The Ghosts of
Christmas
By
The slam of the office door
reverberated throughout the empty building.
Steve paused in his darkened office to listen to the final vibration of
sound die away before allowing himself to think again.
DAMN! This is just great. It was the night before Christmas and they
were at a crucial point in a huge, high profile case and Dan had just walked
out on him. The
disagreement had started because Steve didn’t see the need for Dan to spend an
hour or two that evening playing Santa to the children at the Kanakua orphan’s home. Worse than that, Danno had asked
Steve to go with him and help! Here they
were, right in the middle of the biggest drug bust in Hawaiian history and Dan
wanted to take a break.
Steve had tried to reason with him by pointing out that this was
an exceptional time and that they didn’t have an hour or two to spare, but Dan
was of the opinion that two hours, even one whole day, (after all it was the
night before Christmas) would not make a difference in the case.
“Steve, this case or some other case will
always be pending. There will be lots of
important cases but the future depends on more than just law and order,” Dan
had argued. Having
made the commitment to the orphanage months ago, he wouldn’t
back out now at the last minute and at the risk of disappointing the
children. It was bad enough that they
were already short one Santa and he would have to visit both orphanages himself
that night. He had wanted Steve to help and that only
fueled the argument further. “Absurd!” Steve thought and shook his head.
Steve then tried the iron
fist approach. It had worked in the past
on his young lieutenant, but not this time.
Williams grew quiet, turned on his heel and left.
Steve took a deep breath,
trying in vain to get his breathing under control. Not ready to be calm yet, he threw the papers
he was still holding down on his desk in frustration, opened the door to his lanai and stepped outside into the darkness.
Christmas in
His thoughts were interrupted by singing.
Christmas carolers! Didn’t anyone understand that important work
had to be done even during Christmas?! He stepped back into his office and firmly
shut the lanai door. No matter, he
thought. He could handle this alone if
he needed to. He had done it before
Williams had joined 5-0 and he could do it again.
The now quiet office was
illuminated only by the single desk lamp which cast a harsh light across his
paperwork. Slowly, he sat back down at his desk. He was suddenly very tired. A quick nap would revive him for the rest of
the night. Ten minutes, that was all he
needed, he thought, as he laid his head onto his folded arms on top of the
desk.
**********************************************************************
Steve awoke to a small
sound. It was the barely perceptible,
distant tinkling of bells. He looked up
from where his head was propped on the desk and saw a tiny ball of light in the
corner of the office from which the sound appeared to be emanating. Strange, he thought, there was no lamp in
that corner. He sat up straighter and
rubbed his tired eyes. The light
remained and even if there was a lamp there that didn’t
explain the bells, he thought.
“Who’s there?” he asked at a
loss for anything else to say. The light
became bigger as if moving toward him and the sound of bells came closer as
well. Steve stood up quickly from his
desk disturbing the paperwork. “I said,
who’s there?” Steve asked again. The response was the sound of children
laughing. Steve stepped slowly out from
behind his desk and approached the light.
It had moved from the corner to the center of the room and appeared to
be hovering in mid-air. All sorts of strange and
wonderful sounds emanated from the ball of light. He heard the sound of bells more clearly now,
church bells chiming and was that jingle bells?
Children were laughing and singing and there was this other sound; the sound of something crunching. He slowly reached up to try to touch the
light.
Suddenly he was outside and
it was cold. Not an unpleasant cold, but
a brisk, pleasing cold he had not felt in a long time. The
air smelt bright and fresh as only new falling snow could make it. He was in a brightly lit city square at night
with snow falling softly all around him.
It was beautiful. It was NY, he realized the city of his childhood. And, yes, it was
just as he remembered it so many years ago.
There was something special about NYC at Christmas. For a child it was a magical place. There were wonderful decorations in all the
shop windows, animated scenes of winter wonderlands and Santa’s workshop
complete with working toy trains which ran across the
windows and even throughout the stores.
Steve always marveled at the trains as a child,
as many children did, and it remained one of his secret passions. For adults, NYC brought back all the memories
of how magical Christmas felt as a child and how the world could feel full of
wonderful possibilities.
Steve started to take in
more of his surroundings. There were
indeed jingle bells and that crunching sound was horses’ hooves in the snow. The police department’s mounted division had brought out the horses for this
special night and were giving sleigh rides to all the children in the
square. The sleighs were
beautifully appointed with bells and ribbons and held numerous laughing
children bundled under blankets.
