Late last week, I was rushing around trying to get some last minute
shopping done.

I was stressed out and not thinking very fondly of the Christmas
season right then. It was dark, cold, and wet in the parking lot as I
was loading my car up with gifts that I felt obligated to buy. I
noticed that I was missing a receipt that I might need later. So
mumbling under my breath, I retraced my steps to the mall entrance.

As I was searching the wet pavement for the lost receipt, I heard a
quiet sobbing. The crying was coming from a poorly dressed boy of
about 12 years old.

He was short and thin. He had no coat. He was just wearing a ragged
flannel shirt to protect him from the cold night's chill.

Oddly enough, he was holding a hundred dollar bill in his hand.
Thinking that he had gotten lost from his parents, I asked him what
was wrong. He told me his sad story. He said that he came from a
large family. He had three brothers and four sisters. His father had
died when he was nine years old.His mother was poorly educated and
worked two full time jobs. She made very little to support her large
family.

Nevertheless, she had managed to skimp and save two hundred dollars
to buy her children Christmas presents. The young boy had been
dropped off, by his mother, on the way to her second job. He was to
use the money to buy presents for all his siblings and save just
enough to take the bus home. He had not even entered the mall, when
an older boy grabbed one of the hundred dollar bills and disappeared
into the night.

"Why didn't you scream for help?" I asked.

The boy said, "I did."

"And nobody came to help you?" I wondered.

The boy stared at the sidewalk and sadly shook his head.

"How loud did you scream?" I inquired.

The soft-spoken boy looked up and meekly whispered, "Help me!"

I realized that absolutely no one could have heard that poor boy cry
for help. So I grabbed his other hundred and ran to my car.

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NEW MIX [Feb/March 2008]