Page 18 - CAS- Book 1 - Autumn, Winter

A so voice broke into her thoughts and she jolted, finally no cing that she
had reached the counter.

As she was about to hand over this precious bit of money, the thought of
her family, dressed in rags, flashed into her mind, filling her with sorrow and
guilt. “Nothing thanks” she replied has ly as she ran out of the store, her
eyes slowly star ng to tear up as she ran off into the bi er unforgiving bite
of the winter air.

She and her friends were about to have a Christmas party, like every other
year. However, it was different this year. Her friends decided to have this
birthday party at her house. She tried to tell them that it wasn’t possible,
but they would have none of it. As she was running away, her friends decid‐
ed to go check out the venue before the Christmas party. When they arrived
at the address that their friend had scribbled out on the piece of paper, they
found an old, run down house.

As they watched, a pale and thin woman walked out, carrying an infant in
one arm and a toddler on the other hip. The leader of the group of friends
turned and exchanged looks with the other. They were all wrapped warmly
in scarves, jackets and mi ens while the woman and her children only had a
thin layer of clothes. The woman quickly no ced that her daughter’s friends
were standing outside her house and kindly welcomed them in. She told
them about how she had given the li le girl her month’s earnings for the
Christmas cake and, almost too cheerfully, said that she expected her to get
a great cake for the party, as she hadn’t eaten cake in so long.

The friends realized that even though this mother knew that her family was
struggling to make ends meet, all she wanted was for her daughter to be as
happy.

However the woman knew her daughter would never buy it due to their
family’s financial situa on.

Somewhere far away, just a few streets down from the bakery, the li le girl
had taken shelter from the snowstorm in an alleyway, shivering and crying.
She found herself stuck between being angry at herself for not buying the
cake, then guilt for wan ng it in the first place.

xviii