It was a beautiful June afternoon.  The blue skies were clear, and a rare, cool breeze was blowing through the trees. It was the last day of school, and Staci was walking home with her ten year old brother Thor.

“I can’t believe I got a C in Algebra!” Staci exclaimed in annoyance. “I thought that I understood it better than last year!”

Thor yawned. “You got A’s in everything else. I don’t see why you care so much.”

“I was hoping to get a Straight A report card this year, though.”

“That, my sister, is impossible.” Thor replied. He then began singing an annoying song about tacos.

“At least I got a good grade in music!”  Staci said. “I won an award, remember?”

“Yep,“  Thor answered. “You’ve only mentioned it like fifty times.”

Staci smiled to herself. Best Guitarist in school; that was what her music teacher had said. It felt good. Her thoughts were interrupted by Thor.

“Hey, Staci, I’m hungry!”

“Thor, you’re ALWAYS hungry!

Soon, they approached a cluster of apartment buildings. They went to the first building and Staci unlocked the third door. Once inside their apartment, Staci dropped her backpack on the table and grabbed her purse and two small paper bags.

“Thor, I’m gonna do the shopping , now. You know the rules. Don’t answer the door, and you can watch one movie. I’ll be back before dinner.” She called.

“Okay, bye!”

Staci headed back out, and climbed the rickety wooden steps on the side of the building, and walked across the badly painted balcony. She rang a doorbell, and the door was answered by an elderly widow with frizzy white hair.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Devins!” Staci greeted.

The Mrs. Devins’ s face transformed into a wrinkled smile, “Hello, sweetheart!” she answered in a quavery Georgian accent. She gave Staci a shopping list, and a ten dollar bill. “Now, this money should cover the cost of everything on the list.” She told Staci. Staci said goodbye, then made her way back down the stairs.

Back from her trip to the grocery store, Staci climbed the creaky steps with a bagful of groceries in each arm. Mrs. Devins opened the door for her, and Staci put the groceries and the change on the table.

Mrs. Devins hobbled over to Staci, her wallet in her hand. “Now, I need to pay you three dollars, don’t I?” Staci nodded, hoping she didn’t look too eager. The elderly lady placed the money in Staci’s hands. “Thank you for getting my groceries for me, Staci, it’s a real blessing to an old lady like me.” Mrs. Devins patted Staci’s hand sincerely as she said it.

“You’re welcome.” Staci smiled and walked out the door.  At the bottom of the steps, she counted her money to make sure she hadn’t been overpaid. One, two, three wrinkled dollar bills. She’d been paid right. Staci unlocked the door to her apartment and went in. “Hey Thor!”   Thor was sitting in front of their tiny TV watching Big Hero 6.

In her bedroom, Staci grabbed a slightly bulging sock, and a rolled up music catalog out of her top dresser drawer. She sat down on her bed and unrolled the magazine. A bright red electric guitar on the cover stared her in the face. Staci emptied the sock, and added her day’s wages to the small pile of cash that was now on her bed. “Okay, then,” she murmured to herself, “If I had thirty-nine bucks before today, and I just earned three more, that means I now have… forty-two dollars to my name.”  Staci looked at the price of the guitar: $200. She sighed and stuffed the money back into her sock. “Someday,” she whispered as she carefully put the catalog and money back in her drawer. “Someday.”

Thor came in a few minutes later. “Staci, the movie’s over. Can you play Uno with me?”

“I don’t know, CAN I?” Staci inquired, jokingly.

“Please?”

Staci yawned. “Okay.” They played the game for a while on the bedroom floor. A little later, they heard the front door squeak open.

“KATY!’ Thor yelled. He threw down his cards, and ran into the living room to hug his big sister.

Staci followed. Katy looked tired. There were bags under her eyes. She smiled exhaustedly when Staci came in. “Hey, you two! I brought you something.”

“Ooh, what is it?” Thor asked, excited.

 Katy dug through her purse. “Since it’s the last day of school, I thought I’d splurge and get you both a little treat.” She handed them each a fun-size Twix bar.

“CANDY!” Thor shouted, hugging Katy again, “THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!” Staci and Katy both laughed as he then ran off to the bedroom to eat it.

Staci lay in bed that night savoring the sweet, creamy taste of chocolate and caramel. She remembered when sweets were just an everyday thing instead of a coveted luxury. Her mom had always tucked a fresh brownie or cookie in each lunchbox before school. Staci still recalled the day her parents had left for the airport—she had waved until their car was out of sight, knowing she would miss them with all her heart. That proved to be truer than she could have ever imagined, because there was a plane crash the next day.

