Grubby hands grabbed at the fluffy bison that were a mere shelf out of the girls reach causing her to pout and plop onto the floor under the sales shelf. Crossing her arms, she impatiently waited for her father to notice her displeasure over the height injustices of the world. She felt like it had been hours by the time he finally left the counter, and as he walked over to her she opened her arms in a plea for him to pick her up and make it all better.
Happily obliging his daughter, her father picked up the four-year-old and spun her around causing the child to giggle until he settled her on his hip. Glancing at the bag perched on his wrist, the girl pointed at it as if asking for him to explain.
"What's in there Daddy?" Her sweet voice made the man smile and he reached into the bag pulling out a glossy piece of paper.
"This is something that will always help us remember where we have been, and let us share the beauty we have seen," his tender explanation caused another question to come to the child's mind.
"But Daddy, who do we share them with?"
"Well my little gem, we share them with whomever we feel needs them the most."
"Can I hold it, Daddy?"
He nodded and slipped the paper into his daughter's hands, chuckling as she admired it.
"Can we get more of these?" Looking up at him expectantly, all thoughts of a fluffy bison had vanished; now she just wanted him to say yes.
"Of course gem, we can start a collection."
Tears dripped down her face as she sat at his grave holding a photo album filled to the brim with their collection. Reaching out to run her fingers over the cold stone engraving, she struggled to hold back the violent sobs longing to make an appearance.
In loving memory of Christopher Mayes
Beloved husband and father
March 15, 1972
November 1, 2016
Drawing her hand back from the headstone, she opened the photo album and ran her hand over the shining pages, circling back to the very first postcard she collected.
"Give them to whoever needs them the most."
YOU ARE READING
For Whoever Needs Them
Short StorySo what will happen when you run out of postcards? I guess that's up to you. *** Just a story about a girl who collects postcards and the stranger she decides to send them to.
