The Shoe Box (part 3)

                                  The Shoe Box, by Elaine Beachy
                                        continued from part 2                                 

Father rabbit came home from work and hung his hard hat on a hook. "Did I hear someone mention me?"

Biff and Becka ran to their dad and hugged him. "We're getting our Christmas list ready, Dad," Becka spoke up quickly.

"Yeah, we're going to have a really good Christmas this year, huh, Dad?" Maybe we'll even each get four presents." Biff gave his father a big smile. "I really, really need a new bike, Dad. My old one looks ugly; it's scratched up and the fender's bent. The seat is ripped, too."

Father saw the catalog in Mother's hand. "Oh, it's Samaritan's Purse. What a great idea for gift-giving," Father said, as he reached for the catalog.

Becka frowned. "What would we want from that catalog?" she asked.

Samaritan's Purse. It sounded to Biff like somebody who had a purse wanted something from them. He hurried to show Dad the bike in the Christmas catalog. "Clancy next door got a new bike for his birthday, Dad, and I really want this one for Christmas," Biff urged.

As the family ate dinner together, they discussed Christmas. Father looked at Biff and Becka. "Let's play a pretend game, okay?"

"Oh goody, I love games!" Becka took a big bite of orange-glazed carrots.

"Let's pretend you live in Cambodia," Father said. "You never had Christmas because you didn't know there was a Christmas. No presents. The water you have to drink is muddy and filthy. There's no place to take a shower, and food is hard to find or pay for. You have  no shoes and only a ragged cloth to cover part of your body. I have no job. Mother is sick, and there are no hospitals or doctors, except for a witch doctor."

A look of alarm spread across Becka's face. "I don't like this game, Dad," she said.

                                  to be continued . . .

Copyright © 2011 Elaine Beachy