The Gift

by Freida McFadden

You would think that if you screw up as a waitress, the worst thing that could happen is somebody has a bad meal. But apparently not. Apparently, my neglect has killed this woman. She starved to death while waiting for one of us to bring her food.

Or what if she doesn’t have a family? After all, she is all alone on Christmas Eve. What if nobody even cares that she died? That’s even more horrible.

Yes, I like to have electricity and heat in our apartment, but I’m not stealing from a dead woman. You have to draw the line somewhere, and that’s mine.

I’ve always thought that Christmas snow is good luck.

Helga taps on a little white tag I hadn’t noticed that is stuck to the chain. I turn it over to look at the price, and my heart sinks. Oh well. I guess Justin isn’t getting a watch chain for Christmas.

“Do not be sad,” Helga says in that sage-like way of hers. “This is love. You sacrifice for him. He sacrifices for you.”

“Hey, Stella!” he calls out. “Where are all the knives?” “In the drawer under the microwave!” I call back. “Are you sure? All I see in there is like ten thousand spoons.”

“The point is,” I say, “I sacrificed something important to me to get you a great present!”

You don’t know what it’s like to meet the man of your dreams, then meet his beautiful wife, she sobbed to me.