The Dreamer

by Joy Redmond

  “We’ll that may be true, said Nana, “but we’re not going to think about that right now. It’s Christmastime and we’re going to concentrate on being happy.”

  I couldn’t bear the thought of them going back to Deer Village, but I knew Nana was right. There was no point in letting such thoughts spoil Christmas.

  We spent most of the day in the barn. We tacked holly and mistletoe to the walls and hung wreaths from almost every nail in the barn. The tree had beautiful tinsel, colored bulbs, lights, and I placed an angel on top. Then I set up an old card table and arranged a nativity set. Most of the figurines were missing, but I found the most important pieces: Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and one wise man.

  Nana went back to the trailer before the tree was finished and started making a pot of her special chili. When Mama and I finished decorating, we looked at our creation—and I thought it was perfect for a barn Christmas.

  Baby Deer and Mama Deer rubbed their heads up and down our arms, licked our hands and thanked us over and over, but Papa Deer just snorted and retreated to his pile of straw.

  I hugged Baby Deer and said, “We have a people family night planned. My daddy is having a boy’s night out, so Mama and I are going to spend the night with Nana and Pawpaw. We’re going to watch A Christmas Story together. We do it every year. It’s our favorite movie.”

  Baby Deer said, “Julia, could I—never mind, I forgot I can’t walk very far. I’m getting tired of this,” he said, and lay flat on his straw and protruded his bottom lip.

  “You better be careful when you stand up or you’ll step on your bottom lip,” I said.” I saw a slight grin spread his lips. Then my brain seemed to kick into think mode. “I’ve got an idea. Pawpaw made a cart and it hitches to the riding lawnmower. He used to pull me in it when I was little. Maybe we could put you in the cart and pull you up to the house.”

  “That’s a great idea,” said Mama. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go get it out of the shed.”

  “Oh, goody, goody gumdrop!” Baby Deer said.

  Mama laughed, shook her head and said, “I think you’ve been listening to Nana too long, Baby Deer, but it’s cute.” Then she turned to me and said, “Shake a leg, girl.”

  It was my turn to laugh, and I looked at Baby Deer and said, “Before you ask, I won’t shake a leg. It’s another people saying.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Baby Deer said, doing his giggle.

  Mama and I hitched the cart to the lawnmower and headed for the barn. Baby Deer said, “I’m ready for a ride.”

  It took all the strength Mama and I had to hoist Baby Deer into the cart but we did it.

  “Bye, see you later,” Baby Deer called from the cart as we drove away. When we got to the back steps, Mama said, “Julia, go in the house and get Pawpaw. We can’t carry him up the steps and all the way into the living room. He’s heavier than he looks.”

  Pawpaw was coming out of the back door before I jumped out of the cart.

  “I thought you might need some help,” he said, scooping Baby Deer into his arms. “You’re getting too big for me to carry very far.”

  Nana smiled as we came into the kitchen. “I had a feeling we’d be having company tonight. So I made him a grilled cheese sandwich. He won’t eat my chili because it has meat in it, but I know he likes chips, so I opened a fresh bag of Ruffles.”

  After we ate, Mama and Nana cleared the table and then we went into the living room, where we huddled on the sofa, and Baby Deer lay on the floor in front of us. I used his back for a foot stood.

  While the CD was loading, Pawpaw told Baby Deer his favorite part of the movie was hearing everybody tell Ralphie he’d shoot his eye out with the Red Ryder BB gun he wanted for Christmas.“You know, I still have my Red Ryder BB gun I got for Christmas when I was twelve,” Pawpaw said with a broad smile.

  The movie started. Baby Deer was spellbound.

  We all laughed when Ralphie’s mother stuffed his mouth with soap for saying a dirty word, and Baby Deer laughed until he coughed when Schwartz got his tongue stuck to the light pole and the fire department had to rescue him.

  After the movie, I started teaching Baby Deer some Christmas songs. Mama sang with me while Nana played the old piano that hadn’t been tuned in years. The trailer echoed with songs of: “Jingle Bells,” “Frosty The Snow Man,” and “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”

  Baby Deer was able to sing the lyrics after hearing them twice though his voice cracked a few times when he tried to hit high notes. I couldn’t believe how he could memorize faster than most people.

