A Christmas story

Christmas is coming. I have been going crazy trying to figure out what to give my mother. She always loved my stories. This is it! I am going to write something for her. Something that I know she will like …

It was last year. Mom had been in the hospital for two weeks. Dad had left us and was far away. I was feeling blue and didn’t even want to think of Christmas. Just the thought of spending the holiday at home gave me the creeps. The thought of spending it in the hospital was even worse. I hated being there and almost had to force myself to visit my mother. I couldn’t stand seeing her sick. All I wanted to do was run.

Thank goodness, Yoni was there. At least, he listened to me when I cried. “Why do all my friends live so far away? They are all having dinner right now with their families. How lucky they are.”

Yoni moved closer to me. “Meow, meow.”

He really acted as if he had understood everything. The only problem was, he couldn’t really help me.
I just kept on weeping. Yoni looked at me with his big, golden eyes. “Yoni, Yoni. If you weren’t here, I wouldn’t have anyone at all. And Christmas is so close!”

Yoni’s black, silky coat was all wet. He must have liked some of the salt on his fur because he licked it for quite a while. When he saw me crying again, he snuggled into my lap.

I couldn’t help it. I was thinking about the days when I still had a family. Even after Dad had left, Mom and I would try to make things special. Long before Christmas Eve, we would light the Advent candles, sing together, listen to our old records, read holiday stories, bake the most delicious cookies anyone had ever had, make presents, set up the toy train and decorate.

Well, that triggered the waterfall again. “Decorate!” I sobbed into Yoni’s soft fur. “What’s there to decorate? The worst part is there won’t even be a tree this year, not even a twig or candle!”

Yoni put his velvety paw on my arm. It was almost as if he wanted to tell me something. “There is so much you can do!”

I remember hugging Yoni. I was kind of thankful that he got me up. I watched the snowflakes outside my window. They swirled and danced in the wind and looked like big, white mosquitoes. When I grew tired of watching, I turned on the light and tried to follow Yoni’s advice. Baking cookies might get me into some Christmas spirit.

It was no good. “Yoni, it’s not working!”

I started to cry again. My room was now as dark as my mood. I couldn’t find a bulb right away. Even when I finally got the light back on, I didn’t feel any different.

I must have startled Yoni when, all of a sudden, it came to me. “Yoni, I’ve got it! I’ve got it!”

It was all so simple. I remembered other times. A very special Christmas flashed in my mind. I could almost feel again how good it had been when Mom, my friend Doris and I brought toys, warm clothes and some beautiful books to the orphanage two blocks from our home.

I remembered how happy the boys and girls looked when Santa gave them their gifts. One little girl didn’t want to leave. She stayed right next to Santa and said over and over and over again, “Santa, I love you. When will you come again? Tomorrow? Yes? Will you? Please!”

It all clicked. Yoni looked startled again when I jumped up. “Yoni, I know what to do. No more feeling sorry for myself. I am going to make this Christmas special. Do you understand, Yoni?”

Yoni meowed his approval while my thoughts were running. A good thing I still had the origami set. I went to work and made some real pretty ornaments. Yoni must have thought they were nice too. He wanted to play with them.

Now that there were ornaments, I had to figure out where to put them. The next day I went for a walk and found a large fir branch that I decorated. I also finished baking the vanillin crescents I had started and put them in the bright red tin Mom had brought home one day.

There was only one thing to do. I went to the kitchen to call the hospital. My mother would be so happy.
The phone rang. It was Mom. “Madeline, guess what? I’ll be home for Christmas. I feel so much better. Are you there? Madeline?”

“Mom, I can’t believe it! It’s you. I was just going to call you. Mom, are you really coming home?”

A Christmas miracle! I hugged Yoni. We both knew that the three of us would have a wonderful holiday.
In a few days it’s going to be Christmas again. I can’t wait to give Mom my present. I know she’ll like it a lot.

- Elisabeth Hurley, December 2008

Elisabeth Hurley
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