Charlotte was off to a typical day of shopping at the mall on winter break in San Diego.  72 degrees, not a cloud in the sky.  She could see the ocean sparkling off in the distance, as though it was happy too.   There was no traffic as she drove there.  In the parking lot, Charlotte felt the sun on her face, and the air was clear.  She skipped and twirled on her way from her car to the mall entrance.  She thought it was the perfect day, but in reality, it was the devil dressed as an angel.  As she entered, she took a sharp left turn to Osh Posh B’Gosh, high heels clicking at every step.  She browsed, selected, browsed, and selected.  She happily greeted the salesman.  Charlotte shopped here so often, that most of the store clerks were her friends.  She pranced down to Louis Vuitton to get a purse.  She felt the smooth texture, smelled the leather, and judged how much people would adore her new purse.  She then weighed those characteristics against the price.  Then she bought it anyway.  This process went on for a little over an hour.  Then Charlotte finally drew a breath to check the time.  Charlotte glanced at her custom timepiece.  Her eyes popped as she realized how long she had been there.  She said a hurried goodbye to the store clerk, and rushed back to the car.  She tripped from one of her high heels snapping and spilled her stuff in the parking lot.  The pain stung her knees and brought tears to her eyes.   She stumbled to her feet and gathered her stuff. A little disheartened now, she threw everything in the trunk of her $70,000 car.  She cruised down the road in her convertible with the top down.  She took comfort by feeling the wind on her face, thrilling her.  She was driving home when decided to stop at the  bank to check her balance.  She parked terribly and climbed out.  She entered the bank, hoping she hadn’t spent too much.  She asked an attendant to check her balance.  Charlotte waited there completely unworried.  But it still felt like hours until he got back.  To Charlotte’s great surprise, he came back with an “I’m sorry” look on his face. 
“You only have twenty dollars left,” the attendant said.  After hearing those words, her world fell apart.  Her eyes burned with tears, and her heart stopped beating.  Charlotte walked numbly back to her car, and climbed in.  It took her a long time to finally start the car and get going.  Charlotte crawled along the road, trying to delay the moment when she told her family for as long as possible.  Charlotte finally pulled up in her driveway.  She made every move slow and deliberate as she got out of her car.  Charlotte entered the house by first peeking around the door.  She tiptoed down the hall.  Her kids- Max(9) and Linda(7)- were still sleeping.  The lights were off and the curtains were closed.  Charlotte found her husband Jerry sitting at his desk in the dark, with his only light being his laptop.
“Hi,” Charlotte said in a hushed tone.
“Hi!” Jerry said.  “Your back kind of late.”
“Sorry,” Charlotte whispered, turning her face so he couldn’t see how red it was. 
“I stopped at the bank to check up.”  Charlotte started fidgeting, and Jerry noticed.
“And?” Jerry prodded, looking down at her hands.  Charlotte put her head down before answering.
“Only twenty dollars left,” Charlotte said, forcing every word out.  Jerry froze.  Charlotte was saved for the moment as Linda had woken up and slowly but loudly trudged into the living room.
“I’m hungry,” Linda yawned obnoxiously.
“Can you go back to sleep for a little bit?” Jerry said coldly, his eyes still locked on Charlotte.  Linda looked at their tense bodies and got the hint that she wasn’t wanted.
“Fine,” Linda yawned again. “But at least remember that Christmas is in five days.  You better get me something too.  Santa never misses a Christmas and neither should you.”  Linda turned around and left.  As soon as Jerry judged that Linda was out of earshot, he turned fully back to Charlotte.
“When was the last time you checked your bank account?” Jerry whispered fiercely.

“Just a couple of months ago,” Charlotte replied nervously.  She couldn’t see his face in the dark, but she was guessing that he was angry, but not explosive.
“How are the kids going to have Christmas now?  That was where the money was going to come from!”  Jerry exclaimed.  Maybe she was wrong.
“I’ll go to work now,” Charlotte interrupted, eager to get out of there. She hurried to her feet, knocking over things in the dark as she went.  On her way out, she ran into Max, who had also woken up from the banging and crashing.
“Christmas is coming soon!” Max hollered.
“Shhh!” Charlotte hushed, feeling more guilty than ever.  She stepped into the noon sun, not seeming nearly as bright anymore.  She looked backed at Max and turned around, shutting the door behind her.  Charlotte worked long and hard.  She came home at 7:00pm, hoping the kids would be asleep.  When Charlotte got home, her family was sitting on the sofa, waiting for her.  They looked up at her when she entered.
“Uh oh,” Charlotte thought.  “Are they mad at me for something?”  She thought all of this while approaching them.
“Is Christmas really not coming?” Linda yelled.  The room went silent.  The look on Charlotte’s face said it all to Linda.  She stormed off to her room.  Charlotte looked hopefully to Max.  He hadn’t said anything.  Then she saw him shaking his head and scowling.  Her hopes sank.  He too stalked off to his room.
“You told them?” Charlotte yelled angrily when Max was gone.  She dropped her purse on the floor.
“What did you think I was going to do!” Jerry yelled back.
“I just thought that it would be better if I told them myself,” Charlotte said, using a calmer tone to try and reason with him.
“I’m sorry,” Jerry said apologetically.  He slid over on the sofa and patted the spot next to him.
“Well,” Charlotte said, ignoring the olive branch, “they know now and  they’re angry.  If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the bank.”
“Why are you going back there again?” Jerry asked.  Charlotte turned around to see the surprise on his face.  She could understand his shock.
  “I’m going to go take a loan,” Charlotte declared, daring Jerry to challenge her.  But Jerry sat there and said nothing.  All the way from the living room, Jerry could hear Charlotte slam the car door shut.  Charlotte pulled up to the bank and walked briskly through the doors.  It took Charlotte an hour to get the loan and leave.  But Charlotte didn’t go home.  She went to Target, Walgreens, and the mall.  But this time it wasn’t for herself.  Charlotte returned home, loaded with gifts.  She took them to her room and skillfully wrapped them up.  Charlotte set them up under the Christmas tree.  Just then Max and Linda walked in on her.
“Hi guys!” Charlotte said excitedly.  “I got you guys your presents!”  Max and Linda looked at each other and nodded.  Charlotte was getting a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.  They walked over to their presents and picked them up.  Charlotte’s smile faded.  “Well Christmas isn’t for another four days, but go ahead,” Charlotte said uncertainly.
“We don’t want them,” Max said, handing back his present.
“Yeah,” Linda said, also handing back her present.  “You need it more than we do.”  Charlotte smiled, finally realizing what was happening.   She tried to stop the tears from showing, but with no luck.
“I love you both so much!” Charlotte cried, stooping down to hug them.  She enveloped them in a bear hug and lifted them off the ground.  Charlotte returned the gifts to pay back her loan.  Charlotte still had to work long hours, but at least the family could rebuild stronger than they were before.  From that day on, Charlotte didn’t shop for only herself ever again.