It's the only thing I want for Christmas, daddy...
I pushed my way through the noisy crowds, the faint sound of holiday carols playing out above from overhanging speakers. They did little to mask the overpowering volume of people laughing, jeering and complaining as each pushed their way through the steady stream of shoppers. I picked my way through the multicolored wave of sweaters and jackets.
“Excuse me!” I called out to a lone man wearing a name badge.
He looked akin to an island amidst a violent summer storm. Torrents of people crashed upon him with questions, insults and inquiries, the poor man looking wide eyed and frightened.
“Yes sir?” he called out to me from a few feet away.
“Do you have any more of these?” I shouted my questions as I planted myself the best I could.
He merely shook his head and pointed. I turned my gaze to see an empty space, a used coffee cup being the lone item still for sale upon the lonely shelf.
I was buckling into my car in minutes, a thick sheen of sweat upon my brow and a heavy feeling within my chest. I had to get this toy. My mind flashed briefly back to my daughter's round eyes as I pointed to the T.V.
Is that what you want, sweetie? I had asked her.
She merely nodded with a bright smile. I threw my car into the next parking lot, my child's sparkling face giving me a renewed hope. I stepped out into the frigid air and into the next store, the name of the business irrelevant.
Nothing.
I tried another store across the street.
An empty shelf met my tired gaze.
What was I going to tell her Christmas morning? Her dad wasn't the invincible, all powerful hero that she had seen for her entire life? I briefly imagined her sad face as she held up another toy, clearly not the same as what she wanted.
I shook my head, a new, motivated fire spawning from my belly. She would get what she wanted for Christmas.
I threw my seat belt aside as I came upon the last store I had time to shop for. As I entered my heart instantly sank. It was the most busy out of all the others. Products of all shapes and styles littered the floor like debris after an explosion. The workers stood out amongst the crowd as plastic badge-clad officers, trying to direct the impossible flow of people.
“Sir, do you have these?”
My voice sounded hoarse and tired. My eyes burned with sleepiness. The man took a quick look, then pointed. I followed the familiar gesture, expecting to see an empty area. I looked at the bare space for a moment, then looked again with a jolt in my fingertips. Shoved in the back-most space of the shelf was one more toy. I immediately made my way for my prize, taking quick looks around the area of the seemingly barren shelf. I was too far, surely someone else would see it and snatch it up before I could have a chance. I came closer and closer, my eyes continually scanning the crowd. Another shock to my system came as I was mere feet away when I saw another little girl reach for the item. I let out a pained sigh as her dad took it from her and inspected it with a small grin. He mouthed some words to his daughter then, to my great astonishment, placed it back upon the shelf and walked away.
This was my chance. I shoved my way through the crowds, closing the distance between me and my little girl's perfect Christmas morning.
“Hey, watch it!” a pair of women scolded me as I tread upon their feet in my haste.
I cared little to whomever spoke to me. I was six feet...five. I watched others around me, as if to give them warning of my charging arrival. I reached out and - with the widest grin I had felt in a long time – grabbed at the decorative box. My breath came out only through upturned lips. My daughter's Christmas wish would come true.
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