  Pawpaw fell asleep in his recliner before the movie was half over and slept through the caroling. Nana shook him and told him to go to bed because he snored louder than we could sing.

  “Nana, can Baby Deer sleep on the floor tonight?” I asked.

  “Honey, his mama wants him with her. It’ll take the three of us, but we’ve got to load him up and get him back to the barn.”

  “Oh, spit,” Baby Deer said.

  Mama laughed and said, “Julia, I think he’s been listening to you, too. I know he didn’t hear Nana say that.”

  I giggled. Baby Deer’s vocabulary was increasing, all right. He was learning many sayings from us and so was Mama Deer. Papa Deer? Well, he mostly snorted and didn’t say much of anything.

  After Baby Deer was safely back in the bran, we all went back inside the house, and Nana pulled out her knitting.

  “I’ve made pretty good progress with the sweater,” she said, holding up a large square.

  “That doesn’t look like a sweater to me,” I said.

  “That’s because this is the base start,” she said. “By next week, it’ll take shape. I’ve got to make up the pattern as I go, but it won’t be that hard. I used to knit sweaters for the dogs when they were puppies. I’ll just make it the same way, but bigger.”

  “Nana if you have time, could you knit one for Mama Deer, too?” I asked.

  “I’m going to knit Mama Deer a bib,” she replied. “There’s no point in knitting Papa Deer anything. All he’ll do is snort—like a typical male.”

  “This is going to be the greatest Christmas of my life,” I proclaimed. “We’re the only people in the world who are going to have a barn Christmas with a talking deer family. Someday, I’m going write a book about it.”

  Nana patted my leg. “I think it’ll be a bestseller,” she said, pushing her body from the sofa, using my leg for support. “I’ve got to start my Christmas shopping tomorrow. Lordy, my family is so big it takes a king’s ransom to buy enough for everybody, nowadays.”

  “Nana did you give everybody the list I made so they’ll know what to bring for Christmas dinner?” I asked.

  “Yes, honey, everybody knows what to bring, but they’ll make some changes, which is fine with me. We’ll have enough to feed an army. We always do.”

  “Mom, are you going to make the chess pies? It’s my favorite you know?” Mama asked.

  “I never forget the chess pie, my little darling. You’re the only one of my three children who likes it, but I’ll make you one. Pawpaw likes them, too. If anything is full of sugar, he loves it. I swear, that man is going to die of diabetes someday.”

  “Nana, I want to take Frosty the snowman to the barn too. He runs on batteries and he’s so cute when he dances and sings,” I said.

  “He’s in the box in the storage room, honey, but it might scare Baby Deer half to death when Frosty starts dancing and singing. Remember, you were terrified of him when you were little,” Nana said.

  “Well, he went off when I wasn’t expecting it and it scared me so bad I cried, and I told you he had to stay in his box.” I laughed as I remembered Nana stuffing Frosty back into the box and fussing at him for scaring me.

  “We need to get to bed,” Mama said. “Julia, don’t you snore in my ear tonight.”

  “Pawpaw sounds like a foghorn, and Nana snores, and so do you, Mama, so I guess we’ll have stereo snoring,” I replied.


  Nana laughed and added, “Why do you think I wear ear plugs? Pawpaw can raise the dead with his snoring, but I don’t want to hear about my snoring. I’m not that loud.”

  “Okay, whatever you say, Nana,” I said rolling my eyes and Mama and I laughed together.

  “This has been one of the best days of my whole live,” I said, getting ready for bed.

  I slept through all the snoring.

  A BARN CHRISTMAS

  The next day when I got home, I started marking a red X on each day of the calendar, marking off days, waiting for Christmas.

  On Christmas morning I was up before my parents and I suspected most other children were, too. My bedroom was downstairs and my parents’ bedroom was upstairs, so I figured I’d sneak into the living room, take a peek at what was under the tree, shake a few presents, and try to guess what they were before Mama and Daddy woke up.

  I picked up a big box, gave it a shake, and then heard Mama say, “What do you think it is?”