He watched one pass by closely seemingly oblivious to his presence. And then he heard
it. He heard that unmistakable
laugh. He swung around quickly and
there, right before him was his dad. He could hardly
believe his eyes. His dad had just finished loading up
the sleigh with children and was getting ready for his swing around the
square. And
there, sitting proudly next to his dad in the driver’s seat was himself as a
child. Steve had not thought about these
Christmas times with his dad in years but now all the memories came flooding
back.
His dad had been a beat cop
in NY. He worked hard to try to keep the
city safe and to provide a good life for his family. He often came home tired from work and would
just sit in his favorite chair, have a beer and listen to the radio. He didn’t always
have time or energy for little Steve who idolized his dad and the ground he
walked on. When Steve was young he would often just sit quietly on the floor next to
his father’s chair and work on his coloring books or just day dream. Sometimes just being near his dad was
enough. As Steve grew older, they saw
less of each other and grew apart.
However, Steve never lost the image of his dad as the tireless worker
for justice.
On Christmas eve, however, his dad had been different. He never came home tired. He came home full of energy with a little fir
tree that they would decorate with lights and paper ornaments, food for a feast
and then the best of all, sleigh rides
in the park for the children with Steve as co-pilot. The officers all looked handsome in their
winter uniforms shepherding the young, and in some cases the not so young, onto
the sleighs. Rich or poor, all children
were welcome. There were fires with warm
cider for the parents at various corners of the square and every once in awhile
caroling would break out. And best of all Steve got to ride all night as co-pilot of
the sleigh with his dad.
Steve marveled at the scene
in the square. He saw his young self
perched next to his dad, his idol, going round and round the square in a sleigh
with real horses. Occasionally, his dad
would even give him the reins to hold while they waited for children to embark
and disembark from the sleigh. Young
Steve was in heaven or as near to it as his mind could imagine. They rode until everyone had had enough and
then the officers and their families gathered together
for a last toast of cider by the fires.
Steve had loved this time too. He
would stand by his dad with the other men and listened to them talk about their
work. Those conversations never ceased
to fascinate him when he was young and he was anxious to listen again even now as he
walked over to the group to ease drop.
When he was young being included in these
discussions had made him feel so grown up.
He realized now just how much it had shaped his life.
The group broke up
slowly. Young Steve and his dad took
care of the horses and then as if to make the evening last a little longer,
walked slowly home together through the snow.
Steve watched as they departed. His younger
self was now half asleep with his head propped on his
dad’s shoulder and a huge smile on his face.
Surely, there were sugarplums dancing in his head on this magical night.
Steve sighed audibly as he
watched the scene break up. It was a glorious
time; a magical night.
It brought so much joy to the children, cost very little
and even probably reinforced good community relationships between the police
and the people. But
those were thoughts of the older Steve.
The younger Steve knew only the joy of being close to his dad, his idol
on Christmas eve.
***********************************************************************
Suddenly, all was dark again. Steve was back in his office which
was still illuminated by the single desk light.
It took a moment for his eyes to readjust to the darkness. The square was bright, even at night, but the
office was dark in comparison, even cold somehow. Steve blinked his eyes trying to readjust to
his surroundings. Had he been
dreaming? It had all seemed so
real. Those had been wonderful times,
but that didn’t change the present. There was still an
important case at hand that he had to attend to. The important things of childhood paled next
to his current responsibilities.
He turned back to his desk, eyed his empty
coffee cup and went to the outer office for a
refill. The coffee was stale and strong
but served to awaken his weary senses.
He sat back down at his desk and began to straighten out his papers.
A loud noise made him look
up to see that there was a bright light streaming underneath his office door. The noise was coming from the outer office and seemed to
get louder with each passing moment. He
had just come from there, he thought with annoyance, and everything was fine. What was going on
now? He rose from the desk quickly,
flung open the office door and stopped dead in his
tracks. He couldn’t
believe his eyes. This wasn’t the outer office.
Gone were the secretaries’ desks, the teletype and office
equipment. Gone were the cubicles where
his men worked. Instead, there were
children everywhere. Some
were sitting on the floor on mats around a young female which
Steve did not recognize. She was telling
them a story and they were listening intently.
