Sammy's Atonement

Six-year-old Sammy’s eyes brightened with delight as he walked into the Post Office lobby, all decorated for the holidays, with his mother Lily. Seeing the reindeer standing in the corner, he shouted out excitedly, “Look, Mama! Can we get one of those for our yard?”

Lily shushed him and then patiently explained, “No, Sammy. Those are just for display. They’re not for sale.”

"Mama, look at that lady. She's FAT!"

"Sammy, that's rude. Mind your manners!"

“When are we going to the toy store? You said...”

She cut him off as she responded, “Not today, Son. We’ve got to get these Christmas packages in the mail to Uncle Fred and his family, and then I need to stop at the grocery store to get some things for dinner tonight.”

With a pout on his freckled face, he wandered off to peruse the various displays in the lobby while his mother waited in line to mail the packages. Lily monitored him closely, using his flaming red hair as an easy marker in the crowded post office.

On the way to the grocery store after mailing the packages, Lily stopped for gas. Sammy tagged along as she went into the convenience store to pay for the gas. He grabbed a GI Joe action figure from the novelty rack near the entrance and shouted, “Mama, I want this.”

Taking it from him and placing it back on the rack she said, “No, Sammy. I don’t have enough money for that right now.”

Pouting again, he said, “Well, can I least get a drink?”

“Okay, but hurry. We’re already running late.”

As he returned with his drink, Sammy pointed to a man standing in line and said, "Look, Mama. That man has a peg leg."

Lily crouched in front of him and held his shoulders while looking him sternly in the eye as she said, "You know better than to embarrass people in public, young man. Now behave, or we won't be going to the toy store at all."

At the grocery store, Lily quickly filled a hand basket and went to the checkout line, musing about how the red strawberries, green kale, and white milk gave the basket an appropriate holiday aspect. Sammy grabbed some candy from the display next to the checkout counter and put it in the basket. Lily tightened her face in a scowl as she put the candy back and said, “No, Son. That’ll spoil your supper.”

As Lily was paying for her groceries, Sammy tugged at her arm insistently. Losing her patience, Lily spoke sharply in a higher pitch, “What now, Sammy?” He was pointing across the store. She said, “What? I don’t see anything.”

He motioned for her to come closer, and she bent over so he could whisper in her ear, "Mama, that's the man from the picture in the post office."

Lily retrieved her bag of groceries and went to the customer service counter, where she spoke briefly to a young man with black hair streaked purple and an amethyst stud in his left nostril. He picked up the phone and made a call.

In minutes, police cars swarmed around the entrance to the store. The police officers quickly apprehended a man ordering a take-out dinner at the deli counter, whom Sammy had recognized from the FBI’s MOST WANTED poster at the post office.

Sammy had to wait no longer for his trip to the toy store. Lily took him directly from the grocery store and let him pick out whatever he wanted.

*************

588 words
Beginning: Sammy enters post office with his mother.
Setting: Running errands about town.
Plot: Sammy redeems himself after misbehaving.
Ending: Sammy gets his trip to the toy store.