by Pamela Wells
“I have one more gift for all of you, I hope I’m not making a big mistake here, but I thought real hard about this and, well, let me just show you.” Maggie announced nervously. She lifted the large cage up and brought it into the living room setting it down on the coffee table in the center of the room. Inside the cage was a single, white dove.
“I wanted to get you something as a family, something really special. I prayed about it for weeks. I asked God to give me an idea, to show me what the perfect gift would be. I didn’t want to get you some silly little dust collector to put on the shelf, or a book you would never read, or some gadget that you would never use. I really prayed hard about it. Then one day when I was walking through the mall I went past the pet shop and in the window I saw two white doves. I’ve seen birds in their window before but for some reason that day these doves stopped me dead in my tracks. There was something about them that seemed so special. The sign said they were albino doves.
They are perfectly white. I just felt so strongly at that moment that this was the gift that I was supposed to buy for you. I’m not sure why, but I trust there is a reason. I wanted to buy you two, a male and a female. They had two left in the store but there was a man there and he was buying the male bird. That bird’s name was Angel. Isn’t that pretty?
Anyway, so that meant they only had the one left, this one, which is a female and her name, is Beauty.”
“She’s beautiful” Lacey bent down looking at the bird with a smile on her face, clearly in love with the creature already. Jim and Josh were also drawn to the beautiful white bird and quite interested.
“I also got you supplies so you don’t need to go out and get anything. There’s lots of food, everything you need and a book that tells you all you need to know about taking care of doves. I know you don’t have any pets, so I’m not sure how you feel about this. I know I was taking a big risk in buying something like this. If you don’t want a bird, I understand. The lady at the pet store said I could bring it back after Christmas and that would be ok, so honestly, you won’t hurt my feelings if you want me to take it back.
I know it can be a lot of work to take care of a pet, but I thought that I could come over and help and birds aren’t too much work, you don’t have to walk them or anything.” Maggie realized she was babbling, but she was nervous about this gift, she had worried about it for several days. Ever since she had decided to purchase the dove she had worried how Jim would react when she brought it into the house. It’s not easy to buy a pet for someone else. It’s a huge risk and she didn’t want to strain their relationship in anyway. She truly felt God leading her to buy this bird for all of them. She was, however, a fairly new Christian so what did she know? Doubts began to fill her mind.
Maybe she was wrong, maybe they were just her own silly thoughts and not the Lord’s leading at all. Maybe she should have bought something else. Buying a bird! What was she thinking? Now they have to take care of a pet, like they didn’t have enough on their minds already.
“We are not taking this back” Jim said firmly. “It’s beautiful.” He hugged Maggie and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you very much, this is a beautiful gift.” He turned back to look at the bird.
Josh went over to Maggie and hugged her as well,
“I love it too, Maggie, what a great idea!”
“Beauty,” Lacey whispered as she looked at the dove, “We’ll take good care of you”
Lacey loved the sweet white bird, she was so timid looking. The bird was afraid of it’s new surroundings and needed time to adjust. The family looked around and decided on where they would put the cage. They settled on a corner of the living room since the room was bright and had the biggest window. Maggie was thrilled that everyone was so happy with her gift. She could see that they weren’t just being polite either; they seemed genuinely pleased with the bird. She breathed a huge sigh of relief and relaxed. Silently she thanked God and scolded herself for doubting Him.
The doorbell rang again and this time it was Lee and Janice coming by to wish the family a Merry Christmas. Lacey answered the door and quickly pulled them over to the bird cage to show them Maggie’s gift to the family. As they were admiring the beautiful bird the doorbell rang again and Pastor Brooks entered with his wife June. Surprisingly enough it wasn’t much later that more friends arrived and soon the Reid living room was filled with good friends. Jim was reminded of that night soon after Laura disappeared, when he felt like it was a funeral only this time it was different. This time the faces weren’t all somber, now they were smiling, and more relaxed. There was still sadness in the air as everyone was obviously aware of Laura’s absence. They all knew that they were there, not just to bring holiday greetings, but also to comfort. Jim looked around at all his friends and silently thanked God for them. There were times during the past few months when he wished that they would all go away. There were times when he truly thought he didn’t need any of them. He realized now that those had been foolish thoughts and he needed his friends very much. He was thankful God’s wisdom was greater than his own. Jim looked at his two children and he felt that his heart would just about burst with the love he had for the two of them. He was so proud of both of them. He looked at Maggie and felt the same love for her. He was so glad that Josh and she had found each other. He hoped that Josh realized what a gem he had in this girl.
As Jim was looking at Maggie he noticed something he hadn’t seen before and his eyes widened in surprise. He went up to Maggie and Josh and took both their arms, pulled them into the kitchen where they could be alone for a minute.
“Do you two have something to tell me that you may have forgotten?” Jim asked and then looked from one to the other, waiting expectantly with a serious look on his face.
When both Josh and Maggie gave him a blank look and seemed confused he picked up Maggie’s left hand and held it up.
“Oh that.” Josh said, looking rather sheepish.
“Yeah, that.” Jim said, “Kind of important, don’t you think?”
