Mall Miracle

           It was December 23^rd, and young Brendan was at the mall searching for the perfect gift for his mother.

           He saved all year to make this Christmas the best that his mother ever had. She had been raising Brendan on her own since he was two years old, and now that he was ten, he wanted to do something special to remind her how much he loves her.

           He reached inside his backpack and pulled out a small glass jar. Inside, was an assortment of coins and small bills. He found a table in the food court and carefully poured the jar’s contents out. He counted all the money, bills first, then the change, which totalled $35.15. To him, this was like a million dollars.

           Noticing some teenagers looking over, he quickly refilled his jar and shoved it back into his bag. The smell of the restaurants in the food court made Brendan’s stomach growl. He wandered around and checked out what looked good to eat. He stopped at a French fry stand, but even the small order was five dollars. That would take too much from his gift shopping, so he went to a dollar store in the mall and bought a bag of chips for just $1.15. That seemed to tide him over for the time being.

           There were so many people in the mall that day, and they all appeared to be in a hurry. One man in a long navy-colored jacket went rushing by with several bags in each hand. One of the bags collided with Brendan’s face, thrusting him backward onto the floor. The other shoppers seemed oblivious to his body wriggling on the floor and walked past.

           Once back on his feet, Brendan pushed his way through the crowd until he was next to the storefronts. He walked past clothing stores and considered buying a dress for his mother, but he had no idea what size she wore. Then he thought she might want some shoes, but he didn’t feel that shoes would let his mother know that it was bought out of love. He then walked past a lingerie shop, but quickly moved on once he saw what the mannequin in the front window was wearing. He could never see his mother wearing something like that.

           As he went past the toy store, he spotted a train set on display at the entrance and stopped to look. As he gazed in wonder around the store, Brendan dreamed of having a room filled with every toy he ever wanted, and a smile lit up his face.     

           It was getting late in the day, and Brendan knew that he needed to hurry before the mall closed, so he left the toy store and continued his quest. He saw Santa Claus sitting on a large red and white chair in the center of the mall. A lengthy line of children and parents stood in line waiting their turn to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Brendan knew that it was a terribly busy time of year for Santa, but maybe if he asked nicely, Santa would help him get something for his mom.

           The line-up took about thirty minutes to get through, but it was finally his turn, so Brendan walked proudly up to Santa and sat on his knee.

           “What can I do for you today, my boy?” Santa asked.

           “Santa, I don’t want anything for me this Christmas. I just want to get something nice for my mom,” Brendan said.

           Santa’s eyes seemed to pool up with tears as he listened to this young, selfless boy. A smile appeared under his snow-white beard as he replied, “That is truly kind of you. What kind of thing do you think your mother would like?”

           “I don’t know really. She doesn’t have a whole lot of anything, so it probably wouldn’t matter what I gave her. I just want her to know that I love her when she sees it.”

           “I will see what I can do, son. You run along now. Merry Christmas!”

           Helping Brendan back down to the floor, Santa wiped away a tear and called for the next child. One of his helpers guided Brendan to the exit.

As he turned the corner, he spotted the teenagers from the food court, and they spotted him and started moving his way. Panicked, Brendan turned the opposite way and began to run as quickly as he could through the crowd.

           He spotted the public restrooms and decided to hide inside until it was safe. Just like inside the mall, the restroom was busy too. He waited somewhat patiently for a stall to be available, and by the time one was, he had to pee. Locking the door behind him, Brendan sat on the toilet and waited until he felt safe. One-by-one, the other people in the restroom left, leaving him alone, but still he waited. After nearly one hour, he eased open the stall door and crept out of the restroom.

           The mall was much quieter now. The only sound he heard, was the Christmas music playing on the speakers. All the people seemed to have left. The mall closed while he was hiding, and Brendan began to panic once again. He thought of how worried his mother must be.

           He couldn’t see anyone around. All the stores now had large metal gates covering the entrances. He felt lost and tried to recall which way the exit was. He remembered a kiosk selling novelty Christmas sweaters right in front of it, so he started walking in that direction. As he neared the exit, he heard a male voice calling to him from behind.

           “Hey, kid! Hold up!” the man yelled out.

           Fearing that he was going to get in trouble, Brendan ran for the exit. As he approached the doors, they would not open. They normally slid open when you got close, but for some reason, they would not work this time. He turned back and continued to run through the mall, just barely skipping past the man that was chasing him.

           As he neared the next exit, he spotted a man with a mop, soaking up the puddles of snow that was dragged into the mall earlier in the evening by customers. Brendan ran toward him and the man, suddenly startled, dropped the mop handle, and started flailing his arms shouting, “Slow down! Slow down!” It was too late. Brendan hit the wet floor at full speed and slipped off his feet. Seconds later, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head.

           Everything went black for a moment, and when Brendan opened his eyes, the old man with the mop and the man who was chasing him, were standing over him. That was when Brendan read the crest on the man’s shirt. It said, “Mall Security.” The security guard was speaking into the walkie-talkie. He was talking to Brendan, but everything sounded fuzzy to him at first.

           Once his head began to clear, his hearing improved. The security guard told Brendan that his name was Nick, and he was there to help. He asked Brendan his name and asked if he knew the phone number for his house or his parents. Brendan gave the man his mother’s cellphone number and he walked off to the side to make a call.

           The man with the mop told Brendan that an ambulance was on the way to check him out, and that he needed to lay still until they arrived.

