Glimpse – Image by KL Caley
For visually challenged writers, the image shows a frosted window, through which you can see a family table and festive decorations.
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Christmas Eve Dinner
By Tessa Dean December 2022
Little Johnny stood outside the window peering in at a Christmas feast for Christmas Eve. Tears ran down his cheeks as he beheld the feast before him. This was his first Christmas without a feast of his own, as his family had all died in a car accident the day before.
He hadn’t been with them as he had been playing with his friend, Mark, and came home to find the cops at his house. They were looking for him from what they were saying, but no one knew where he was, and he kept it that way. He didn’t want to go to a group home or be put with another family.
He put his head down on the window sill and dreamed of Christmases past. They always celebrated this way too. He fell asleep, and the tears froze on his cheeks.
“Son? Hey sonny,” the old man said. “Do you want to come in and join us? You look frozen. What are you doing out here? Are you the little boy they are searching for?”
He tried to run, but the man had a grip on him. The man urged him to come inside and eat. He would deal with the boy later.
Johnny relaxed at the man’s kind words and went inside to join the feast. “Johnny, what are you doing here? We heard about your family and are so sorry. Here, sit by the fire and get warm. We’ll talk to child protective services after dinner, but for now, you are welcome to eat and get warm,” his friend’s mother said after seeing who her dad had brought in. They had all seen the child outside the window.
As promised, they called child protective services after dinner. Since there was no room anywhere for another child, Mark’s parents offered to let him stay there with them indefinitely. They talked late into the night after the boys went to bed, and they were willing to adopt Johnny into their family. He was a well-behaved boy, and Mark absolutely loved him. Plans were put into action to start the proceedings for permanent placement. Right now, he at least had a home. They arranged to try and find Johnny’s gifts from his home so he would have something from Santa in the morning. Nothing would replace his family, but they would do their best to make his Christmas as special as possible. The police took the parents over to Johnny’s home, and along with Child Protective Services, they searched for his gifts. They found a few things for the child but not much for any of his brothers and sister either. Johnny’s family was poor, so they hustled to a 24-hour store, bought some stuff, wrapped it, and put it under the tree so he would have gifts in the morning.
Eventually, the adoption went through, and Johnny was permanently settled into his new home with understanding parents that loved him as much as their own children.
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Tessa –
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.wordpress.com
Author – Old Writing – http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com
About my life – http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com
Tessa Dean - Author 