Some older children were gathered around a very sad looking palm tree in
a pot which they were attempting to decorate with lights and paper ornaments
that yet another group of children were constructing with colored paper and
crayons at some small desks. All the
children were dressed neatly, if not fashionable or up to date. The room was sparse but functional, though
compared to the square in NY it lacked a certain festive air. An attempt had been made to brighten the
atmosphere with the presence of a small phonograph on the table in the corner which played Christmas music from scratchy records
and a punch bowl nearby with what looked like egg nog
inside. The glasses, however, were
mostly untouched. Something was
missing. The room seemed to have a
pensive air punctuated by brief attempts at cheerfulness. The main door opened and Steve watched as the
children looked up in hopeful expectation.
All saw Duke Lukela come into the room.
There seemed to be a moment of hesitation before the children offered
cheerful “hellos and merry Christmases”, as if they were expecting someone else
to come through the door. Duke was a
young HPD officer who Steve knew of by reputation and based on his record was
inclined to like. After the perfunctory
greetings had been exchanged, Duke motioned for the woman
reading the book to come talk with him.
She handed the book to an older child to continue reading and got up to
meet Duke by the door. Steve realizing,
that he once again could not be seen by the people in the
room, moved toward the door so he could hear the conversation.
The blond woman spoke softly
and hurriedly to Duke.
“So where is he?” she whispered to him in
hushed agitation.
“He’s coming” Duke
replied. “He called me before I got off
my shift to tell me to come over and let you know he was running late. He had to stop at the Diamond Head home first
as they were minus a Santa and there was some sort of delay due to work that he
wouldn’t tell me much about, but he should be here any minute now. If I had known he would be this late, I could have played
Santa myself.”
“I hope he
gets here soon”, the woman sighed. “It
would be such a disappointment to the children and especially to…” She did not have a chance to finish the
sentence. There was a knock at the door
and in popped Santa.
“Ho, ho, ho Mele Kalikimaka, Merry
Christmas!” Santa proclaimed to all.
The atmosphere in the room
changed immediately. The children all
stopped what they were doing and looked toward the door. To their delight, there stood a beautiful
Santa Claus. He had a bright red suit
and a beautiful silky beard. He was just
the right width for his height and as all the stories said
had twinkling blue eyes. Steve
smirked. He’d
know those eyes anywhere. Steve watched
as a stool was brought out and Santa Dan sat down with
his bag of goodies. One by one, old and
young, the children came up to Santa.
After a brief conversation and a joke or two
each got a great hug and a wrapped package.
The Christmas music suddenly sounded less scratchy, the eggnog was being
consumed and even the sad Christmas palm looked
brighter. Duke and the young woman stood
in the back of the room and watched with satisfied delight. When all the packages had
been given out and children were playing and comparing presents, Santa
made his way to where Duke and the woman were standing.
“You had me worried” the woman said to Santa with a smile.
“You weren’t the only
one. I don’t know how Santa makes it
around the whole world in one night, I was having trouble making it from one
end of the island to the other”, replied Santa.
“Oh and before I forget,” he continued, “I believe there is one more
package left in my bag.”
With a sly wink, Dan pulled out a small well
wrapped box and handed it to her.
“Why, thank you ever so much
Mr. Claus” she replied, accepting the package with some ceremony. She then planted a large kiss on Dan’s cheek “And Merry
Christmas to you too!” she added.
Before Dan could reply, one
of the smaller children rushed to the woman and grabbed her legs in a big bear
hug. “Miss Janet, Miss Janet, you should
see what Santa brought me!” the young child shouted and with that dragged Janet
away. Dan watched with amusement and
satisfaction. The evening was a success
after all.
“So Danny”, Duke started,
“what happened tonight? “I thought you
were going to get Steve to help out?” Steve who had been listening and observing the scene,
cringed at the question, and in anticipation of the answer.
“Well,” Dan said, “to put it
briefly I may need to be looking for a new job tomorrow.” “Any openings in HPD?”
Duke looked at Dan in
amazement. But
before he could reply, Janet rejoined the group with an egg nog
in each hand. She handed a glass to Dan
and Duke.
“Will you be joining us
tomorrow for the traditional turkey soup dinner?” she asked Dan with a smile.
Being always short of money,
the orphanage often had to find creative ways to economize and turkey soup went
much further and was cheaper than a whole turkey.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Dan replied, “but I think I’ll dress more seasonally in an aloha shirt
and shorts. I am dying of heat
prostration in this outfit.”
