The Possibilities of Christmas

“I don’t understand why I’m working on Christmas Eve,” I said to Dan. He was my manager and my oldest cousin. I knew exactly why I had been working that day. I needed to find more last minute for my mom and little sister Hannah. It was just the three of us, but I wanted to make it semi- extra special.
         “ ‘Cause one,” he said “ You’re the best cashier we have, two; you need the extra hours and three,” he paused while stacking another box of holiday colored M&Ms in the storage room.  “Everybody buys candy on Christmas Eve in this town,” he yelled, his voice muffled behind the door. All the things I knew were true, but didn’t want to hear.
         “Thanks, Dan,” I said sarcastically.
                “Oh, no problem.” He was loving every second of my misery. Dan lived on the second floor of the candy shop with a two well behaved kids and a caring wife, yet, he was still a child himself. It was as if he was a younger sibling. On this Earth only to pester you for his own entertainment and pleasure.
         “Listen,” he told me. “You sell ten of those, and I let ya off the hook,” he said pointing to boxes of candy canes stacked sky high.   
         “If  you don’t, you’re here ’til midnight”
         “But--”
         “You heard me!” he interrupted. “Get to work!”
I wanted to tell him where he could shove those candy canes, but I stopped myself. That night I was going to get my paycheck and I couldn’t get fired then. I had to get out of there.
         “Oh, Jen, here,” he said handing me my name pin.  “You dropped it when you came in.”
           “Gee, thanks,” I said. 
He walked away. The incredibly annoying Christmas bell Dan attached to the front door rang as a customer walked through. She carried several grocery bags and two poorly made wreaths from the Youth Group next door. I smiled my completely phony, ’Customer friendly’ smile, but she didn’t smile back. She walked around the store as I drummed my fingernails on the unusually bright countertop. She was carefully grabbing five boxes of the tall stack, probably hoping she wouldn’t make a fool of herself by knocking it down. Holding them tight against her waist, she shuffled her feet over to the counter and placed them on top.
         “Rough day huh?” I asked. She glared at me as if I was supposed to know.
         “Okay then,” I mumbled. I finished ringing her up.
         “Six dollars.” She shuffled through her purse and handed me a ten from her wallet. The cash draw opened and I grabbed her change. I tore the receipt.
         “Four dollars is your change, Merry Christmas.”
         “You too,” she said, not even looking at me.I didn't care. I just needed to sell five more boxes and I could go. By now, it was 8:35 and I had less than an hour before the Amazing Savings across the street was going to close. Dan was going out check the mail for any new orders when I stopped him.
         “I sold five boxes, Dan,” I told him.
         Surprised, he checked the giant stack, then walked around to the register, checking for an extra four bucks.
         “Alright,” he said. “You’re set to go”
                "What?"
         “Yeah, I was just busting your chops about the whole ‘ten boxes’ thing,” he explained. “Here’s your paycheck.” He smiled as if he was proud of himself for making me wait so long. I held my hand above his to take it from him, but he began to tease me as if I was a begging dog. “Come on,” he said pulling it further and further from my hand. I snatched the envelope from him, tore it open, and looked inside
         “Cash?” I asked.
         “Yeah,” he said. “I figured you didn’t do all your Christmas shopping and none of the banks are open so--”
         “Thank you,” I said smiling. Then I hugged him.
         “You know,” I said “For a hard ass, you’re pretty cool.” Then I thought about what I said.
         “…And I mean that in the nicest way possible.”
         He laughed. “Just go,” he said, still smiling.
         “Bye,” I said.
         “Merry Christmas, Jen.”
I smiled, walked outside and zipped up my jacket. The snow crunched as I walked across the street and into Amazing Savings. The light from inside brightened the sidewalk. I picked up a festively dressed Cabbage patch doll for Hannah and a brand new Polka dotted scrapbook for my mom to document her life with. Of course, not the hottest gifts but all I could afford at the time. Leaving the store I saw a park bench beside the pond. All the ice-skaters were gone. I crossed the street and sat down. I always went to the pond after work alone, but tonight was different.
         “Beautiful lake ain’t it?” said a man behind me.
         His presence startled me. “It’s a pond,” I said, “But okay.”
         “Well, whatever it is, its beautiful”     
         “Tom  by the way,” he said
         “Jen”
         “Nice to meet you,” he said smiling
         Then I noticed something at the far end of the pond. “Why is there a hole there,” I asked him. “Do people fish?”
                "Heck, no," he said. “Tradition,"
                "Tradition?"
                "You know how everyone puts pennies in a fountain?” he said.
                I nodded.
         “Well, they cut a hole in the ice so people could make wishes in the winter too.”
         “wow,” I said.
         “Let me tell you something, I’ve been livin’ here for twenty-five years. When I first came here, I put that penny in and 'bout a month later, I won the lottery!’ he told me excitedly.
         I sat there and thought about Tom’s story.
         “So are ya puttin’ one in or not,” he said while lighting a cigarette. 
         “What?”
         “Are ya gonna throw a penny in there?”
         “I don’t believe in myths or superstitions, Tom.”
         “ Neither do I,” he said. “This pond does work, ya just gotta give it a chance”
I thought about it and then picked up my bags.
         “Thanks, Tom.”
I took the change that I got back from shopping out of my pocket and picked through the coins, looking for a penny. I found one, held it tightly in my hands and wished on it:
         “I wish all the things that my family wanted this year, all their hopes and dreams, come true. Please, please make them come true,” I thought.

This was the first and only superstition that I had hoped would come true.
That night I walked home with my gifts. The path was dark, but the moon that illuminated the sky, led me home safely. I came in to the house, unnoticed and everyone was sound asleep. Mom was sleeping on the couch and Hannah sprawled out on the floor with a blanket that had fallen off lying next to her. I covered her with it and tucked it closely around her body to keep her warm. I took my colorfully wrapped gifts out and put them under the lighted tree. On my tiptoes, I walked to my room  and quietly shut my squeaky door crawled into bed and dreamed that my wish had never come true. The next thing I knew Hannah was shaking me to wake me up.
         “Hannah!” I yelled, “Stop!”
          “But Santa gave us presents!” she cried. “He really did!”
         “Okay, I believe you, I really do!” I said. “Now go downstairs”
         “Not without you,” she said. I sat up, put on my furry slippers and walked downstairs with Hannah. What I saw was absolutely remarkable. What used to be a small, plain tree, was now elegantly decorated with gold tinsel and white lights. Stockings were stuffed with candy and toys and extravagantly large gifts were neatly placed under our new tree. It's true I never believed in myths or superstitions, but Tom had changed my mind. To this day, Mom never believed what happened that night, but Hannah was the most gullable person you could ever meet and stood by me for years. All that mattered was that we had a holiday to remember and memories that would last a lifetime. Anything was possible.