A Dozen Christmas Roses
佚名 / Anonymous
Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. Bobby didn’t wear boots； he didn’t like them and anyway he didn’t own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold.
Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. And， try as he might， he could not come up with an idea for his mother’s Christmas gift. He shook his head as he thought， “This is useless， even if I do come up with an idea， I don’t have any money to spend.”
Ever since his father had passed away three years ago， the family of five had struggled. It wasn’t because his mother didn’t care， or try， there just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital， but the small wage that she was earning could only be stretched so far.
What the family lacked in money and material things， they more than made up for in love and family unity. Bobby had two older and one younger sister， who ran the household in their mother’s absence.
All three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother. Somehow， it just wasn’t fair. Here it was Christmas Eve already， and he had nothing.
Wiping a tear from his eye， Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were. It wasn’t easy being six without a father， especially when he needed a man to talk to.
Bobby walked from shop to shop， looking into each decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach. It was starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun’s rays reflecting off of something along the curb. He reached down and discovered a shiny dime.
Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment. As he held his new found treasure， a warmth spread throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw. His excitement quickly turned cold when salesperson after salesperson told him that he could not buy anything with only a dime.