It was a lovely December day: chestnuts roasted on an open fire, Jack Frost nipped on your nose. Yuletide carols were sung by a fire. Folks were dressed like Eskimos.

            And Jimmy shoveled snow. He was a young lad, bundled from head to toe in winter clothing, determination in his face. His little arms shook as he picked up shovelful after shovelful of snow and tossed it out of Old Man Wilson and Grandma Suzan’s driveway. Jimmy’s nose and fingers felt about ready to fall right off when he heard the door open and a voice-

            “Hurry up out there!” shouted Old Man Wilson, poking his wrinkled, coffee smelling face out of the crack in the door. Jimmy flinched a bit when Wilson slammed the door, but he kept on shoveling until that driveway was as luxurious as the red-carpet. Once he finished up, he leaned the shovel back up against the house and walked inside. Jimmy had always noticed that Mr. Wilson and Grandma Suzan decorated for Christmas very beautifully, but they put never up any lights.

            “Mr. Wilson, why don’t you guys put up lights for Christmas?” Jimmy asked, head tilted as Old Man Wilson pulled a five dollar-bill out of his wallet to hand to Jimmy.

            Wilson shooed Jimmy out of the house, grumbling something about the “energy bill” and the “stupid economy” as he did so. As the door slammed behind Jimmy’s back, he waved good-bye to Grandma Suzan through the window, who replied by closing the shutters.

            Jimmy whistled and walked his way back home, counting in his head all the money he had earned from the old couple. He had been shoveling dutifully the whole month, and for a good reason.

            Lisa. Lisa had a shining smile, and she always sent it Jimmy’s way during school, and as they got off the bus. Jimmy would get butterflies in his belly every time she’d send this smile his way, but what he really wanted was for her to talk to him. One day during a rousing session of flashcards, Jimmy had thought of just the thing to get her to talk to him: he’d buy her a necklace for Christmas.

Jimmy bundled himself up that night, and walked down to the jewelry store. It’s there that he saw it, a gold chain running down to a heart shaped pendant, shining like Lisa’s smile. It cost $20. Next to it was a silver one, it was $10. Jimmy disregarded it; he wanted the best for her. He irreversibly set his mind on getting that gold necklace for the girl with the shining smile.

            Jimmy begged his parents to find him a job, to which they not only raised an eyebrow, but checked his temperature. Once they determined that he wasn’t ill, they decided to head down the street and take it up with Old Man Wilson, who’d been angrily shaking his fist and shouting at the snow for the last couple of winters now. After an exchange of grumbling and words, a deal was arranged. Jimmy would shovel the old couple’s driveway once a week for five dollars each time.

            After warming up his frigid fingers and nose, Jimmy ran upstairs. He put the five dollar bill in his jar with the two others and smiled to himself. He snuggled his tired body under the covers and slept the December night away.

            A week came and went, smiles were exchanged, and the snow fell hard. Jimmy couldn’t wait to go shoveling, he thought all about it during school. Doing math problems, all he could think about was how he was going to shovel that snow even faster than he got out of bed on Christmas morning. All through Language Arts, he thought about getting paid by Old Man Wilson. Examining the glimmering rocks through Science reminded him of the beautiful necklace. On the bus ride home, he thought about Lisa’s smile.

            Shoveling day finally arrived, and with a fiery determination Jimmy attacked Mr. Wilson’s driveway, clearing it up so quick neither Wilson nor Grandma Suzan had time to think of something harsh to yell at him while he did it. He walked inside, shaking more from excitement than cold, and gladly accepted the five dollars from Mr. Wilson, who peeled Jimmy off of his leg and shooed him out the door.

            Jimmy ran down the street, and was soon standing in front of the necklace display. There it was: the perfect necklace, golden and shining. One thing was different, however. The price tag now had a sticker over it, a sticker saying $25. Jimmy’s heart sank; he couldn’t wait another week to shovel again. Christmas was in only a couple of days.

“Stupid economy…” Jimmy said as he scuffed the ground. Begrudgingly, he looked next to the perfect necklace, and saw the silver one hanging there, in all its lesser glory. Its price had been marked up too, $20. With a heavy heart, Jimmy grabbed it and worked his way to the cash register.

Christmas day found Jimmy bundled up and walking down the street. This time he went past Old Man Wilson and Grandma Suzan, to Lisa’s house. His stomach was in knots, his tongue wasn’t much better. He knocked on the door, and Lisa opened the door, showing her shining smile. “It’s even better up close. Jimmy thought. I bet the gold would match it better though.” Without a word, he pulled the necklace- the second best necklace- out of the bag and put it over her head. A look of absolute delight crossed her face, but before she could say a word, Jimmy’s mouth was running at a 100 miles per hour.

            “I was going to get you a gold one, it was a lot more pretty, but the store raised the price and-”

            Lisa smiled her shining smile, which shut him right up, and for the first time, spoke to him:

            “It’s okay Jimmy. You’re so sweet... buying me something. I think it’s beautiful.”

            “The other one was even nicer…” Jimmy said, looking down shyly.

            “Do you remember what our teacher always tells us?” Lisa replied with a smile playing on her lips.

            “I was probably too busy paying attention to your smile.” Jimmy said, the same smile emerging.

            Lisa chuckled, and said:

            “She always tells us that kindness is golden.”