The Christmas Shoes

Inspired by the song "Christmas Shoes" by NewSong

The school bell sounded. The halls filled with squealing kids eager to start their Christmas break. My classmates rushed for the door, but I remained in my seat, frozen at the thought of going home. Mama would be there. I couldn’t go on pretending everything was fine while she was down the hall dying in her bed.

“Max!” a hand settled on my shoulder, “we need to go. Anna and Sally will be waiting.” I looked up into the brown eyes of my best friend, Matt, and stood.

“You're right, we need to go.” We ran through the now empty halls and into the afternoon sunshine.

“Hurry! Hurry! They will think we forgot about them,” Matt and I raced through the streets, weaving through the crowd of parents and students.

“Come on!”

The elementary school came into view, along with Anna’s signature brown braids and Sally’s long black hair. There were few kids left in front of the school as we skidded to a halt.

Anna’s voice pierced the air, her braids bouncing as she jumped up and down. “Sally, look! There they are! Max! Matt! We’re over here!” Her little hand waved frantically through the air, a beautiful smile plastered on her small face. I couldn’t help but laugh at her antics.

She ran up to us, slipped her hand into mine and began to talk non-stop about her class’ Christmas party. Sally followed, feet dragging and eyes unseeing.

“Hurry Sally! Hurry!” called Ann, “Mamas at home! She’s all better now and it's almost Christmas! Let’s hurry! I want to see Mama!” Matt’s eyes shifted to the floor, the smiles slipping from our faces. Sally wrapped her arms tightly around herself, tear glistening in her eyes.

“Why do you look sad?” Ann’s eyebrows scrunched together, “Mama’s all better.”

“But she isn’t better,” tears slipped down Sally’s cheek as I pulled her to my side. “She’s not gonna get better. She’s dying.”

“Oh,” Anna’s voice was quiet.

“So Mama is going to heaven?” A small smile graced Anna’s face, “I want to go to heaven! It sounds cool.”

“Yeah, she's going to heaven,” I said, handing Sally a tissue to dry her tears.

As my eyes met Matt’s, he gave me a reassuring smile, “Anna, why don’t we take the long way home today? We can look into the toy store window.”

Anna’s eyes lit up, “so we can see the doll?”

“Yes, of course, so we can see the doll,” I laughed through my tight throat.

***

We walked along the street and peered into store windows as we passed. The doll came into view, but Anna was stuck by something new. She stood transfixed, staring at a pair of shiny red flats.

“Oh, Mama would love those,” She said with a sigh, “can we get them for her? Please, Max.”

“I don’t know, those are some really nice shoes.”

Sally turned and she looked at me, “Mama should feel beautiful if she’s going to heaven. We have to get her those shoes.”

“Okay,” I said, “let's go check the price.”

***

At home, we collected all the money we had. It wasn’t enough. The shoes had been $51.99, and we had close to $40 dollars between the three of us. Anna suggested we check under the couch, we found two quarters and a nickel. We found a handful more coins in the car. Recycling brought in a $5 bill and Matt gave us another.

That got us to more than we needed with some left over for tax.

“We have enough for the shoes now,” Anna squealed.

“Max, you have to go buy them right now,” Sally demanded, “Papa says she doesn’t have much time.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back with the shoes.” I scraped the money into my pockets and took off out the door.

When I got to the store, I grabbed the shoes, and jumped into the steadily growing line. It took awhile for it to be my turn. I tapped my foot against the linoleum

When I got to the counter, I said, “Sir, I want to get these shoes for my mama, please. It’s Christmas Eve and these are her size.” The cashier nodded taking the shoes from my hand.

“Can you go faster, sir? Papa says we don’t have much time. She’s been sick a really long time. I’m sure these shoes will make her smile, and I want her to feel beautiful if Mama goes to heaven tonight.”

“That will be $56.67,” he said. I pulled out all the money we had collected, bags of coins and crumpled bills. We counted it out. I was $3.12 short. What was I supposed to do? I had to get Mama these shoes. I searched my pockets frantically. I was out of money and out of time.

I turned to the man behind me in line, without thinking and I said, “Mama always made Christmas good in our house. Most the time, she went without. Tell me, sir, what should I do? Somehow I’ve got to get her these Christmas shoes.”

My heart skipped a beat as he laid some money on the counter. I didn’t know what to say, so I just smiled and said: “Mama’s gonna look so great.” I thanked the man, then turned to leave hugging the shoe box close to me. I couldn’t wait to get them home to Mama.

***

I arrived to a home and could see the house filled with relatives eating tamales. The warm smell rich in the cold air even as I approached the curb.

I could see my Mama resting on the couch through the window. Sally's face appeared in the glass, excited. Her and Anna came outside to meet me in excitement.

“Did you get the shoes?” Anna asked jumping up and down. I nodded my head and open the lid to show her the shoes.

“Oh, they're so pretty,” Sally said leaning in to get a better look.

“Can we give them to Mama right now? Please?”

I could see she wasn’t going to be able to hold her tongue, so I handed her the box.

"Go on."

She practically flew across the lawn and into the house Sally and I followed close behind her.

“Mama! Mama!” Anna’s voiced stalled the conversation as we ran in the door.

“Max, where have you been?” Mom’s voice was strained. I opened my mouth to explain but Sally beat me to it.

“He went to get your present.”

“You have to close your eyes,” Anna insisted. When Mom’s eyes were closed, Anna put the shoe box on her lap. “Open your eyes! Open your eyes!” Anna’s excitement filled the room.

“Oh, a box! I love it thank you, Anna.” The silence in the room became uproarious laughter.

“Mama,” Anna giggled “you haven’t opened it!”

“You mean it’s something other than this beautiful shoe box?” Laughter filled the room again as Mama gave in and opened the box. A gasp escaped her mouth when she caught sight of the shoes. The red shoes shined in the soft light as tears gathered in the corner of Mama’s eyes. She pulled us into a hug and whispered, “thank you” in my ear. The warm expression on Mama’s frail face was all the thanks I needed.