Mary walked slowly along the shop windows, not for her daughter to keep up, but because she liked looking at all the beautiful things she could never have this was the only time she would ever smile. Her daughter looked up at her mother in awe. It is a shame no one else looked her in that way.
She began to pull her daughter down to the remaining windows when her eyes landed upon the most elegant pearls. Her daughter followed her gaze and tugged on Mary’s sleeve. Mary shook her head and pulled her daughter along.
All they thought about were those earrings, so magnificent and beautiful, although Mary knew she would ever have them, nor any luxuries at all. Her daughter had never understood this, how money was how you got beautiful things. She stayed on that thought until her mother finally fell asleep.
She sneaked past her mother’s quiet, still body and out the door. Along her way she noticed that a few of the shops had closed already. She picked up her speed and found her way to the shop that had the earrings. The little girl walked right in, she was too small to be noticed. Her eyes scanned the shop and when she saw the earrings she let out a little gasp. Quickly, but gently, she placed the earrings in her pocket. Then she slipped out of the shop and made her way home.
She waited until morning to give her mother her gift. When her mother awoke she rushed by her side. She stood there with her hands behind her back, holding on to the earrings.
“What do you have there?” her mother asked. She gingerly handed over the earrings. “How did you get these? What did you do?”  There was more fear in Mary’s voice than excitement. Her daughter looked up at her in horror and began to sob.
Mary kneeled down next to her and was quiet for a moment. “Did you take these?” Her daughter nodded. “You can’t steal things...” Mary admired the wonderful jewels in her hand. “I’ll wear them today and return them tomorrow.” She stood up and put the earrings in. Her face lit up. It was the same face her daughter had when she looked at her mother.
To go down to the market square, Mary had put on her finest attire to match the earrings. She was surprised to see that no one looked at her. The people were distracted by a commotion near one of the shops. Mary looked over the crowd and gasped. There were policemen surrounding a shop, the same shop that the earrings were from.
Mary quickly pulled her daughter away from the crowd, but was stopped by one of the policemen. “Sorry ma'am but you're going to have to stay here.” Behind them, the shop owner pushed through to reach Mary.
“You!” the shop owner exclaimed. “She is the one who stole the earrings. She's wearing them now!” Immediately the policeman seized her.
“But my daughter, you can't take her,” Mary shouted, hoping that would stop her arrest. The men didn't even look at her daughter. And they only touched her to pull her away from her mother. Mary fought against them but it was no use.
The policemen dragged her to the jail and locked her in a cell. “A shame a pretty lady like you would do such a thing,” one of the men said to her. That made Mary go silent. She just stared at him dumbfounded, forgetting about her daughter. She was like that for days. All she thought about was what he said, and this prevented her from sleeping and distracted her from eating.
All the while Mary’s daughter stood in the market square waiting for her mother to return. She waited hours and hours looking through the crowd, but did not see her mother.
How silly Mary’s daughter felt. She realized her mother must be at home waiting for her. Quickly she ran home.
Mary was not home. This made her daughter worried. Maybe she’ll come home tomorrow, she thought. So she crawled into bed, although it took her a while to fall asleep because her stomach was growling too loud.
Mary’s daughter spent days look for her mother without any luck. She did not know that her mother would never be coming home. As the days became colder her stomach became louder and emptier.
There was one day when Mary’s daughter went to bed and her stomach stopped growling. Her heart stopped beating too. And behind her closed eyes she saw a beautiful light and a beautiful woman with wings. At first she thought it was her mother, but it was not.
It was cold in the jail. Mary had become quite pale and weak. The policeman that brought her the food she never ate came to her cell with news. Was she finally going to be let out?
“Miss, I have to inform you that your daughter, Elizabeth, has died.’ he said.
The man disappeared down the hall as Mary began sobbing. But it hurt to cry because it shook her thin body and frail bones, so she stopped. She leaned her head against the hard wall. A sudden darkness swallowed her and her red eyes stopped blinking and her chest stopped moving.