Dan paused to take a sip of his egg nog, trying not to get too
much of his rented beard wet. As he
surveyed the room, he noticed one, small red-headed
child sitting rather quietly in a corner away from the rest of the
children. It was Tommy who had just recently been orphaned and he was having a hard
time adjusting to his new situation.
Santa Dan excused himself for a moment and approached Tommy. Steve followed him.
“Merry Christmas, Tommy!” Santa said with a chuckle.
Tommy looked up from the spot on the floor he had been studying and
offered Dan a weak smile.
“Merry Christmas to you,
too” Tommy replied politely. It was a
half-hearted reply though Tommy was trying his best to be enthusiastic. But the first
holiday without one’s family was hard.
Dan knelt down in order to
be face to face with Tommy. “You haven’t
opened your present” Dan observed gently.
Tommy looked at the small
package on the table beside him. It was too small to have been what he really
wanted which was a surf board. He didn’t
really expect to get such an expensive present, but still, being a child there
was a fragment of hope that such a miracle could occur. After all, Christmas was supposed to be full
of miracles.
“Go ahead and open the
present” Santa coaxed. It was no secret that Tommy
wanted a surf board and the gift committee had done
their best to come up with a creative, cheaper solution.
Slowly, Tommy reached for the package and unwrapped it. He
opened the box to reveal what looked like a bar of soap and a piece of paper
fell out and floated to the floor.
“Tommy, I think you dropped
an important part of the present,” Santa said as he picked up the fallen piece
of paper and handed it to Tommy.
Tommy opened the note and
his eyes grew wide as he read, “Redeemable for 10 surfing lessons with Dan
Williams” written in beautiful gold letters on the paper.
“Alright!”
Tommy exclaimed as he jumped out of his chair and without his feet ever
touching the floor wrapped his arms around Santa’s neck, almost knocking Dan
over backwards. Tommy realized that the
“bar of soap” was actually surf board wax and he
looked at the present in a whole new light.
Dan placed Tommy’s feet firmly on the floor and Tommy sped off to show
some of the other children his present.
Santa Dan straightened himself up and headed back to join Janet and Duke
who had been watching nearby.
Steve remained behind,
thinking. Well, perhaps he had been too
quick to dismiss Danno’s request. Perhaps, he could
have taken an hour or two away from work to help. However, it had all turned out fine without
his help and there was still the important drug case pending. That was still where his priorities lay.
The scene slowly blurred and
faded. Steve found himself standing in
the dark outer office. The office was
the same as it normally was, though it now seemed a bit quieter and darker than
it ever had before.
*********************************************************************
Steve turned and slowly
walked back into his office and toward his desk. He thought he felt a cold draft coming from
the closed lanai door and it seemed as though some cold, invisible force was
somehow impeding his progress. He forced
himself forward and sat down at his desk.
He listened to the silence. His mind was playing an awful lot of tricks
on him this strange night, he thought, as he looked down at the untouched
paperwork. “Snap out of it!” he told
himself sharply, as he started to reorganize the disheveled papers and pick up
where he left off.
The silence was pierced suddenly and viciously by a terrible cry. Instinctively, Steve jumped to his feet. But where was the
sound coming from? He listened more
intently and realized that the single, horrible sound had softened to the rapid
breathing and slight moaning of someone in pain, someone dying. “Danno?” he thought, not knowing why. The hairs on the back of Steve’s neck stood
up and the cold draft from the lanai door intensified. There was another moan. Yes, the sound was coming from behind him,
from outside the lanai door.
Steve turned quickly and bolted through the lanai door.
Instead of emerging out onto
the balcony overlooking the street, Steve found himself in an HPD interrogation
room. There, sitting sullenly at the
table was a tall, gangly, redheaded kid.
Facing him was a grim-faced Duke Lukela. Duke
looked older than a few minutes ago and seemed worn and tired.
The silence was thick. As Steve stood there, the silence
continued and deepened. Steve noticed an
item in an evidence bag sitting in the middle of the table between the kid and
Duke. He was hesitant to move forward
and get a better look at the item. Once
again, he didn’t know why.
Duke picked up the evidence bag and held it up
so the young boy could see it. The boy
did not look up. His gaze was fixed on the table.
Duke finally spoke.
“What do you have to say
about this?” Duke asked.
The boy did not answer.
“Tommy, look at me! How could you have done such a thing?” Duke
tried again, his voice rising in volume with agitation.
Still no
answer.
