She Cut Her Hair For Love
She sold her most treasured possession to buy him the perfect gift. He had the exact same idea. But neither knew what the other had sacrificed until it was too late.
The Gift of the Magi. That was all she had.
$1.87. And 60 cents of it was in pennies.
Pennies saved one and two at a time from grocers and butchers.
Della counted it three times. Still only $1.87.
Tomorrow would be Christmas Day.
She had been saving for months for Jim's present.
I need something worthy of him. Something fine and rare.
There was nothing to do but flop down on the shabby couch.
Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles.
With sniffles predominating.
Their flat cost $8 a week. That nearly said it all.
The building was shabby. The electric bell didn't work.
Mr. James Dillingham Young had been paid $30 a week once.
Now his income was down to $20.
They called him Jim. She called him Jim and greatly hugged him.
Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks.
She stood by the window. A gray cat walked along a gray fence.
Gray clouds hung over the gray backyard.
$20 a week doesn't go far. Expenses are always greater.
She had been planning for months for something nice for him.
Something fine and rare and sterling.
Something worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.
There were two possessions the Youngs took mighty pride in.
One was Jim's gold watch. His father's watch. His grandfather's.
The other was Della's hair.
It reached below her knee. It was like a cascade of brown water.
Had the Queen of Sheba lived across the street, she would weep.
But now Della stood before the mirror, her hair shining.
And she made a decision.