Kali’s Gift
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just for Preteens
By Melanie Marks

The only gift is a portion of thyself.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Okay,” our Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Woodland, said. “It’s time for the gift exchange.” I was actually sort of excited. Not ecstatic or anything. But I knew what a lot of the girls had brought, and any of those gifts would have been really great. Especially my best friend Sara’s gift. She had made fudge and put it in this super cute bear mug. I love fudge and figured it would be fun to have the bear mug for drinking hot cocoa over Christmas.

And rich Megan Perkins had wrapped a bottle of expensive perfume. Her favorite kind, she said. Megan always smelled really good. I wouldn’t mind smelling like her for the holidays. (Keep reading)