that I’d bought with birthday money instead of computer games.
For a couple of months now, this store had had this beautiful blue dress in the window. Every chance I got to go with Mom downtown, I’d sneak off to look in the window. A couple of times I’d gone into the store to look at this dress and the others and daydream that I was wearing them and out on a date.
“It’s chilly out here,” said Mom. “Let’s go home and make some hot chocolate.”
I took one last look at the dress, sighed heavily and followed Mom back to our car. I hated being a boy.
A ten minute drive later, and Mom was steering the car into our driveway. Mom tossed me the house key and said, “Be a dear and take this stuff in the house for. I’ll go check the mailbox.”
I caught the keys and nodded. I picked up the package Mom had bought at the cloth store and took it inside. About a minute later, Mom walks into the house looking through several envelopes.
“Bill…bill…bill…oh!” Mom said looking at the handful of envelopes. “You got a card. Looks like a Christmas card from your Aunt Staci.”
Mom handed me the card as she continued looking at her new stack of bills. Aunt Staci of course just had a baby; my new cousin and was my Mom’s younger sister. I tore open the envelope and read the outside of the humorous card. And then I opened the card.
“Mom!” I shouted. “Look what Aunt Staci gave me!” I wagged a brand new fifty dollar bill in the air.
Mom smiled at me and said, “Wonderful! You can get something nice you want for Christmas.” Last year, Aunt Staci had bought me one of the latest, hot games…for the wrong game system.
I grinned as I knew exactly what I was going to buy with that fifty dollar bill.
That night, I fell asleep daydreaming about wearing that dress. I put the fifty on my pillow.
The morning dawned bright and sunny. It was the first real day of my two week break from school. I had money, I was off from school and it was going to be a great, sunny day. I felt like a million bucks. Well, at least fifty.
After consuming the bologna sandwich and potato chips Mom had made me for lunch, I said, “Hey, Mom. Can I have bus fare so I can go downtown to the game store and see what I can get with my money?”
Mom looked up from the TV and said, “Honey, as soon as my show is over, I can take you there.”
There was no way on God’s green earth was I going to let Mom drive me to the store. I wouldn’t be able to hide going to the dress store. I said, “I’m fourteen Mom! I want to do it myself! Can I have the bus fare please?” There was a bus stop sign about half a block from our house.
Mom picked up her purse and rummaged around for change. She said, “In such a hurry to grow up! Here. This should be enough.”
I took the money with a grin and said, “Thanks Mom!” and then I darted out the door.
Twenty minutes later found me stepping off the downtown bus. The bus stop was right in front of the game store, which meant walking a block to the dress store. Despite the sun, it was actually pretty chilly and there were few people out.
As I approached the store, I noticed a girl about a year or so younger than me looking through dress store’s window. As I got closer, I saw that she was dressed like a homeless person. Her jacket was pretty worn and had holes in it. Her shoes were badly worn and her hair looked like it hadn’t been washed for several days.
I don’t think she was saying it so much to me, but just as I was walking behind the girl, she said, “Isn’t it just beautiful?” She looked over at me and said, “That’s the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen.”
I said, “Yes. That’s a very beautiful dress alright.”
She smiled as she stared at it and said to her refection in the window, “The girl that gets to have that dress is the luckiest girl in the world.”
As I started to reach for the door, I said, “It’s beautiful, but it is just a dress.”
The girl shook her head and said, “It’s *the* dress.”
I just looked at her for a moment, and then went inside.
The sales lady, who wore a name tag that said, “April” came up to me and said, “Yes young man? What can we do for you?”
I pointed towards the store window and said, “I’d like to buy the dress you have in the window. I noticed it’s been marked down.”
Shrugging, April said, “It’s a gorgeous dress, but some reason it just didn’t sell. So we marked it down.”
April walked over to the store window and pulled the dress off the display stand. The girl outside ran up to the window and placed her hands on the glass. Though muffled, I could hear her shout, “No!” She then turned away from the store.
As April ran up the sale of the dress, she said, “I’ll make you a deal on these cubic zirconia stud earrings for only twelve bucks. They’ll go nicely with the dress.”
I looked at them. It would completely finish off my fifty dollars. They were pretty and my ears were pierced. I said, “Sure. Why not?”
April put my new dress in a box and the earrings in a smaller box. She said with a grin, “You must have someone special on your Christmas list.”
I smiled at her and said, “Yes! I do!” That special person is me. I couldn’t wait to get my new dress home and try it on.
As I walked out of the store, I saw the girl sitting on the curb crying. She looked up at me and said, “Somebody bought the dress. Now I can’t even look at it.”
I stood there, holding the box with the beautiful dress inside. I said, “It’s just a dress. They have plenty of pretty dresses.”
She looked up at me, a tear running down her cheek and said, “But not that dress. Not now. When they marked it down yesterday, I asked my mom if I could have it. She started to cry and told me to wait until maybe next year. Or the next.”