  I jumped as if Santa had whacked me over the head with his bag of toys. “Er…well...” I started laughing. “Sorry Mama, I guess I’m busted.” I shook the present again. “I’ll say it’s the Hannah Montana sleeping bag I asked for, because it doesn’t rattle.”

  Mama chuckled and said, “You could be right, but wait until Daddy comes down before you open anything. He’ll want to see the look on your face. That’s his biggest joy on Christmas—and mine, too.” Then Mama threw back her head and yelled, “Marcus! Get down here. It’s time to open Christmas.”

  “I’m not deaf, Michelle. I’m half way down the steps,” Daddy said, rubbing his eyes as if he weren’t sure if it were daylight or dark. “Can I get a cup of coffee first?”

  “Julia, let me put a pot of coffee on and get Daddy jumped-started. Then we’ll open presents, okay?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and said, “Fine! But you might as well ask me if I wanted to skip Christmas and go straight to the Fourth of July!”

  “I think you’ll survive,” Mama said.

  “Daddy, if you want to fix me some sunny-side-up eggs, I can wait until you drink a whole pot of coffee before we open presents,” I said as sweetly as I could.

  “That’s a deal,” Daddy agreed.

  “I’ll fix some biscuits and gravy to go with the eggs,” Mama said.

  I twiddled my thumbs and squirmed in the chair, trying to guess what Santa had brought me as I waited for the biscuits and gravy. Finally, Mama set a plate in front of me.

  “We better eat up. We won’t eat at Nana’s until late,” I said, breaking my egg yolks, pulling the center from a biscuit, and then dunking it into the yellow ooze. I finished my breakfast and headed back for the Christmas tree.

  I opened all my presents: Hannah Montana sleeping bag, Hannah Montana blond wig and guitar, and other girly things. I hugged and kissed my parents and I felt as if I were the luckiest girl in the world.

  Then I saw Daddy nudge Mama, who smiled and said, “I think it’s time.”

  She walked across the room and pick up a small box she’d hidden behind the grandfather clock. “I saved the best for last,” she said, handing the box to me.

  My hands shook as I ripped off the paper. Maybe I was holding a present that would give me magical powers, making me Harry Potter’s equal and allowing me to cast spells and do other wizard stuff, I thought.

  I opened the box and pulled out a red stocking made of felt material. I held the stocking by the top loop. Mama had used her glue gun and arranged golden letters that said: Baby Deer’s First Christmas.

  “Oh, Mama, It’s perfect,” I squealed. “It is Baby Deer’s first Christmas, and I hope he has a hundred more.”

  Mama hugged me and said, “He won’t have a hundred, but I bet this will be his best. We’ve made sure of that. Go put on some warm clothes. The barn will be a bit chilly.”

  “Pawpaw said all the hot air coming from all the women’s conversations should heat the barn real good,” I said as I headed to my room.

  We were the first to arrive at Nana and Pawpaw’s so we helped get the last minute things done before the rest of the family arrived. Daddy drove the SUV to the barnyard and parked beside the old tractor.

  We walked inside. I had Baby Deer’s Christmas stocking in my jacket pocket. I couldn’t wait to hang it on a nail beside the stall wall.

  Inside the barn, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Pawpaw had placed planks on four wooden sawhorses to make two long tables. One table was for the food and the other had twenty-three metal folding chairs around it.

  The biggest turkey I had ever seen sat in the center of the food table, and a huge Virginia ham sat next to the turkey. Pies, cakes, homemade candy, and cookies filled the far end.

  “Nana, you cooked your brains out,” I said. “And Pawpaw, the tables are amazing!”

  “It took me two days, but I enjoyed it,” Nana said. “Mama Deer is upset by the sight of turkey and ham, and Baby Deer is slobbering for the sweets, and as usual, Papa Deer is in the corner snorting and grunting.”

  “I’ve got a present for Baby Deer,” I said, hurrying toward the stall. When Baby Deer came into view, my eyes lit up as if I had been plugged into an outlet, too. He was wearing his red sweater, and it was a perfect fit. Mama Deer was wearing her new red bib tied around her neck, and Nana had sewn a bell on the end of a long red ribbon and pinned it to the bib. Papa Deer had one bell tied to his left antler.