Steve’s mind started to
whirl. Tommy? Could this really be the Tommy from the
orphan’s home? The kid who was so
excited about the surfing lessons? It wasn’t
possible. It had to be someone
else.
Steve took a step closer and
forced himself to look at the item in the evidence bag. It was a knife with a nasty-looking, curved
blade. It had what looked like blood all over it. Steve stepped back abruptly as if he had been hit.
Duke put the knife
down. “I guess there really isn’t
anything you can say”, Duke said coldly, his voice now lacking emotion except
for the slightest hint of contempt.
“This is the weapon without a doubt and your fingerprints are all over
it. Even if you had some sort of
explanation, it would make no difference.
Tonight you killed during the course of a robbery. In all probability, you will be tried as an
adult and either sentenced to life in prison or death. I’m not sure which is worse; dying or
spending the rest of your life in prison thinking about what you have done.”
Duke pushed his chair back
from the table in disgust, got up and left the room.
Tommy did not look up at
Duke’s departure but continued to sit there, unmoving, as if made of
stone. Steve moved closer to the table
again. “What have you done!” he shouted
at the boy. There was no response. “Are you the little Tommy from the orphanage
I saw earlier this evening?” Or was it earlier in time?
Steve pounded his fists on the table in frustration realizing that the
boy could not hear him. No one could
hear him. His eyes were
drawn to the knife. It was a cold
hard thing. Who could tell him what was
going on? How could he find out what had
happened?
The cold air stirred
again. Steve looked up from the table as
the draft hit his face. A new door which Steve had not noticed before had appeared on the
other side of the room. Steve was afraid
for reasons he didn’t understand, but he approached
the door, nonetheless. There were funny
sounds coming from the other side of the door.
It sounded like a hospital. There
was the beep of a heart monitor and the sounds of doctors and nurses working in
urgency. The heart monitor sound was
irregular as if they were having trouble stabilizing the patient. The sound changed from the irregular heart
beat to a continuous single tone. Steve
could stand it no longer and burst through the door.
The emergency room was empty
except for two orderlies cleaning up.
There was blood everywhere and on everything; sheets, gurney, discarded
rubber gloves and surgical gowns. The
heart monitor had been disconnected and there was no
sign of the unfortunate patient.
The two orderlies talked as
they worked. “What a mess” one said to
the other.
“What a shame for something like this to
happen on Christmas eve” was the reply.
“I haven’t seen this much blood
in a long time. Looks like they couldn’t stop the bleeding.
Do you know what happened?”
“I heard it was a
knifing. An HPD officer interrupted a
hold-up and was knifed by a young kid. Seems as though the officer
knew the kid too.”
“Would have thought that the
cop would have been more careful especially, seeing that it was a known
troublemaker.”
“Well, apparently, the kid
hadn’t been in trouble before and had been close to the officer at one time.”
“The unkindest cut of all,
eh?”
“That’s a terrible thing to
say, but not far from the mark”.
Giggling the orderlies moved away.
Steve started to look
frantically around the room for some clue as to the identity of the
patient. Did no one grieve for this
unfortunate loss of human life and for the young life wasted? Steve looked for items near the gurney,
personal effects which might have provided a clue to the victim, but found none. Would no one tell him who the victim was? In frustration, he swept the surgical
instruments sitting there off the table toward the wall.
The instruments never hit
the wall; before that could occur, the room and all
its contents faded to become a cold, dimly lit, stainless steel room. It was a vast room with no visible door. It was lined with
endless rows of stainless steel cabinets with handles. The morgue, thought Steve with a shiver, but
unlike any he had ever seen. At the far end, there were two small figures
standing before one of the drawers. They were two
grown men framed in light as though illuminated by a single invisible light
bulb, but were so far away from Steve that they looked small.
One wore a suit and the other wore a white coat. Steve started toward them. The drawer was pulled open, and upon the nod
of the suited man a sheet was pulled back. Steve seemed only slightly nearer now than
when he started. He picked up his pace
and began to run. The suited man looked
down at the body and slowly, reluctantly nodded his head.
Steve was near enough now to
see that the man in the suit was an elderly, grey-haired Chinese
gentleman. It was one of his men, Chin
Ho Kelly, but much older and more worn than when Steve had last seen him
earlier that evening. The sheet was replaced. Chin
bowed his head hiding his watery eyes in his hand and wept.