I looked at the girl and then I looked at the box. I sat down next to her.
I held the box in front of her and said, “Here. Merry Christmas.”
She looked at the box, not touching it and said, “What’s in the box? Mom told me to never accept gifts.”
I said, “That’s generally a good idea. But here. Make an exception. At least look in the box before you say no.”
Her eyes went wide and she gasped as she saw the dress inside the box. She said, “I can’t take this. You bought it. You bought it for someone special.”
I pushed the box into her hands and said, “I did.” I put the box of earrings on top of the dress box and said, “You can have these earrings too.”
She set the box on the sidewalk between us and said, “No. I can’t take your dress.”
I stood up and said, “Yes you can. Merry Christmas.” I started to walk away.
The girl hesitated a moment and then she picked up the boxes and started running down the street shouting, “Mom! Mom!”
My heart sank as I thought about the beautiful dress. I then allowed myself to smile slightly and started walking back to the bus stop.
Comments
a very nice gesture
I hope something nice happens to him in return
T'is the season, isn't it?
That was very touching and the gesture, hopefully, will not go un-noticed. This was very well written and fits the season well. Thank you for it.
Re: T'is the season, isn't it?
I agree, Bobbie Sue; this was a very touching story. There is an old saying that what goes around, comes around! I have a feeling that the borrowed clothes might not have gone totally unnoticed; and neither has the window-shopping. An interesting follow-up to this story might have our hero waking up on Christmas morning to find that he has received a beautiful new dress!
Jenny
Sort of the Gift of the Magi
Sweet. There will be a time for other dresses. She'd better tell her mother the real reason she did what she did. Things might just work out.
Portia
A very lovely and sweet
A very lovely and sweet Christmas story with an extremely wonderful ending. Somehow, I believe that Jimmy will get his hidden wish and desire fulfilled and become the woman he is inside.
Thank you and Merry Christmas.
Janice
Beautiful
The gesture, just like the dress. This really was a Christmas story.
Slight Smile
That slight smile will grow in his soul & allow him to be a better person & a credit to any community from here forth Another Brian
Thank you,Melanie,
Quite delightful !
ALISON
Liked. A lot.
Sure "It’s just a dress"... and you've shown the way to have it for real.
Selfish at first but
He made the little girl so VERY happy when he gave her his dress and earrings. Poor girl was so heart broken and hesitant to accept it but as he said Merry Christmas.
Love Samantha Renee Heart
A real Christmas story
Thanks, Melanie.
Kaleigh Way
Good to remind me of what
Good to remind me of what Christmas is. Thank you.
Better to give
This is a very charming story.
Receiving a gift is extremely nice, but giving a gift to someone with a greater need is wonderful.
While putting our desires on hold may cause us sadness, the gift of happiness to the receiver is immediate.
Others have feelings too.
What a nice boy, he's the
What a nice boy, he's the type I'd love to adopt.
Karen
Maybe someday
He will fall in love wth a very sweet girl who will tell him about a very sweet boy she didn't know, who gave her a wonderful Christmas present when she was a teenager.
Double post
Deleted
Christmas story...
Three years later and it still is a precious story. I wonder how he explained things at home or too his aunt. Did he become content with what he did? Did another moment ever come?
Hugs, Jessie C
Jessica E. Connors
Jessica Connors
Aww...
How sweet of him.
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)
Just wonderful
Made my eyes leak again. Should be re-read every Christmas.
Teri Ann
"Reach for the sun."
How did I miss this lovely story?
Having a good heart is better than always getting your own way. It's a lovely story.
thanks,
- io
*sniffle*
Where's my box of ... oh, there they are. :-)
Still relevant in '22.
Thank you.
- Leona
Always a beautiful story
and just what I needed tonight. Thank you Melanie! /hugs Diana
This Story
Just grows on you because it's so beautiful and so much in the true spirit of Christmas.
Mood
For some reason, this story brought to mind the sappy song, "The Christmas Shoes," which made me think that song would be so much better if the boy wanted a nice pair of heels for himself, and made up a sob story to make a stranger pay for them. Free story idea for anyone who wants to write it.
What a wonderful sacrifice!
What a wonderful sacrifice! As for the story - desire, hope, excitement, wish fulfillment, sympathy and sacrifice. It's all in there, and it leaves the protagonist and the reader feeling good at the end. Thanks for sharing.
Awwww
Cute. Not sure I could have done that
Would love a follow up where
Would love a follow up where the girl and our protagonist end up friends and finds out his mom got him that dress or one just as beautiful for Christmas because often times moms know more about us than we think and they usually notice things we're into.
I hope that when my moment
I hope that when my moment comes, there WITH the grace of God, go I. Inspiring.
A comment from someone
A comment from someone looking for this story intrigued me, so I came and found it. Glad I did, lovely story. I sure hope karma swings by and gives him what he so justly deserves.