  “I had bells on all his antlers, but he shook his head so hard Pawpaw thought he was going to wring his neck, so I took one of them off,” Nana said with a sly smile. “He’s one grouch, alright. Nothing makes him happy.”

  I told the Deer how pretty they looked and then I pulled the stocking from my pocket. I held it by the loop and dangled it in front of Baby Deer’s face. “This is called a Christmas stocking. See the writing? It says ‘Baby Deer’s first Christmas.’ You’re supposed to hang it on a mantel so Santa can fill it with candy, gum, and other goodies.”

  “Do we have a mantel?” Baby Deer asked.

  “No, but we have a nail beside stall wall here, and that’s just as good,” I said. “When Nana was a little girl, she said if she was naughty, she got a lump of coal in her stocking and a bundle of switches for a present.”

  As I circled my ear with my index finger, Baby Deer watched with a puzzled look on his face.

  “It’s a people gesture,” I said. “It means crazy, nuts, or touched in the head. I think Nana made it up, anyway. She didn’t get coal or a bundle of switches.”

  “The stocking you’re holding looks empty. Does that mean I was naughty and I don’t even get a lump of coal—whatever that is?” Baby Deer asked.

  “It won’t be empty for long,” Nana said as she dipped her hand into a paper bag and pulled out Hershey Bars, bags of Gummy Bears, and packages of Sweet Tarts and dropped them into the stocking.

  Baby Deer sniffed the stocking. “It sure smells good. Can I eat some of it now?”

  “No, Baby Deer. You’ll have to wait until after dinner,” Mama Deer answered. Then she sniffed the stocking. “That chocolate does smell good. Maybe we could eat one piece.”

  “Yeah, Mama. We could have one candy bar and save the rest,” agreed Baby Deer. Then he turned his head and looked into the corner of the stall. “Papa, do you want some goodies?”

  Papa Deer snorted, turned his head toward the back wall and said, “No.” Then he turned his head in my direction and gave me a half smile. “But it’s a pretty stocking,” he mumbled.

  Nana looked around saying, “Where did I put my camera?” She patted her body. “Here it is,” she said, pulling it from her left pocket. Then she called to Papa Deer, “Hey, Grumpy. Do you think you can come out of the corner long enough for me to get a picture of you and your family with Julia?”

  Papa Deer grunted, stood, and slowly walked toward us, taking his place by Mama Deer. I stood between Mama and Baby Deer.

  “Smile,” Nana said, and snapped the picture.


  Then I heard the sound of cars coming up the driveway. I ran to the entrance of the barn and saw four cars pull into the barnyard. Nana joined me in the doorway as family members began making their way to the barn. I’d never seen Nana look happier.

  “Four slamming doors on four cars. That’s what I call a sixteen slam salute,” Nana joked. She stepped outside and hugged each person one by one before they walked into the barn.

  It was the best Christmas of my life, and I could see it was going to be the best Christmas for Nana, too.

  I ran back into the stall before any of the family members saw our deer guest and told them, “Mama, Papa, Baby Deer, the people family are here. Remember no talking, okay?”

  “Not a word, I promise,” Baby Deer said, and Mama and Papa Deer nodded in agreement.

  Everybody placed the food they’d brought on the table and I started to wonder if it could hold it all. I stood by the stall as the parade of family members trooped in, lavishing hugs, kisses, and pats on the back. When everyone was present, I knew it was show-and-tell time.

  “Could I have everyone’s attention, please,” I announced. “If you’ll come over to the stall, I’d like to introduce our guests of honor.”

  Each family member strolled to the stall, with some of the adults carrying their children on their shoulders. When they saw the Deer family, they were all amazed.

  I continued, “I know you’d all like to pet them, but they aren’t used to a lot of people, so please be gentle around them. Don’t let the little ones pull their ears or—” I couldn’t finish my sentence. I hadn’t considered the thought that the Deer family might be frightened or even hurt by a careless child.

  Nana put her arm around my shoulder and softly said, “Honey, nobody is going to hurt them, and I think the Deer will enjoy the attention. Well, maybe not Papa Deer. He’s still being an old grouch.”

  Baby Deer was so excited by all the attention, pets, and hugs that he had an accident and made a puddle on the ground.