“Chin!” Steve
called out. But Chin could not hear him. Before Steve could reach them, the drawer was closed and they vanished. The light faded.
Steve came to a dead
halt. There were so many drawers in
front of him. Which drawer had they been
looking in? The coldness had intensified
and seemed almost to solidify behind him. Steve found
himself being pushed toward the wall with the drawers. Or
was the wall being pushed toward him?
Steve had not physically moved an inch, but suddenly one of the
stainless steel drawers was right in front of him. In fact, it was the only one visible
now. The unseen coldness gripped his arm
and raised it toward the drawer handle.
Steve tried to resist but to no avail.
It forced his hand to grasp the cold handle and pull. As the drawer opened
Steve wanted to close his eyes but could not.
He was pushed to the side of the drawer and forced to
look down.
There was no sheet covering
the body this time. Immediately visible,
as the drawer opened, was a face, deathly pale with closed eyes. It was Danno as
Steve knew it would be but had not wanted to admit to himself before now. He looked pale beyond death and his hair had
grayed prematurely. His face was gaunt
and drawn. Steve put his hand down and
touched Dan’s cheek. It was so cold, so
dead.
Steve could stand no
longer. He sat down hard on the cold
steel floor, put his head in his hands and wept as he
had never wept before. An intense pain
seared through his body. Time seemed to stand still as
his tears formed an endless river of sorrow.
************************************************************************
Slowly, imperceptibly the
room became warmer and the light of the dawning day tugged gently at Steve’s
consciousness. Steve opened his eyes to find
that his head was lying on top of his folded arms on his desk. He sat up.
He was in his office behind his desk.
The desk light was still on, but now the office was
filled with the soft glow of the early morning dawn. He must have spent all night here or was it
longer? He looked at the papers on his
desk. It was still the
drug case he had been working on but some of the ink had smeared and the
papers looked as though they had sat out in light rain as they contained
numerous dried water spots.
He could smell coffee
brewing in the outer office. He rose
from his desk slowly and stiffly and made his way to the door. He hesitated before opening the door to the
outer office unsure of what he might find there. Ignoring
his trepidation, he slowly opened the door and peered out. Everything seemed normal. The desks were there and the cubicles. Someone had put up a pot of fresh coffee. It had just finished brewing and filled the
office with a wonderful aroma. Just
then, Chin Ho turned the corner coming out of his cubicle, heading in the
direction of the coffee pot.
“Chin!” Steve
exclaimed with joy. Chin stopped in his
tracks and stared at Steve. Chin looked
no different than he had at work the day before. He was not grey and haggard as when Steve
last saw him, though he did have a look of surprise on his face at the
unexpected greeting. “Chin!” Steve proclaimed again and headed toward
Chin and gave him a big bear hug.
“Boss, are you o.k.?” was
all Chin could think to say. Never had
he received such a greeting from his boss.
Steve released Chin and held
him at arms length. “Well, that
depends”, Steve thought out loud. “What day is it?”
“Why, Christmas Day”, Chin
replied in puzzlement.
“Marvelous!!
Wonderful !!” Steve exclaimed and
gave Chin another hug. O.k., Steve
thought he still had time, but he had to move fast. He was getting ready to turn and walk back
into his office when a thought stopped him.
He turned back
“Chin” he asked “why are you here?” Before Chin could come up with an answer,
Steve continued “Go home, be with your family, Merry Christmas!” Steve gave Chin one more hug, turned him around and sent him out the door.
Steve raced back into his office and pulled
out his rolodex. He found the number he
wanted and dialed. “Aloha, Mele Kalikimaka” Steve said
gleefully into the phone. A groggy
voiced mumbled something on the other end of the phone. Steve had not looked at the time, it was
still early,
With that done, he moved
onto the next task he had in mind. He was so giddy he
almost leapt for joy. He couldn’t
wait to see the look on the children’s faces when the food arrived so he had to
hurry with his other tasks so he would be there in time.
************************************************************************
Steve peeked through the
window of the orphanage. It looked much
as it did last night. The decoration of
the Christmas palm had been completed and people were
setting bowls and silverware on long tables in preparation for the turkey soup
feast. Everyone was cheerfully helping
with the preparations. Steve was careful
not to be seen.
He wanted to come in with his load right after the food arrived. “Where were they?” he thought
impatiently. “Time is a wasting.” Just then two white
vans pulled up to the doorway of the orphanage.
