• Amelia was walking down the grocery aisle doing her usual shopping. She heard a shout directly in front of her. When she saw a small child, no older than five, on her path, she immediately halted. She had been just centimeters away from hitting the kid. Sighing, she noticed the mother pull the child away and shoot a disgusted look at her, “Sorry.” She mumbled, but the woman was long gone by then.
    Amelia left soon after, not even completing her grocery list. She had barely noticed, nor did she care. So much was going on right now. Both she and her husband had lost their jobs. Not to mention they had three children to take care of. She had continuously recommended they apply for food stamps, although her husband, Alex, was too proud. Even still, she had been borrowing some from a friend, but hardly enough to raise a healthy family. The image of her family starving to death gave her nightmares at night, but she dared not tell Alex of it.
    The sun was setting and Amelia was yet to be close to home. It was hard living in Maricopa without a car. Sure there were some stores, but there were no big department stores to purchase items from. Fortunately, the small town was growing, and one day there would be a large store nearby. For now, she was to what she needed to the old fashioned way. Regardless, with two miles yet to go, she was awfully tired.
    “Hello, dear. How are you this magical evening?” Amelia jumped at the sound of the unrecognized voice. Her eyes danced around until she found the figure. He was a colored man, although she barely could tell. He wore long black pants, and a long back, almost misty, trench coat over it. In order to hide his identity further he covered his face with the hood. All she could see of the man was his hands, and just enough chin to see his charming smile.
    “I’m fine” she said promptly, “Who are you?” she asked, ignoring common social courtesy. Her eyes went wild with curiosity. This man, she wondered if he were in some sort of cult. To be honest it made her extremely nervous. Her plan was to leave the man be as soon as she could. In fact, she realized she could have already left, however something was drawing her to him. She couldn’t leave, not now, not until she got some more answers.
    “Joc” The man said simply, then without further notice, he continued, “You look tired, how about you sit down?” He pulled up a chair. Amelia stared at the objects. There, only feet away from her, stood a glass table and two corresponding chairs. She thought it odd that she had never noticed them there before. All the time she had to walk to the grocery store and back, and yet she had never noticed there had been a place for her to sit. Before she allowed the surprise to appear on her face, she took the seat across from Joc. Once she made herself comfortable, he continued, “What is your name, dear? Why have you been walking so far?”
    For a moment, the young adult said nothing, she had hundreds of questions. Starting with how he knew she had been walking a great distance, but all she said was, “Amelia. And I have been buying groceries.” She didn’t know why she was confiding in a stranger in such a way, but she chose to push the thought aside. She wanted to know what he had to say.
    Joc released a long breath and leaned back in his chair, “It must be hard, don’t you have a car?” When she shook her head silently, he was silent for minimal time. He pressed his lips together. When he released them, he began, “I can help you out.” He told her, Amelia straightened up in her chair when she heard this, “Listen, I can get you one million dollars. No tricks, no lies. Although, I will require you first spend five thousand dollars on at least five friends. That would be fifteen thousand dollars before I can get you your million. Here’s the catch, they can’t find out that it was you.”
    Amelia began tearing up, this was wonderful news! Her body began to tremor with joy. She was so thankful, she couldn’t hardly speak, all that came out were mumble jumbles. Her joy was short lived, though, as she had a realization, “I’m sorry” her voice cracked with sudden disappointment, “I don’t have fifteen grand right now.” She looked down at the table, crestfallen.
    Joc pulled his hair up over his head in slight frustration. He was deep in thought trying to find a way to help her. After a moment of impossible silence he said, “ I will give you fifteen thousand for you to spend on your friends. That is it. Unfortunately, this way, if you get caught, you will have to owe me that whole stack of money. You will be even further in debt. So it is extremely important that you don’t get caught.” He put strong emphasis on the last three words. He spoke them firmly and sharply, his voice and decision unwavering.
    Amelia nodded, “Okay. I accept your terms.” She told him, weary with relief. She noticed Joc smile and pull a wad of cash out of his pocket. He counted out the money to equal fifteen grand. She took it gratefully. He waved her off casually. She grabbed her grocery bags (which she hadn’t noticed she had set down) and ran off after telling him, “Thank you so much!”
    By the time Amelia returned, it was close to 10 in the evening and she was sticky with the sweat created by July heat. Alex came to the door and welcomed her home. They decided to put the food away without the children as they were already comfortable asleep. Throughout the chore, she wanted to tell her husband about her fortunate encounter earlier that might change their lives, but she knew how much of a big mouth Alex was, and didn’t dare risk the chance of spoiling the possibility of their lives changing for the better.
    That night, Amelia slept calmly. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, she didn’t have any nightmares.
    . . .
