The Christmas Dollar, Part Four

Cindy Halloran studiously rolled her snowball all around her front yard until it was big enough to make a nice round head. Steve was making the bottom roll because he was the biggest. Mikey was making the middle roll. This was going to be the best snowman in town. After they made the snowman, Daddy had promised to take them all sledding. Even the baby. Mama said it wasn't too cold if they bundled up.

"This is the bestest Christmas I ever had!" Cindy cried joyously.

"That's because you don't remember any other Christmases," said Steve. He didn't seem very happy this year. Neither did Mama or Daddy. Cindy didn't know why.

"I got a whole dollar," she reminded him.

"Big deal," said Steve.

Cindy decided not to cry. She made a snow angel instead. Then she saw a man coming down the sidewalk.

"Mr. Gruffman!" she called out happily. "Isn't this the bestest Christmas ever?"

Mr. Gruffman growled at her, but Cindy didn't mind. She liked the way his eyebrows jiggled. "I got a whole dollar! What did you get for Christmas, Mr. Gruffman?"

"Nothing!" growled Mr. Gruffman, not stopping.

Cindy stood stock still. Then she ran after Mr. Gruffman. "Nothing?!" she cried. "Why? Were you bad?"

Mr Gruffman looked at the sky. "Yes," he snapped. "I was bad! Now run along!"

Cindy couldn't believe it. Nobody could be that bad! It must be a mistake. "Wait, Mr. Gruffman! Please wait!"

Mr. Gruffman stopped and turned around. "Stay in your yard and leave me alone!" he yelled. But Cindy thought anybody might be cross if they got nothing for Christmas!

Slowly, she reached into her pocket. "Here," she said.

Mr. Gruffman just looked at her. "It's my Christmas dollar," said Cindy. "You can have it. Look - if you wiggle it, the man smiles."

Very slowly, Mr. Gruffman held out his hand. He didn't mean to take the dollar. He just wanted to see it. But while he was still staring at it, torn and taped right across Washington's face, the little Halloran girl ran back to her yard, apparently perfectly happy to give up what he suspected was her only Christmas present. He stood, frozen, and gazed after her. Pastor Jones' Christmas sermon scrolled through his mind.

Then, still in slow motion, he went to the Hallorans' house and knocked. Lou came to the door. Mr. Gruffman didn't know he was going to say it. The words just seemed to come out of his mouth. "I want to build a wing onto my house. Could you do the job?"

Hidden in his picket, his hand clung to a torn dollar bill.

The Christmas Dollar, Part Three

Joe Peterson dressed carefully and walked down the street to church. The money that nice young man had given him for Lucy's pearls crackled in his pocket.

Pastor Jones gave a good sermon about the widow's mite. "She has given all she had." It made Joe think of Lucy again. But then, everything did. He had an idea. "Pastor," he said at the door, "use this for the church for Christmas. Something special. Whatever you think."

"Well, thanks, Joe, but are you sure you can afford this?"

"Oh, yeah. It was a windfall." Joe waved it off.

In his study later, Pastor Jones looked into the envelope. It was more than he had expected. And he knew just how he wanted to use it. He got on the phone.

"Lou Halloran? Listen, could you possibly build a stable for a live nativity scene in front of the church? I'd pay you, of course."

Lou Halloran sounded suspicious. "This isn't charity, is it, Pastor?"

Pastor Jones laughed. "Are you kidding? Have you ever seen me with a hammer and nails?"

"Well, all right."

"And Lou? How about dressing up as a shepherd and playing your panpipes? People would love that!"

"I'll think about it."

Lou got off the phone feeling like a heel. He ought to be able to support his own family. The Salvation Army had even brought them a food basket, for pete's sake! He had wanted to refuse it, but the looks on his wife's and kids' faces stopped him.

Well, whatever jobs he got, he'd do right, anyway. He spent two days on the three-sided shelter for the nativity. He even let himself be talked into dressing up in a bathrobe and playing Christmas carols. His little Cindy made an adorable angel, and reveled in the thought of Daddy being a part of things.

Cindy was there when he counted the money. "Look Daddy! A funny one! I wish I had a dollar like that!"
Lou laughed. "Silly, that's a ripped one. Wouldn't you rather have a nice new dollar?"

"No, Daddy, I like that one. It makes the man look funny!"

Well, he could certainly afford to give his little girl a dollar if she wanted one! On Christmas Eve, Lou folded the dollar carefully and poked into Cindy's stocking.

Her excitement on Christmas morning would have been worthy of a million dollar bill. She jumped into his lap and hugged him, and Lou hid his wet eyes in her hair.

The Christmas Dollar, Part Two

"Merry Christmas!" Dr. Andrea Martin blew through the door of her office the next day with a cheery greeting for her new assistant, Mark Vasquez. With a new fiancee in the picture, he could use all the money he could get. That's why she was delighted with the surprise she had for him. Mark looked puzzled when she held out the envelope.
"I had an emergency call, and it made this possible. Open it."
Mark looked inside. "A Christmas bonus! I've only worked here three months!"
"And made yourself indispensable. Enjoy!"
Mark was more delighted than his employer knew. He had been saving for a really special present, and now he had enough.
He took a tattered clipping out of his pocket. "Lady's pearl necklace," it read. And the price was unbelievable. Imagine Maria's face when he gave her real pearls! He called, and to his joy, the man said he still had the necklace.
That evening Mark hurried to the address he'd been given. A bent old gentleman answered the door.
"Mr. Peterson?"
"Yes, come in."
Mark stepped into the dim house. It smelled faintly musty.
Mr. Peterson shuffled over to an old piano and took down a case from its littered top. When he opened the case, Mark felt dizzy. The two-strand necklace shone as if with its own light. A sapphire hung from it like an angel's tear.
He touched it gingerly. "Are you sure you want to sell this, and for so little?" he couldn't help asking.
Mr. Peterson looked up at a faded portrait on the piano. It showed a glowing young woman wearing the pearls. "I gave them to her for our tenth anniversary." He sighed and turned to Mark. "She can't wear them anymore. Didn't seem right to have them lying about. Some woman will love them like she did."
"My fiancee," said Mark, and something made him get out his wallet to show the old man Maria's picture.
For the first time, Mr. Peterson smiled. He looked years younger. "Lucy would like that," he said simply.
After the young man had left, visibly excited over his treasure, Joe Peterson spread out the bills on the closed piano keyboard. One of them was so tattered it ought to have been reclaimed by the bank. He looked up at the picture and smiled. "I wish we could see her face when he gives them to her, Lucy. What'll I do with this money? I don't need much anymore."
He still hadn't decided when he went to bed that night.