Staci blinked back a few tears as she stared at the small family picture she kept by her bed. Everyone was smiling, and looked like they were having a great time. She then glanced at her music award that now sat comfortably on her dresser, and thought about the money, snug and safe in her sock drawer. “When I become a rich and famous guitarist, I’ll make sure Katy never has to work again, and that Thor gets all the sugar he wants.” Staci promised herself. Feeling a bit better, she rolled over and went to sleep.

“Fifty-one dollars.” Staci counted for the fifth time, three weeks later. She glanced from the guitar price, back to her pile of money, and huffed in frustration. “At this rate, it will take at least another whole YEAR before I can even buy the guitar, and then I’ll need to save up for an amplifier, just so I can play the stupid thing!”

“Maybe you should just aim for one of those eighty—dollar ukuleles.” Katy suggested.

“You really think so?” Staci sniffled.

“Sure, either that or find a higher paying job. My babysitting job pays well enough.”

Staci winced, “I’m NOT going to babysit,” she told her sister. “I’d go insane!”

The next day, Staci went from apartment door to apartment door, asking people if they needed to have their groceries delivered to them on a weekly basis. “What a crummy neighborhood!” She grumbled as the sixth door in the last ten minutes slammed in her face. In fact, out of the fifty-five apartments that Staci called on, she only got one new employer. A kindly old man named Mr. Joelson agreed to pay Staci five dollars a week for grocery pickup. “Now it will only be four months or so until I’ve saved enough!” She thought gleefully.

“I’m halfway there!” Staci sang as she stuffed her hard-earned one hundred dollars back into here now stretched-out sock. It was the end of July. She leaned against the dresser, arms folded, and exhaled contentedly. “Nuthin wrong with this, Thor, nuthin wrong with this!”

“Uh-huh.” Thor answered from behind his Spider-Man comic. Outside the window, Staci saw Katy’s car pull in the driveway, and walked into the living room.

“Hey, Kat, what up?” she asked as her sister came through the door.

“Don’t talk to me right now!” Katy snapped. She pushed past Staci and headed for the bedroom. Thor hurried out a few seconds later, his comic book under his arm. The bedroom door slammed, and the two siblings looked at each other in surprise. Staci thought she heard muffled sobs, but decided not to mention it. Katy’s eyes were red and puffy when she came out, twenty minutes later.

“Are you okay, Katy?’ Staci asked in concern.

Katy motioned for her and Thor to sit on their hard, moth-eaten couch. “First off,” she began, “Staci, I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier. Secondly, we’re going to be a little extra tight on money for a while-“

“EXTRA tight?” Staci interrupted , “We’re already stretched as it is, Katy, what happened?” She was pretty sure she knew the answer.

Fresh tears began to form in Katy’s brown eyes as she answered, “I got laid off my job today.”

Despite Katy’s unexpected bad luck, things stayed relatively normal over the next few weeks. Katy was looking for a new job twenty-four seven, but that was about the only new thing. Staci continued to deliver groceries to her clients, and Thor played to his heart’s content. The saying goes that bad things come in threes. The second bad thing happened three weeks after Katy was let go—only this time, it was Staci’s turn.

She had just received her weekly pay from Mrs. Devins. As she was walking out the door, Mrs. Devins called after her. ”Staci, Honey, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Staci turned around, “Yes, Mrs. Devins?”

The elderly woman cleared her throat, “Yesterday my son called to check and see how I’m doing.  I told him I was doing fine, just not getting any younger.” A faint smile crossed her lips, then faded as she continued. “He asked me if, since my granddaughter got married and moved out, I could come and live with him. I told him I would. I’ll be here for two more weeks, but after that, I’m afraid I won’t need my groceries picked up anymore.”

Staci was speechless for a minute, then managed to stammer, “Well, I’ll miss you very much.” And she would. Not only would she be losing a good friend, but her income would be cut in half as well. “That guitar just gets farther and farther away.” She muttered miserably as she lay in bed that night.

The old wooden stairway groaned as Staci ascended them for the last time, her arms laden with full paper bags. She hesitated before ringing the half-broken doorbell, because she knew that after that day, she would never do it again. Opening the squeaky door, she  went in and set the groceries on the table. “I’m back, Mrs. Devins, here’s the change.” Staci said.

Mrs. Devins gave Staci three green bills. “I really do appreciate all that you’ve done over the last year, Staci. It just warms my heart to see young folks willingly serving old people like me.”

Staci hugged her, tears welling up. “Goodbye, Mrs. Devins.”

