A World of Joy

by ASMSG Authors

  The End

  THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL

  Susan Hawthorne

  Three days before Christmas and music filled the mall. Julie put her earmuffs on to try to keep it out of her head.

  Tina, her sister, gave her a little shove and smiled. “Hey, you’re frowning. It’s almost Christmas, time to be jolly!”

  Julie shook her head and looked away. Christmas would never be the same for her again, not after the wreck that took her parents and brother away.

  Tina picked up an X-Box game and waved it at her with a grin. “Here’s that game Paige wants so much. I told her it cost too much.” She laughed. “I can’t wait to see her face when she opens it Christmas morning.”

  Nodding, Julie flipped through the games and picked one out. She held it up to Tina. “For Kenny?”

  “Oh, he’d love that game. He has the first one in that series.”

  They checked out and headed to the car.

  On the way home, Tina glanced at Julie from the driver’s seat. With a deep breath, she began, “Julie, I know it’s hard, but it’s been a year…”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “I know you don’t, but I think we have to.” She softened her voice, “Look, it’s been hard for me too. You’ve been away at school most of that time. I’d hoped that would help put some distance between… all this… But now, I really think it’s time to talk.”

  “Yeah? Will talking about it change anything? Our whole family was wiped out, Tina. THAT is not going to change. Not ever!” She turned away and looked out the window.

  “Julie, I’m still here and so are you. We’re our family now! And Tommy and our kids – you know they all love you. You still have a family, Julie.”

  Julie slid down in the seat and sighed. “I know, and I love you too, but it’s not the same. Christmas sure isn’t the same.” She looked down at her hands in her lap and twisted her fingers. “I miss them, Tina. It’s not right to feel happy about Christmas when they’re not here anymore.”

  They pulled into the driveway and Tina turned toward Julie. “Do you think that’s what (they’d) want? Think about that, ok? Tommy and the kids bought the tree tonight and put it up in the living room. We’re going to decorate it tomorrow… Help make it happy… for the kids, Julie. Ok?”

  Julie nodded, jumped out of the car and ran inside. She continued up to her room and shut the door. Tossing the bag on the window seat, she threw her coat on the chair and slumped on the bed. She knew Tina was right, but she just couldn’t feel happy. She wished she could, but she couldn't. She’d try to act happy for the kids, but she’d find a way to slip away while they decorated the tree.

  About an hour later, Tina tapped at her door and peeked in. Julie pretended to be sleeping. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Once Tina shut the door, she opened her eyes. Moonlight filtered in the window and allowed her to see the shapes of objects around the room. Everything showed as grey or black in the darkness.

  Tossing and turning, she couldn’t sleep. Finally she decided some warm milk might help.

  Padding barefoot down to the kitchen, she thought about the box. On impulse, she moved to the door that led to the attic. Placing her hand on the doorknob, her heart gave a flutter of anxiety. She almost walked away, but something urged her to open the door. Tiptoeing, she went up the stairs to the door at the top, opened it and peered in.

  There it was. A big wrapped box with a huge red bow on top, sitting there patiently waiting for her as it had for over a year. The gift that mom had wrapped for her last year, the last gift ever from her. She never got to give it to her and by the time Julie got home from the hospital, she hadn’t wanted to open it. She couldn’t stand the thought of touching it.

  She sat on the floor beside the gaily wrapped box and placed a hand on it. Her thoughts raced back to the wreck. She had gone with Mom and Dad to see her brother’s Christmas Play. They were on the way home. Jason was still dressed in his Wise Man outfit. She remembered the sudden slam of the brakes, the screeching of metal and the smell of fuel and smoke. Struggling to get out of the seat belt. Seeing blood on her hands. Then, someone tugging at her door. Voices. Hands pulling at her. Murmurs of ‘you’re ok, relax, we’ve got you.’

  She struggled to ask about her parents, her brother, but nothing would come out. They put her in an ambulance and she heard the siren, then it all faded away. She woke up later in a room that smelled of antiseptics with machines whooshing and squealing around her.

  Tina sat waiting in a chair by her bed, her eyes red and puffy. She clutched a wad of tissue in her hand.

  Julie floated in a fog. She remembered Tina jumping to the bedside and grabbing her hand, clinging to her. She tried to speak but the fog covered everything again.

  She awakened later to an empty room. Tina’s jacket and purse were on the chair. An IV line went into her arm and there was a little clip on her finger with a red light at its tip. Starting to sit up, she saw her left arm swathed in bandages. She moved her right hand to her face and felt bandages on her forehead as well. The door opened and Tina walked in with a man wearing a white jacket.

  “Hi, Julie, I’m Dr. Jackson. You’re looking much better today. You had a concussion so you’ve been out of it for a while.” He listened to her heart and probed around her stomach. Her left side hurt, but there was no bandage there.

  “What do you remember?” he asked.

  “We … we were in the car, coming home from Jason’s show at school. I was listening to my iPod, I don’t know… Something hit us! There was blood… What happened? Where’s Mom and Dad?”