“Well yes, I do think so, but we weren’t sure when would be the best time tell you. I asked Maggie to marry me last night, Dad. She said yes, as you can probably tell.” Josh was grinning ear to ear by now and Maggie’s face was bright red, but she was also smiling.
Jim hugged both of them together and unable to help himself, tears flowed down his cheeks. Laura would have been so proud of both of them and so happy for them!
Lacey came into the kitchen and they quickly shared the news with her. She let out a loud squeal of delight which drew more people into the kitchen. Soon everyone was in the kitchen and the announcement was made to everyone. Congratulations went around the room. Christmas Day which had started out so quiet and depressing was turning out to be a much better than Jim had expected it to be. What are you doing today Laura? Are you alone? Is there any joy in your day at all? Lord please let there be some joy for Laura today. Give her a gift today Lord that will make her smile.
Chapter 17
Laura sat on the couch staring at the small Christmas tree Gerhard had set up. She found it hard to accept it was Christmas morning and she was still here, still in this basement with Hilda and Gerhard, pretending to be Christine, or was she Christine?
Sometimes she felt like she was losing sight of what was real and what was pretend any more. Was this her real life and the life with Jim, Josh and Lacey just a dream? She looked down at the handcuff around her wrist and the chain connected to it and was reminded of how elephants were trained. They chained the baby elephants and attached the chain to a stake in the ground and the baby wasn’t strong enough to pull away. As the baby got older it didn’t know that it was now strong enough to pull away, so it didn’t try.
So even when the elephant was an adult, could easily pull the stake out of the ground and walk away, it didn’t. It just stood where the trainer had chained it because it believed it couldn’t get away. Laura wondered if that was her now. If Gerhard took her chain away, would she just
sit in this basement and not even try to get away?
She had been here so long that these walls, these few rooms, were her world. She hadn’t been outside in months. She longed for a breath of fresh air, to see a bird fly, to feel the snow crunch beneath her feet. Laura had always preferred summer over winter and had never been overly fond of the snow. At that moment she would have loved to feel the cold sensation of the snow on her hand and the cold air in her lungs. Just to get out of that basement! Many times she had wanted to scream at the top of her lungs with the sheer boredom and frustration of being trapped in this place for so long. She didn’t know how Hilda could stand it. The woman never left the house, but then at least she could go upstairs and look out a window, or walk outside in the yard. Laura wondered if they had a nice back yard, perhaps a garden and a patio. It would all be covered in snow right now. She wondered if Hilda went outside and walked around at all. Did she have a garden she took pleasure in? Laura looked over at Hilda and the woman’s enormous size and thought it was unlikely. She couldn’t picture the woman managing a garden, it would take too much effort. Maybe they had a gardener that did the work for them, that seemed more probable. Laura’s thoughts were brought back to the present when Gerhard put on some Christmas music. She looked back at the tree and the shining star at the top. She listened to the familiar Christmas carols and started to quietly sing along with some of them.
“We should be in church, its Christmas time.” Laura said quietly, still staring at the tree.
“What on earth for?” Hilda scoffed, “We can celebrate Christmas just fine right here. We’ve got presents, eggnog, and music. That’s enough, what do we need church for?”
Laura looked at Hilda amazed. The woman really had no idea and neither did Gerhard. At that moment Laura felt like she needed a little slap across the face herself.
“Christmas isn’t about presents, decorations and ‘stuff’” Laura perked up now, wanting to explain to these two how important Christmas was. That familiar feeling of shame come over her because she had allowed herself to put on that, oh so familiar and well worn, cloak of self pity. Once again she had allowed herself to get so caught up in her own feelings, she almost allowed a golden opportunity to witness to slip by her. She sat up straighter in her seat now and prayed a quick silent prayer for guidance and wisdom, then continued.
“Christmas is about Jesus, about His birth. This is the time of year to celebrate His coming to earth, His coming to save us! It’s a wonderful time! The Christmas trees, presents, decorations are fun and good to have. That’s not what it’s all about. Jesus is what it’s all about. He is why we sing these songs, and He is why we celebrate Christmas in the first place! I love Jesus so much. He is my best friend! Celebrating His birthday is a wonderful time of year. I love going to church at Christmas time. Oh I love going to church at other times too,” Laura lit up as she talked, this was clearly her favorite subject,
“Christmas is so special. It’s His birthday and a real reason to celebrate. There are concerts, plays, special food and fellowship, but it’s all about Him. It’s all about Jesus.
He is why we celebrate. He is the true meaning and reason behind it all.” Laura looked at Hilda and Gerhard as they just stared at her with patronizing smiles on their faces. She could see they weren’t getting it. God what can I say to convince them? Please Father, give me the words! Soften their hearts and help them to see Your truth. Laura went over to Hilda and kneeled in front of her; she took the woman’s hands in hers and looked up into her eyes.
“Mom, Jesus loves you so much. Won’t you just open yourself up to Him and accept Him into your heart?”