    The next morning, after her children had left for school, Amelia called her friend Baily. She had been friends with Baily since Freshman year of high school. Even though their lives traveled separate paths, the two were just as good of friends. The duo began with small talks before Amelia invited her to the mall. Baily was reluctant at first, but relented without too much convincing. The friends were to meet at one. Baily had decided to come and pick her up so she didn’t have a walk such a distance.
    Amelia could keep herself from being excited over the challenge assigned to her. She felt so light after the world had been so dark. She hummed merrily while doing the laundry and sweeping the floor. She had so much money to work on spending on her friends. She had no idea how she was going to spend so much money on tangible items, but she set her sights on completing her task, and doing so quickly. She had spent so much time thinking of such things, she was surprised to see Baily at her door at one.
    “Coming” she hollered as she grabbed five thousand dollars she had separated earlier that day and tucked in inside a secret pocket in her purse. She scribbled a not on a Post-It note and stuck it to the door. She then opened the door to reveal herself to her friend. The two embraced and began in small familiar conversation. Once they finished greeting each other, the got in the car and headed to the nearest mall.
    Fortunately, when they got there, the mall was practically empty. Just about everyone in town was either in school or working. Amelia figured that would make her job a bit easier. They began by entering Sears. She noticed her friend unconsciously make her way to the electronics section, her eyes glued on a television. Not particularly caring about the item itself, she glanced at the price tag. Her heard skipped a beat when she read the price: $3,399.99. Amelia took a deep breath. She peered over at her friend who muttered, “If only, if only…”
    Amelia snuck a smile; her friend was going to get that television. That made her job quite a bit easier, only sixteen hundred left for Baily. She knew how to spend some of it, although she didn’t know how to spend all of it. It was pure luck that Baily secretly wanted something ridiculously expensive. Baily made a hasty retreat to JC Penny’s soon after. It wasn’t long before she calculated exactly what she was going to buy for her good friend, Baily.
    When Baily suggested they leave, Amelia declined when she offered to give her a ride home. After Baily was a safe distance away from the premise, Amelia returned to Sears. She walked up to customer service, “Excuse me,” she began, the employee turned to face her. He had a strange resemblance to someone she had seen before, but she couldn’t place it. She pushed the thought aside, “Can I get the uh,” she paused as she tried to remember what the TV was, “Samsung …Ultra slim…energy television?” She finished confidently.
    For a moment, the man gave her a questioning look. Not long after, he got out from behind the
    Desk, “Right this way, ma’am.” Amelia followed him quietly. He pointed to a television when they entered the right aisle, “Right one?” he asked; Amelia nodded in response. He grabbed the large box and lead her back to the counter. “Would you like us to ship this to you?”
    Amelia thought for a moment, she definitely could not send it to her house, although, it would be easier to send it to Baily rather than drop it off, and safer. She nodded and gave the man Baily’s address and asked her identity be anonymous. The man nodded, though he gave her a suspicious glance. He handed him the cash. He looked stunned for a moment, but said nothing. Amelia thought he would have called his manager, but he just checked each bill for honesty. Once he finished he told her, “This will arrive at your house soon, ma’am.”
    Amelia headed to her next store, although she still couldn’t place how she recognized that man.
    To finish off Baily’s gift, she bought her two of Baily’s dream Coach Bags. Ones she had been in love with since high school. She had those shipped as well, this was going so well, Amelia couldn’t believe it. One friend down, two to go.
    . . .
    The next morning, Amelia couldn’t decide on another person she wanted to present with five
    Thousand dollars’ worth of goods. After long tedious thought, she decided her next closest friend was Genovefa, or Gen, for short. As soon as the kids left for school and Alex went for work, Amelia went to the library to use the computer. She researched Disneyland. Gen lived in California now, although she still hadn’t been to Disneyland, though it was her one dream to go.
    Amelia was about to order tickets and gift cards for Gen and her husband, but then she remembered she would need a credit card to order online. Unfortunately, Amelia didn’t have one. She sighed as she realized she would have to go back to the mall. She thought it a shame, if she had only thought of it the day before, she wouldn’t need to make so many trips. She closed out of her tabs and logged out of the computer. She was about to get on the bus to go back to the mall.
    Once there, she went straight to the Disney store and picked up two four-day park hopper tickets. She could barely imagine the joy on Gen’s face when she would see this gift. She also grabbed two gift cards, filling them with five hundred dollars each. That was one $1150 down, at this point she needed some more items to buy the couple, but mostly Gen. Then she remembered Gen’s guilty pleasure: shoes. Amelia knew just where she could get the nicest shoes for her friend.