           When Nick returned, he told Brendan that his mom was on her way to pick him up. He then asked Brendan why he was in the mall so late, so he shared the story about the teenagers and hiding in the restroom. Then he remembered that he had not bought a gift for his mom yet, and he became upset. He was so disappointed in himself. This was supposed to be his mom’s best Christmas ever, but now she wouldn’t have anything to open on Christmas day at all.

           The security guard told Brendan that if he could come to the mall as soon as it opened the next day, that he would personally take him to the stores and help him look for the perfect gift. This cheered Brendan up.

           The ambulance showed up just before Brendan’s mother did. The security guard told her that he offered to give Brendan a personal tour of the mall in the morning, and he would call immediately afterward. His mother agreed and thanked Nick for everything. The paramedic gave Brendan a clean bill of health and sent him on his way.

           The following morning, Brendan was up bright and early and was ready to go before his mother got up.

           “Mom let’s go! Nick will be waiting for me!”

           “Coffee first, Nick second,” she replied with her eyes barely opened.

           When they arrived at the mall, Brendan’s mom offered to go with him, but Brendan insisted that she go home and relax, and he would be fine. He kissed her on the cheek and ran for the mall entrance. Nick was standing inside already, awaiting his arrival.

           “Nick, you’re here!” he said excitedly. “Where can we start?”

           They walked at a quick pace. Brendan felt important being escorted by the security guard. Nick was an older man, but he was big. He knew that if those teenagers showed up, Nick would scare them away.

           They went in-and-out of several stores before Brendan spotted the perfect gift for his mom. It was a red hoodie, her favorite color, that read, “Best Mom Ever” in big letters across the front. When he told Nick that he didn’t know what size to get, Nick told him that he was a surprisingly good guesser, and he thought that she would wear a size medium.

           They brought the sweater up to the counter and Brendan waited for the girl to tell him how much it was.

           “That comes to a total of $38.45,” she said. “How would you like to pay?”

           Brendan pulled out his jar of coins and told her that he only had $34.00 left. The girl told him that it wasn’t enough, and he would need to look for something cheaper. Nick saw the disappointment on Brendan’s face and told the girl that he would pay for it. Brendan looked up at Nick with a shocked look on his face. He then tried to give the jar of money to Nick, but he refused it.

           “Hold onto that jar, Brendan, and keep saving so next year, you can get your mom something even nicer.”

           Brendan hugged Nick tightly around his rotund waistline and thanked him repeatedly. They brought the hoodie to a gift-wrapping kiosk in the mall, and Nick paid for it to be wrapped in beautiful red and white Christmas paper with a large bow on top. He then called Brendan’s mother and told her that he was ready to be picked up.

           Later that night, Brendan set out milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. He tried his best to go right to sleep, but he was still excited about his day at the mall and the present for his mom. It took him nearly an hour before he dozed off.

           The next morning, on Christmas Day, Brendan ran to his mother’s room to wake her up. They hurried down the stairs and into the living room. Brendan grabbed the present that he bought for his mother and handed it to her. When she opened it and read the message, she gave Brendan a smothering hug and told him it was perfect. She slipped it over her pyjama top and said that it was a perfect fit too. Brendan was so pleased.

           His mother began handing presents to Brendan from her and from Santa, but then she spotted one hiding behind the tree that she didn’t recognize. It was wrapped in shiny red paper and the tag read, “To Brendan, from Nick.” His mother asked if Nick had given that to him at the mall, but Brendan told her no.

           He quickly unwrapped the gift and inside was a matching red hoodie like the one he bought his mom, but the message read, “Best Son Ever.” There was also a note inside that read, “Dear Brendan, I was so impressed with how much love you showed for your mom, that I wanted to do something special for you too. The hoodie is just part of your gift. The second part is waiting for you outside your front door. Enjoy. Nick”

           Brendan raced to the front door and pulled it open. Leaning against the wall was a red sled that was covered in colored LED lights. He brought it inside to show his mom. She was still trying to figure out how the gift got under the tree.

           Brendan asked if they could go tobogganing after breakfast. She agreed, and they wore their matching hoodies. It was a perfect Christmas, even better than Brendan had wished for. He and his mom took turns sliding down the snow-covered hills on his new sled. Everyone looked on as the lights gave off a red and white glow across the glistening snow.

           The following day, Brendan and his mom returned to the mall to thank Nick for the gifts. When they asked to speak with him, the head of security told them that nobody by that name worked there. Brendan described him, but they still had no idea who Brendan was talking about.

           Confused, they started to leave the mall when they saw the janitor from the other night. When they asked him how they could reach Nick, the man just smiled and said, “I’m afraid you would have to travel far up into the North to find him. He only comes down this way once a year.”

           “Where up North?” his mother asked.

           “Farther North than you can get by car. You can only fly there, but no planes will fly to where he lives,” the man replied.

           Now confused more than ever, Brendan’s mother told them that they would just have to wait until he was back in town again to thank him.

           The janitor stopped them and said, “Nick did want me to tell Brendan something. He said that he was there when you sat on his knee. He was there when you hit your head. He was there when you bought the present. And he will always be there if you need him again. He said that you gave him faith again in mankind. He saw that there was still good in this world. Oh, and he said thanks for the milk and cookies.”

           Brendan squeezed his mother’s hand tightly as he started to get choked up. Words were no longer necessary. They could feel each other’s love. It was a Christmas miracle that they would never forget.