“That Night in December�
By Michael Smith

What could he give her? He had wondered for a month and now it was December the twentieth. He walked down the street in the cold winter air. The shops where starting to close and he still had no clue what to give his love for Christmas. He looked to the night sky and wondered if anyone up there was watching him.

“I could use some help God,� he said softly. Then he saw something he was not expecting to see. It was his love coming up the opposite side of the street. She saw him and was just as surprised and even happier to see him that he was to see her.

“Chris!� she called to him.

“Anna?� he said as she walked out in to the street. A car stopped and honked at her. When she stepped on to the sidewalk they hugged.

“What are you doing out this late?� she asked. Chris rubbed his hands together and blew in to them trying to warm them up.

“Just doing some shopping,� he said. Anna noticed Chris’s lack of bags.

“I see,� she joked. She only had one bag with her but it was a big one.

“What are you up to tonight?� Chris asked as he reached for the bag. She quickly moved the bag away from him. She shamed him what a shake from her index finger.

“This is my gift to you,� she said, “you’ll get it on Christmas Eve.� Chris made a poutty face trying to get some sympathy. “That’s not going to work this year,� she said, “I got to run see you on Christmas Eve.� They kissed and went there separate ways. Chris had no idea what to give his love. He thought about nothing else as he walked home. After half an hour he came up with nothing. If only he could have seen his gift he might have gotten an idea. He had tried to ask her every year and he always got the same thing, “I don't care as long as you give from the heart.� She never asked what he wanted but she always got him just what he wanted. He wished he knew how she did it so he could do it for her. It was late when he went to bed and even later when he went to sleep. His mind raced as he tried to think of what to give his love. He slept in the next day. He was happy that he was a schoolteacher when he got up at ten that morning. He wasted no time getting ready and eating he wanted to get out and try shopping again. He took a bus to the mall and wondered around all day going in and out of each store several times. He found some things here or there but she already had some of them and he had to look at them a second time to remember. Other things were not good enough or they cost too much for a teacher. He started to think it was hopeless. He found a bench in the mall and sat on it ready to give up. Then he saw the perfect gift. It was a necklace with a star pendent. Not just any kind of star a four-point star, the kind that one would see in drawings of the birth of Christ the kind of star that the wise men would have followed. He went in to the store and spent all his money. It was not just the necklace that made the gift perfect it was the also the words that were flooding in to his head. He had to walk home; he had spent his bus fair on Anna’s gift. Once he was home the words started to flow out of him through his arm in to his hands on to his computer. Once the words had been written he started to search for the perfect image to go with those words. He put the words and the image together and Printed it on four by six photo paper and taped it to the box the necklace was in. He did not wrap the box or fill out the typical to and from card. He was hoping that his pome and the image would say enough. Chris spent the next two days bouncing off the walls with excitement. He could not wait to give Anna her gift. He wanted to see her smile and wanted to here the sweet voice saying, “thank you�.

At last December the twenty-fourth came. It was eight in the evening when Anna came to see her love.  She gave him the big box that she had bought on that night when they ran in to each other. It was wrapped in pretty green paper with a gold hand tied bow. He handed her the gift that he got for her.

“Open it first,� he said to her as he set her gift to him aside. She looked at him puzzled. “Then read the card,� he said smiling. She opened the black velvet box. She gasped when she saw the beautiful gift she had been given. She looked at him again and opened her mouth to say thank you, but he stopped her with a kiss. “Don't speak just read,� he whispered to her. She read the pome he had written for her and looked back up at him she was moved beyond words of her own. She just hugged him. She took the necklace out of its box and put it on. “It looks wonderful on you,� he told her. She gasped as she looked at her four by six card again. She hugged him again. It was a kind of hug that said so many indescribable things. The kind of hug that only she could give to him. That only one person who loves another completely can give to the one they love.

“Now open yours,� she said. He smiled at her

“I don't need to,� he said, but he reached for it anyway. “All I wanted was to see you happy,� he said. He opened his gift and thanked her for it. They took a walk that night to look at the light and decorations that the neighbors had put up. He held her close as they walked.