    In the corner of the mall, there was an extremely nice, extremely fancy store called My Theresa. She had gone there with Gen once, she nearly died with desire. Now was the time to satisfy her friend’s wishes. Amelia almost felt like a genie at this point, granting her friends wishes as she was. She loved it.
    Walking in, a man said, “Welcome to My Theresa’s. How can I help you today, Ma’am?” She paused for a moment. The man seemed awfully familiar. She got a good look at him, he was a Negro and his smile was pure charm. She thought about it for a second, then she realized it, he was the man from Sears. She thought it odd that he was working two different jobs in the same mall; however that was his business, so she said nothing of it.
    “No, thank you” she told him politely, “Just looking for now”. She made her way to the shoe section. She noticed that there were three pairs of Gen’s favorite designer brand which was Tabitha Simmons. She could only imagine the way her eyes would light up at the sight of the shoes. She purchased two pairs of them and had the employee ship them to Gen, again, her identity anonymous. The man made no comment; he took the money, and examined it. Afterwards he told her to have a nice day and Amelia left.
    When she got home she began to think of her last recipient. This had been the hardest to choose. Amelia never had very many friends, so she had to think of someone who hadn’t betrayed her, or someone whom she could still trust. She also wanted to make it someone very special to not only her, but her family as well. The question ate away at her. She had sent the Disneyland passes and gift cards and the shoes to Gen, Baily would be getting her television and purses soon, all she needed was one more amazing, important person and she would be able to get her family back on track.
    Amelia placed the last five thousand dollars in her hat box, she knew she needed to finish her task soon. She knew then how vital it was. Her youngest, Emma, had come home from school that day extremely sick. Amelia didn’t have much time; they couldn’t afford the treatment they needed. However if she could spend this last bit, they would. She needed to hurry, she really needed to hurry.
    A few evenings later, after dinner and before they were going to send the children off to bed, Amelia got a call. When she picked up the phone she was surprised to hear Gen’s voice, and in a serious tone she quickly interrogated, “How did you get the money?”
    Amelia went white, how did Gen know? For a moment Amelia didn’t know what to say, after she calmed herself she replied, “What do you mean?” as calmly as she could make out. She was nervous beyond belief. Her eyes flickered around the room; she needed some sort of explanation, or, better yet, a way to get Gen to believe she didn’t do anything.
    Gen sounded annoyed, “The tickets and shoes. Like hell you have this much money lying around!” Amelia could hear the edge to her voice.
    Amelia took a deep breath, “Gen, were you drinking? You aren’t known for that, has something happened?” Amelia sounded as earnestly concerned as she could. She felt like she was doing well so far, especially when she heard a sigh on the other line.
    “So it wasn’t you?”
    “Well obviously not.” Amelia said bluntly.
    “Okay” Gen murmured, “Sorry, I should have known. I will talk to you later, Amy. Goodnight”
    “Night, Gen”
    When Amelia hung up the phone, she took a deep breath of relief. She smiled weakly to herself. Not long after did her husband walk in. He too had a stern face glued to his face. It made her extremely nervous. The tension filled the air like pollution, choking her as she breathed it in. He sat down in the chair, “Amelia.” He stated curtly.
    “Yes” She muttered.
    Alex placed her hat box on his lap. He looked at her coldly as he pulled out a wad of five thousand dollars. He glared at her, waiting for her to explain herself. However she continued her vigil. He shook the cash angrily in the air, “What is this?” he growled. He stood up, her box tumbling to the ground. When he was about a meter away from her, he slapped her cheek. For a moment, Amelia was speechless, she held her burning cheek, she looked up at Alex sheepishly. Suddenly, he slapped her again, “What will our children say?” his voice was heavy with hurt.
    Amelia swallowed loudly, “I can explain, but not right now.” She felt tears stinging the back of her eyes, “Please, you have to trust me” Amelia begged helplessly. Her glassy eyes pleaded with him, although he looked past the pain.
    He breathed loudly, pushing her off her chair, throwing the large wad of cash at her, “I don’t want you talking to me or the children until you are ready to explain.” Alex stomped out, slamming the door behind him. She knew what he was getting at. She got back on to her chair, she pressed her lips together. Amelia felt the tears exit her emerald eyes, flowing down her cheeks like a dying waterfall, the fiery passion inspired by her red hair dead. That night, she cried herself to sleep, and nightmares returned, although they weren’t about her children starving.
    . . .
    When she woke up, she saw the time was ten in the morning. She sighed, wondering what Alex had told the children about her whereabouts. When she stood up, she realized how unbearably sore she was. She stretched before exiting the room, her mind weary and hurt. Her feet dragged along the wooden ground. She walked past her childrens rooms. From one of them she heard a raspy voice, “Mama?” it wondered.