“That’s sweet that you believe Jesus is a friend to you like that. Now go sit down, Gerhard is going to hand out the presents.” Hilda looked at Gerhard expectantly, already dismissing Laura and her ideas. Laura got up from the floor and sat back down on the couch, trying desperately not to slip back into self pity. For a few moments there, she actually felt the joy of the Lord come upon her and she wanted to hang onto that. She didn’t want to let go of that joy just because Hilda and Gerhard weren’t willing to accept it. Help me Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength and I need that strength! She listened to the words of the carols playing in the background and tried to focus on the words.
Gerhard listened to Laura and then watched the scene between her and his mother.
No one had ever talked to him about Jesus before. His experience with religion was minimal at best and he really knew very little about it. He always thought that religion was for weak people and losers. He didn’t need religion; he had a nice home, a successful business and could see no need for church in his life. He had never really given church much thought before. Every now and then someone from a church, often an employee, would approach him about a donation. Sometimes he would write a cheque, because it was good for public relations and he got a tax deduction for it, he never saw a need for it in a personal way. Something Laura said tugged at his mind but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Well whatever it was it would have to wait because his mother was waiting impatiently for him to get the presents out. He turned to the gifts he had behind the couch and began to pull them out. Gerhard had many brightly wrapped gifts for his mother and sister, he took great delight in handing them out. Hilda squealed with delight over the large, fancy box of imported chocolates. She loved the new bed quilt with matching bedding, the bathrobe and slippers were a hit as well. Gerhard knew his mother’s tastes and bought many of her favorite treats. He bought her several new books to read, all romance novels, similar to the soap operas she enjoyed so much. Hilda loved all her gifts and made a big fuss over each item.
Laura sat back and watched the scene and thought to herself that Hilda was like a large spoiled child. She greedily accepted each gift, quickly opening it and then putting aside while she waited for the next one. Laura didn’t hear her say thank you or express appreciation to Gerhard for his thoughtfulness at any point, nor did she seem to notice that neither Gerhard nor Laura had opened a gift themselves. Not that Laura cared. She hadn’t gone out shopping and bought gifts for either Hilda or Gerhard so she had nothing for them. She had no desire to take part in any sort of gift exchange, she was just amazed at how self centered the woman could be, and how Gerhard encouraged it. After Gerhard had finished giving Hilda all her gifts the woman actually pouted for a minute because there were no more. Then she consoled herself by opening the imported chocolates and hunting for her favorite flavors.
Gerhard turned to Laura with a large gift in his arms. Laura was surprised. She didn’t expect, or want, anything from him. She couldn’t imagine what he would get for her. All she really wanted was to leave, and she knew he wasn’t about to give her that.
She stood up to take the large gift and murmured a small thank you as she sat down to open it. It was a large picture frame that looked like a window frame. It came with several outdoor pictures that could be put in the back of the frame. There were pictures of scenery from the four different seasons. Some scenes had animals in them, like deer or horses. Some scenes were of gardens, others of mountains or lakes. Gerhard explained excitedly,
“You could hang it in your room. It could be like a window. When you get tired of the view, you just change it!”
He was clearly thrilled with the thoughtfulness of his gift and expected her to be as well. He waited for her joyous reaction. Laura sat there looking at all the pictures, stalling for time. Lord help me here! She could easily sense Gerhard’s mood and knew what he expected of her. Her first gut reaction, what she truly wanted to do, was to pick up the picture and smash it against the wall. She wanted to scream at him that this hardly substituted for the outdoors! She wanted to yell that she needed to breathe the fresh air, not see pictures of it. She wanted to take each picture and rip them into shreds. She couldn’t believe that he expected her to be thrilled with this gift. I am chained in the basement for goodness sake! Are you blind? Do you honestly expect me to thank you
for pictures when you are holding me prisoner against my will? However at that moment she felt that God gave her a small window into Gerhard’s heart. She was able to see that he truly meant this as a loving gesture. She knew that her kidnapping was done in an act of love, however misguided, for his mother, that this gift was a gesture of kindness for her. He obviously put a lot of thought into it and went to a lot of trouble to get a large collection of attractive scenery. Laura had tears in her eyes, out of frustration, but she hoped Gerhard would think they were of gratitude, when she looked up at him and thanked him as sincerely as she could for the beautiful frame and pictures.
Gerhard seemed quite pleased with her response and he surprised Laura by pulling out several more packages for her. Some were clothes. He knew her sizes well by now and since she only picked the simplest outfits for herself he took the liberty of selecting some nicer outfits for Laura. Laura noticed right away that all of them had the familiar alterations done to the sleeves. She had learned that Gerhard took all the clothes he bought for her to a seamstress who specialized in clothing for the handicapped. She thanked him politely for the clothes but the altered sleeves, just like the fake window, were a cruel reminder of her captivity. She took no pleasure in the gifts.
Gerhard had bought Laura some imported chocolates as well, ordinarily something like that would have been a real delight to Laura. She knew it was something that her and Lacey would have loved digging into together and fighting playfully over who got to eat which ones. Laura sat on the couch looking at her gifts. She thanked Gerhard for them even though she really didn’t care if he were to take them all away and throw them in the trash. It bothered her that Hilda didn’t thank him at all and she felt that the man should get at least something. Neither one of the women had a gift for him.