His dad had given him five dollars to buy a Christmas present for his sister, but he thought, "Why spend all that on my stupid sister?" So he bought himself three dollars worth of candy and paid $1.98 for a coloring book and crayons for his sister. "She'll never know the difference," he said to himself.

As he exited the general store he almost bumped into the tall man dressed in burlap. "Yuck!" he exclaimed, and turned to walk away.

"How is your sister, Gerry?"

Gerry stopped in his tracks. "How do you know my name? I ain't never seen you before in my life!"

"Sometimes I just know," the man responded.

"You some kind of undercover cop or sumthin'?" recalling a character he had seen on TV.

"No," said the stranger, "But would you expect me to tell you if I was?" He paused as if waiting for Gerry to consider. "So, what about your sister? What about your family?"

"What family!" Gerry said with contempt. "I ain't got no family, except for . . ." he stopped and wondered about this man.

". . . except for your sister and your father."

Gerry stared at the man. "Your father likes to drink doesn't he son?" Gerry didn't know what to say. So he said, "What's it to you?" His father had been sick for almost a year and was getting worse. He drank a lot of whiskey. Most folks said he was just an old drunk. "But he wasn't an old drunk, he has a heart o' gold and . . ."

"Gerry, it's going to be up to you to care for your little sister from now on."

"What . . . do you mean?"

"Hurry home son," with a voice of urgent kindness Gerry had never heard before. "Your Dad needs you."

Panic gripped the boy's heart. "What's happening?" he thought to himself. "What does he know? But he does know!" His face frozen in fear, Gerry turned and ran as fast as he could.

The big dog whined softly.