Mrs. Devins patted Staci on the back, then said, “Now you run along, sweetheart, your brother probably misses you.” Staci nodded and left. At the bottom of the stairs, she counted the money like she always did. She had one dollar and two fives in her hand: eleven dollars. Staci’s eyes widened. That can’t be right! She must have overpaid me. She thought. She turned to go back up the stairs, but then hesitated, wondering if maybe it hadn’t been a mistake. Maybe Mrs. Devins gave me extra, as a token of thanks for all my hard work! A tiny voice inside her said that she could just take the home without saying anything, and she’d be that much closer to buying that shiny, red, electric guitar. No way, she argued, Mrs. Devins usually spends that much on GROCERIES. There’s no way that she did this on purpose! Taking them two at a time, Staci raced up the steps before she could change her mind. She knocked twice and waited impatiently for and answer.

“Mrs. Devins, you overpaid me by eight dollars!” She blurted out as the door creaked open once more.

“I thought those dollar bills looked funny!” Mrs. Devins remarked, examining the money. She then looked Staci in the eye and handed it back. “Keep, the extra bit, Staci, and God bless your honest heart.” She shut the door before Staci could protest. Speechless, Staci gazed at her extra pay, and breathed in the cool September air. Only three more months to go!

“Wahoo, only ten dollars left!!!”Staci did a happy dance in front of the living window. A jogger passing outside gave her a funny look and kept going down the street. It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

“Don’t forget, you’ll need to save up for an amplifier too.” Katy reminded. She was sitting at the kitchen, paying bills, her brow knitted in concern.

Staci waved her hand dismissively, “Don’t burst my bubble, Kat!” She stopped when she saw her sister’s troubled expression. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Katy admitted. “I don’t think we’ll be able to make this month’s rent.”

“Why not?”

Katy sighed, “I just haven’t been able to get enough money together. The odd jobs I’ve been doing just aren’t bringing in enough. We’re about $200 short, and rent is due tomorrow!” Staci felt a twinge of guilt as she thought about the one hundred-ninety dollars in her sock drawer.

“Um, I’ve almost got two hundred dollars—“

“No way, Stace,” Katy interrupted firmly. “You’ve worked so hard to earn that money! I can’t just ask you to give up your dream.” She got up and went into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Staci hugged a throw pillow. She almost wished she hadn’t said anything. Katy was right, this was her dream! She needed that guitar so that she—so her family could have a better life! But the more she thought about it, the sillier she realized she sounded. “Ugh, what’s the point? It’s not like I’d get famous overnight.” Staci stood up and went in the bedroom. Thor was curled upon Katy’s lap, crying softly. Staci took the full sock out of her dresser, and faced Katy.

“Katy, listen. There’s no point in having an electric guitar if I don’t even have a house to play it in!’

Katy huffed. “Staci, I already gave you my answer. No!”

Staci rolled her eyes.  “Look, if you don’t take this, I will go out back and BURN it.”

Katy stared at her little sister for a minute, hope flickering on her face. “You don’t really mean that.” She smiled.

Staci grinned in spite of herself, “No, but, come on, you get my point. I don’t care about the guitar anymore!”  She didn’t mean that either, but it didn’t matter.

Katy got up and hugged Staci tightly. “Thank you, thank you SO much, Staci!” Katy was crying now.

“Eh, well, I needed to save up for an amp anyway.” Staci replied, her eyes getting misty too.

“We’re staying, we’re staying, WE’RE STAYING!” Thor shouted joyfully. Later, Staci took her music magazine and threw it in the dumpster.

“Goodbye.” She whispered.

         .              .          .        .         .           .               .

“Merry Christmas, you two!” Staci hid under the covers when Katy flipped on the light. She heard Thor yell “PRESENTS!!!” and jumping off the top bunk. He then jumped on Staci.

“Wake up, Stace, it’s CHRISTMAS! Santa brought us presents!”

Staci sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, “Thor, Santa isn’t real.”

“I know!”

Staci walked into the living room, yawning and stretching her arms. Six festively wrapped packages were neatly piled under a tiny Charlie Brown tree. Staci opened a tiny one first. It was a guitar pick from Thor. Staci looked at Katy, confused. Katy smiled and handed her another gift that was a bit bigger than a shoe box. Staci ripped off the wrapping, and opened the box. Inside it was a ukulele.

“The music store gave me an employee discount.” Katy explained, “I know it’s not an electric guitar, but—“

Staci flung her arms around her sister. “It’s perfect!”

“Hey,” Thor exclaimed, “let me get some of that!” he put one arm around each of his sisters. Staci closed her eyes, soaking in the moment. Sure, Katy was right. It WASN’T an electric guitar. (That idea would have to wait for a few years.) And yeah, Thor was squeezing the air out of her. But, it was Christmas Day, and she was with her family. And in that moment, Staci knew deep down that that was the only thing that mattered.