    Amelia’s spirits lifted immediately, Emma! She practically ran into her daughters room, “Oh, Emma!” She cried and ran up to her daughter. Though she remembered her daughter was sick and stayed at the edge of her bed, “How are you feeling, baby girl?” She asked.
    “Daddy said that you don’t want me to get better”
    Amelia’s mouth dropped, no words could explain her disbelief, “Oh, oh God, no. No, that is a lie, I am sorry, baby, but Daddy lied. I love you and I am doing everything I can to make sure you get better” Her thoughts flashed back to the night before and the interaction she had with her husband. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the memory, and “I have to go. I promise I love you Emma. And you will get better.” She gently squeezed her daughter’s hand. Right after she exited her precious daughter’s room.
    She knew who the last recipient would be. She didn’t know how she didn’t see. It could only be one person, someone sweet and caring and would do anything for Amelia and her family, no one other than Tricia Green, Emma’s godmother.
    Amelia hadn’t talked to Tricia in a while, since she had moved out of the country and could only receive mail. Since the family stopped being able to afford so many stamps, they didn’t really talk to her for a while. However, now she could. Tricia would be easy to shop for, she loved certain things and hated others. It was a benefit that she made it extremely apparent which was which.
    The first thing I got her was an original collector’s edition of East of Eden. Then I went to the book store and got her twelve new bestsellers that Amelia doubted they had where she was. Things were looking pretty good for her thus far, although she still had a lot of money to spend on the godmother.
    Then she thought that she could give her a cruise. Amelia knew how appealing that would be to Tricia, she absolutely loved to travel. Not to mention a European cruise was in her budget. She knew this would be a once in a lifetime chance for her. Amelia also decided to purchase her flight ticket as well. For the site she used, she found out how to get a sort of “gift card” so Tricia could use the ticket when she liked. More than anything, Amelia wanted Tricia to be happy with what she would be receiving. Amelia bought the stamps- something she hadn’t done in a long time- and sent the gift to her good friend.
    She didn’t have much more to go, she was so close it was almost painful. This would be so much easier if she could just send Tricia the money, Amelia knew that, but she also understood how much more amazing it is to get an actual gift. It means so much more when you get an actual object. It means someone actually put thought into the gift they are giving. It is so much more powerful to get that. Amelia understood that.
    Amelia knew what the final gift would be. Tricia owned a ranch nearby, where she kept her horses. She was due back in the country in three months, so this would be the biggest surprise yet. She went to the computer at the library and searched ‘horse’ on craigslist. It was as if God was looking down on her at that moment, because a horse, within budget, in the area, was on sale. The owner would also deliver the animal to the farm! She immediately contacted the seller. She was so glad that she was almost done. The owner even said that they would deliver today. She smiled gratefully. One more hour, the thought sang through her mind.
    She headed towards Tricia’s farm. For the time being, she had a friend come by and watch the horses from eight to one every day. Well, it was three by then, Amelia’s eyes glittering. She knew buying a horse when she knew nothing about horses wasn’t the wisest idea, but she knew that Tricia would thank her. At precisely three thirty, and large truck pulled up to the driveways. She recognized the trailer to contain a horse. She also recognized the owner. It was the same colored man from the mall. She was honestly a bit freaked out. He didn’t, however, seem to recognize her so she talked to the owner for a few minutes before exchanging goods. Money for the horse.
    Once she carefully placed the mare in her stall, Amelia left, not before leaving a note of course. Just outside the ranch, the man appeared. She looked at his coloring, his smile, just him. She froze, everything made sense, “You’ve been following me since we met. Who are you, really?” she pursued.
    Joc smiled, “The man who is about to turn your life around.”
    . . .
    Amelia darted awake, a man stood beside her bed, “Can I get you breakfast?” he asked politely.
    Amelia observed her surroundings, she was in a nice princess like bed, and she felt a bit older too. She was in what seemed to be a mansion, she looked at the man who was dressed like a house servant, or a butler, “How did I get here?” she inquired.
    The man gave her a queer look, “Well, you were extremely poor, and one day you miraculously acquired one million dollars, which you used to emancipate you and your children from you husband. Then you invested some of the money in a home for the domestically abused, a women’s home. Since then you have gotten a degree in marriage therapy. You currently are the most well-known therapist in America.” He informed, he said it in a very formal fashion.
    Amelia smiled, he had been right. The colored man had changed her life around. She looked at her butler, “Yes, breakfast would be nice.” He left the room promptly. She heard a knock on the door, and three teenagers in the background fighting over who would get to drive to school and when they would greet their mother. Her head perked up when she heard the knock, “Come in.” she said firmly, with authority. A man walked in, he had a charming smiled, he wore black pants and a black shirt. He was a colored man, a good, a very good friend, “Hello Joc.”