Out popped handsomely appointed waiters. They
filled trolley after trolley with dome covered
platters. The waiters formed an
impressive line and started toward the door.
Steve crept back to the window to watch.
It was wonderful to see the waiters enter the room and the shocked
responses of the occupants. Dan and
Janet approached the first waiter in the parade and blocked
his path temporarily and talked with him, jointly. The conversation lasted but a few seconds and
then they parted to let all the waiters pass.
Waiter after waiter came in with whole roasted
turkeys, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans and pies of all
sorts. The children were momentarily motionless with awe and then everyone started to
set the table for the real feast. His
cue thought, Steve.
Steve gathered up his
packages and headed for the door. There
was almost more than he could carry.
Steve’s knock on the door was barely heard by
the occupants of the orphanage due to all the commotion with the arrival of the
food, but finally someone opened it. As
it happened, Dan finally went to the door and upon opening
it was greeted with a cheerful “Ho, Ho, Ho”.
Dan’s jaw dropped. He could
barely see Steve behind all of the stuff he was carrying but he knew the eyes
looking at him through the needles of the pine tree instantly.
“Steeeve!” Dan spluttered in amazement.
“Are you going to invite me
in or just stand there?” Steve asked with an exaggerated
scowl.
Dan stepped back and Steve
burst into the room with his load. He
had a real, live pine tree completely decorated and arrayed with lights, a new
phonograph with a complete set of Christmas records and a bag full of toys and
games. The children stopped preparing for the dinner momentarily stunned by the second miracle of the day. Dan helped Steve with the tree while Janet relieved him
of the phonograph equipment and the bag of toys. Dan and Steve worked fast and in no time had
set up and plugged in the tree. Everyone “oohhed” and “aawwed” at the beautiful blinking lights. Most of the children there had never seen a
tree like this before or one as beautiful as this one. And they all came up
to it and inhaled the pine scent. The
music started playing and Steve turned and said, “Merry Christmas Everyone! Let’s eat!”
Dan turned to Steve with a
grateful, pleased though primarily puzzled look on his face. Instead of asking a question
though, Dan simply said, “Thanks Steve, and Merry Christmas.”
Steve turned to look at
Danno. His eyes were still bright and
his hair was not grey. His face looked young,
optimistic and less careworn than in Steve’s nightmare and he had a crooked
smile on his face. It was the best Christmas present
Steve could have received. He put his
hand on Danno’s shoulder. “Thank you for
reminding me of the importance of Christmas,” Steve said and he gave Dan’s
shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
The orphanage had a feast to
end all Christmas feasts that day.
Everyone ate their fill of turkey and stuffing and dessert until they
could eat no more. Then everyone
gathered around the tree to play games until all were tired and ready for
sleep. One by one, each child would bid
good night to those still gathered and head for bed. Steve had just finished an energetic game of
“Chutes and Ladders” with several children who were finally forced to admit
that they were too tired for more. Steve
picked up the pieces of the game, putting them back in the box and stood up
looking around the room as he stretched.
The tree was still lit and sparkled beautifully in the darkened room. A few of the older
children, who remained awake, were cleaning up along with some of the
adults. Most of the younger kids had
gone to bed. Steve’s eyes came to rest
on a corner of the couch. There was Dan,
who had been working overtime all week, fast asleep. Next to Dan on the couch was Tommy also fast
asleep with his red head nestled on Dan’s chest. The surfboard wax was in the box on the couch
next to Tommy and the surfing lesson certificate was clenched
tightly in his fist.
The record player was playing “God Rest Ye
Merry Gentlemen”. Very appropriate,
Steve thought as he listened to the words.
“God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay.” He noticed a blanket on a chair and picked it
up on his way toward the couch. “Remember Christ our savior was born on
Christmas day” Steve shuddered to think that he could have lost all this as
he gently placed the blanket over the sleeping duo. So
busy had he been, fighting for some greater good, that he had neglected and
almost lost the important things around him. Somehow it was easier to fight to
defend a noble abstract concept or give to a charitable organization than to
deal with nearby people in need on an individual level. “To
save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.” Steve
knew that there was no guarantee that his efforts that day or in the coming
days would avert the future he believed he had seen in his dreams or visions or
whatever it was he had experienced that night. But
unlike the game pieces which Steve had just put away, he vowed not to put Christmas back into a box
until another year but to keep its spirit close to his heart year round. “Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.”