  She looked from the doctor’s face to Tina’s and started to cry. “I remember feeling the car braking hard… it slammed my head into the window and there was a big bang, I couldn’t get my seat belt off. Then someone got me out of the car… and there was an ambulance. Where’s Jason?”

  Tina wiped her eyes with a tissue and clutched her hand.

  “They’re gone, Julie. They tried to save them, but they couldn’t. They’re gone. Thank God we still have you!”

  Dr Jackson patted her leg. “You’re awake, that’s good. We’re going to move you out of ICU into a regular room. You can go home in a day or two.”

  Julie left the hospital the day before the funeral. Friends and neighbors filled the house along with food, flowers, and cards. Despite all the people, the house felt empty to Julie.

  After the funeral they learned that Mom and Dad had left the house and everything to Tina and Julie. Tina and Tommy moved in with their kids. It was good that they could all live in the house that Tina and Julie had grown up in. Even though Julie was heading off to college in August, her room would still be here waiting for her.

  Her thoughts leaped back to the present and Julie shook her head, looked at the gift and sighed. Last year, at Christmas, she couldn’t bear to open this. She didn’t even want to touch it. That happened a year ago and people thought she should be over it. She didn’t know how to be over it.

  The card on top of the gift had “JULIE” written on it with a little heart at the end. Mom always did that, drew little hearts on cards. She ran her fingers over the writing then pulled it off the box and held it in her hands.

  She considered it for a moment, her finger resting on the heart, then opened the flap and pulled out the card. It had an angel on the front with “Merry Christmas” written in big curly letters over the angel’s head.

  Inside the verse read:

  “A Christmas Angel Just for You

  To Let You Know it’s All So True

  Christmas is for Hope and Love

  Sent Down to You from Up Above.”

  It was signed: “Merry Christmas with all our Love, Mom and Dad”

  A slip of paper fell from the card into her lap. Julie picked it up and slowly unfolded it.

  “Dearest Julie,” it read, “You’re going off to college this summer, how did you grow up so fast? I can’t ima
gine you being away from home without me there to love and protect you! Oh, I know you’re all grown up and don’t need me anymore, but to me, you’ll always be my little girl.”

  Julie closed the note and looked up at the ceiling. She missed her mother so very much. Composing herself, she looked back at the note and opened it again.

  “I’m sure you’ll be home for Christmas, but I wanted you to have something special for your dorm room for the season. I hope this will remind you of the special connection we have, at Christmas and all year too. No matter what, I love you and I’m so proud of you and all you’ve accomplished. Always hold your head up high and remember that.

  Be Happy!

  Love to you always, Mom.”

  Julie dropped the note and grabbed the box. She got up on her knees and tore the paper off in a frenzy, then ripped the tape away from the top of the box. It was filled with balls of tissue that she yanked out and threw on the floor. Finally, there it was. A tall beautiful Christmas Angel for the top of a tree. This was no plastic baby-doll angel. The wings were made from layers and layers of lace, delicately flared into many points with hundreds of tiny seed pearls sewn on. The dress was Victorian, modestly covering the angel’s neck, form fitting to her small waist, then flaring, bell-like, into a beautiful white and cream skirt with many more tiny seed pearls sewn over it. The angel’s ceramic face tilted slightly up with an expression of delight as if she saw something amazing. Her light brown hair fell in ringlets to her shoulders. Her countenance embodied pure love.

  As Julie held the angel in her hands, a deep awareness of her mother filled her heart. She heard her voice say, ‘Julie, we’ll always be with you, your Dad and I and Jason. You don’t have to feel sad anymore! I know you love us, as we love you, so let that bring you joy!’

  A mysterious warmth filled her body and her sadness lifted away.

  Early the next morning, Tina came downstairs to the smell of coffee brewing and bacon frying.

  “Good morning!” Julie smiled.

  “Julie? What are you doing up so early?”

  “We’re decorating the tree today, aren’t we? I wanted to get some breakfast going for everyone. I made chocolate chip muffins, fried some bacon and made coffee. I thought I’d wait to start the eggs, so they wouldn’t get cold.”

  “Well… Wow!” Tina laughed. “I’m glad to see you looking so happy. And thank you for breakfast.”

  Julie grabbed her hand. “Before the kids get up, come in here, I want to show you something.” She pulled Julie to the living room.

  All the Christmas ornament boxes were in the room waiting to be emptied. Candles glowed on the mantel and the sweet aromas of vanilla and cinnamon mingled with the pine scent from the tree. The lights were on the tree and, at the top, the beautiful angel beamed down at them.

  Tina looked at Julie with a puzzled expression. “You have everything ready for decorating. Where did that lovely angel come from?”

  Laughing, Julie gave Tina’s shoulder a little shove and said, “Tina, it’s Christmas! Where’s your joyful spirit?”

  Tina threw her arms around Julie with a huge smile and hugged her tight.

  The warmth of Christmas filled the room and the angel smiled with satisfaction.

  The End

  COMING SOON:

  A WORLD OF WORLDS

  A Collection of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Short Stories

  by The Authors Of ASMSG

  (Authors’ Social Media Support Group)

  Visit ASMSG At:

  https://asmsg.weebly.com

  Look for your favorite authors.