Price of A Miracle

Tess, an eight-year-old girl, heard her mom and dad talking about her little brother, Andy. All she could understand was that her brother was very sick and her parents were completely out of money.

Her parents were talking about how costly surgery was and it was looking like there was no one to loan them money.

Just then she heard, Dad say to her tearful mother with whispered desperation, “Only a miracle can save him now.”

Listening to this Tess went to her bedroom and took out her piggy bank from its hiding place in the closet. She broke it and collected all that money. She carefully counted it.

She took a small purse, placed coins in it slipped out of the back door, and made her way six blocks to the Drug store.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was too busy at this moment.

She made some noise with her feet to grab attention but nothing. Then she cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster but still no good.

Finally, she took a quarter from her pocket and banged it on a glass counter and that did it. She got the pharmacist’s attention.

The pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice, “And what do you want?”

Without waiting for a reply to his question, he said, “I am busy. I am talking to my brother whom I haven’t seen in ages.”

Tess answered back, “Well, I want to talk to you about my brother. He is really really sick… and I want to buy a miracle.”

“I beg your pardon?”, said the pharmacist.

Tess said, “His name is Andy and he has something bad growing inside his head and my dad says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?”

“We don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I am sorry but I can’t help you.”, said the pharmacist softening a little.

Tess replied, “I have money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs.”

The pharmacist’s brother who was standing there, seeing all this, stooped down and asked the little girl, “What kind of miracle does your brother need?”

“I don’t know.”, Tess replied with tears in her eyes, “I don’t know. I just know that he is really sick and my mommy says that he needs an operation but my dad can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money.”

“How much do you have?”, he asked.

Tess answered, “One dollar and eleven cents… It’s all I have but I can get some more if I need to.”

He smiled and said, “Well, what a coincidence. A dollar and eleven cents is the exact price of a miracle for little brother.”

Then he took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said, “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”

That man, pharmacist brother was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neurosurgery.

The little girl’s brother’s operation was completed without any charge and it wasn’t long until Andy was home again and doing well. Tess mom and dad were happily talking about the chain of events that took place.

Her mom whispered, “That surgery, I wonder how much it would have cost. That surgery was a real miracle.”

Tess smiled, she knew exactly how much a miracle cost… one dollar and eleven cents… plus the faith of a little child.