AN AFTER THANKSGIVING TALE

The crowd is growing restless waiting for the store door to open. One overanxious shopper wants to ram the door. For months Jill saved for the After Thanksgiving Sale praying for a certain dress. She has money for the holiday gown to be worn at an office party to please her handsome single boss, as well as Christmas presents for her two younger stepbrothers. Gary and Max are from her father’s second marriage, still not feeling at home with the new family. She wants to buy a camera for one and a CD player for the other. With the sale there will be money for the gown.

The door opens and the crowd begins to push and shove to enter the department store. Jill hurries to the second floor to find her dress and sure enough it is marked down 40%. What a buy. She finds her size and doesn’t bother to try it on as she has already many times. She hurries to the clerk to make the purchase excited as the girl puts a bag over the dress. Now she will hurry up the escalator to the third floor for her stepbrother’s presents. To her disappointment she finds that the camera and CD player aren’t marked down enough. There isn’t enough money for all the purchases. Confiding in the salesgirl she confesses that this is her first big party, but there isn’t enough money for the dress and the presents for her stepbrothers. She continues saying, “Gary and Max would love the camera and CD player. The gifts would show them that they are her brothers.”

With the long face she heads toward the escalator to return the dress. As she steps on the escalator she feels the presence of a young man wearing exquisite cologne stepping on behind her. She turns to see a handsome man in an elegant black suit.

“Hello Jill.”

“How did you know my name?”

With a smile he responds, “This is my store. I try to know my regular customers, especially the pretty ones.” As they ride down the escalator he has her captivated with her almost tripping at the bottom. “You are going the wrong direction. We have to go back up for your brother’s presents.” With tears in her eyes she follows the man back up to the electronics department for the gifts. He tells her, “Now I must go. I hope we meet again someday. Take care.”

As she leaves she sees the salesgirl to say, “You have a wonderful store manager. He bought the CD player and camera for me to give my brothers. I can still go to the party.”

“Our store manager is a woman.”

“Who was he?”

The two women hurry to find the strange man, but he disappeared. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for there to be a Shopping Angel, so that all our dreams could come true?

Julie Caulfield