The
last day of school had been filled with happy
kids that kept yapping about Christmas coming.
It had no special meaning to her because
she and her grandmother were living like church
mice now. The
wind blew cold around the trees that lined the
dirt road.
Shivering, she pulled her thin winter
coat, which was already too small, closer around
her tiny body and began to angrily sing.
"Jingle
bells, jingle bells
Santa’s
on his way
But
his busy little elves
Put
nuttin for me in his sleigh"
“Is
that you Addy?”
Her grandmother asked as she let the back
door close with a loud bang.
“Yes,
Grandma. It’s
me.” Her
answer sounded too dull and lifeless to be
coming from a ten-year-old child.
Grandma
was in the sitting room in her rocking chair.
She had dropped something in the basket
beside her that she had been crocheting.
Innocently she picked up another ball of
yarn and began the finishing work on an afghan
she was going to give to the preacher and his
wife for Christmas.
It was almost finished.
She had managed to buy the yarn from
money she saved from selling eggs to the
neighbors.
Adrianna
looked in the coal box behind the heater.
It was almost empty.
Without waiting to be told, she went
outside to the coal pile behind the barn and
filled a bucket with the cold black chunks of
coal. It
was heavy to carry but she had gotten used to it
long ago. Dragging
it up the back steps was the hardest part.
She had to make several trips before the
coal box was filled.
Grandma
used to take care of the chickens but lately she
was not able to do it.
When cold weather set in, her back seemed
to hurt even more, so Adrianna had taken to
feeding and watering them.
Then, while they were busy eating she
would gather the eggs.
They didn’t lay as well in the winter
months so there was not as much money to be made
from selling the eggs.
She hoped Grandma would save back enough
eggs to make a cake for Christmas instead of
selling them all.
The
next day was Christmas Eve.
As soon as their meager breakfast was
finished and the dishes washed and put away
Grandma suggested they go look in the woods for
a suitable Christmas tree.
Adrianna didn’t see much point in
putting up a tree since there was no money for
presents but Grandma insisted.
“You
must always believe in the Christmas angels,
Addy.”
“Yeah
right!” Addy
mumbled under her breath, as they walked across
the frozen ground that crunched beneath their
steps, taking them toward the woods.
“Let’s
find a pretty holly tree with lots of red
berries on it.”
Grandma knew that if there were pretty
red berries on the tree it wouldn’t need as
many ornaments to make it festive.
All she had to decorate the tree was two strings of
multi-colored lights and a small box of hand
made ornaments that she and Addy had made over
the years.
When
the perfect holly tree was found, Grandma took
her sharp hatchet and chopped it down.
They carefully carried the tree back to
the house between them, so the tiny berries
wouldn’t get knocked off.
Tucked under each of Grandma’s arms
were pine boughs she had broken off to lay in
the windowsills.
The house would smell more like Christmas
with them in place.
Grandma
was acting as cheerful as if Santa was going to
deliver every wish imaginable.
She was too short of breath to sing and
carry her end of the tree so she began humming
“Jingle Bells”.
As the notes of the melody drifted back
to Addy, her mind filled in the words from the
jingle she had made up on the way home from
school. She
was just not in a good Christmas spirit but she
would pretend since it seemed to make Grandma
happy.
She began singing the correct words of
the song, in harmony with Grandma’s humming.
Once
the tree was home, Grandma found an old bucket
and filled it with dirt and planted the tree
inside it.
It was watered carefully to settle the
earth and to give the tree something to drink.
She carefully tied a burlap wrap, which
was found in the barn, around the bucket to hide
it; making it look just as pretty as those did
for sale in town.
The tree was brought inside and set
before their front window.
When the lights were lit on it at night,
nobody could tell from the outside that it was
not laden with ornaments and gifts.
That
afternoon Grandma was busy in the kitchen and
the smells were so tempting as the fragrance
drifted all over the house. Adrianna’s tummy
rumbled with hunger.
They hadn’t stopped to eat since
breakfast.
Maybe there would be something really
good for supper tonight.
She knew that Grandma had killed and
dressed one of their old hens, which no longer
laid eggs, for their Christmas dinner tomorrow.
She hoped supper would be soon.
“Addy,
get washed up for supper!”
Her grandma’s words were music to her
ears.
She
raced into the kitchen and poured water from the
pitcher into the basin that was kept for washing
hands. It
was so cold it hurt her fingers and the bar soap
barely lathered on her hands.
Quickly, she scrubbed her hands together
and barely passed them across her face before
she grabbed the towel that hung on a nail driven
into the wall.
Her eyes surveyed the table but she saw
nothing that she thought she had smelled this
afternoon as she went about her chores.
Their supper was to be the same meager
offerings of biscuits, home-cured ham and
molasses, just like all the other nights.
She ate ravenously.
When
the dishes were cleared away she slipped away to
her bedroom.
She had made Grandma a tray to keep her
hairpins in from abandoned ice cream sticks she
found on the schoolyard.
The only wrapping she had was a brown
paper sack but that was all right.
She would draw a pretty bow on it.
She knew Grandma would love it.
Holding
it carefully, she slid it under the twinkling
tree when Grandma wasn’t looking.
She noticed that Grandma had wrapped the
afghan for the preacher and his wife and it was
beneath the tree too.
There were no other presents to be seen
anywhere. She
was glad she had a place to put Grandma’s
present but she still thought that putting up
the tree had been a lot of trouble for nothing.
With a heavy heart, she kissed her
grandma goodnight and went to bed to dream of
Christmases yet to be when there would be plenty
for all to enjoy.
Christmas
morning dawned cold and the windows were frosted
on the inside of the old house. Adrianna could
hear Grandma poking at the coal heater trying to
get the fire to burn stronger.
She lay beneath her burden of heavy
homemade quilts savoring the warmth and for the
moment forgot that it was Christmas Day.
Her nose told her that something was
different this morning.
She smelled the unmistakable sweet
fragrance of a cake baking.
Grandma had saved some eggs!
They would have cake for Christmas!
Adrianna’s
bedroom door opened into the kitchen where she
saw Grandma busy at the stove.
She looked as if she was actually wearing
a smile. Puzzled,
Adrianna stood in her doorway and watched her
for a few minutes until her cold feet reminded
her to get dressed.
Quickly she pulled on her clothes and
worn out shoes and socks.
Closing her bedroom door behind her she
walked behind her Grandma and gave her a hug.
“Merry
Christmas, Addy.
Did you sleep well?”
“Yes,
Grandma. Did
you?”
“Well,
you know I tried to sleep but there was so much
racket going on outside that I couldn’t get a
wink of rest. Didn’t you hear anything last
night?” What
do you suppose it was?”
“I
didn’t hear anything Grandma.
Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”
“No
Addy, I was definitely not dreaming.
Let’s eat our breakfast before it gets
cold. I’ve
got something to show you after we finish.”
Grandma
set before them a plate of cinnamon raisin
biscuits she had just made along with thick
sliced country bacon from their own scantily
filled smokehouse.
On Addy’s plate she had put one fried
egg that had been held back just for this
morning. Addy
tried to share it with Grandma but she would
hear nothing of it.
“Eat
it child and enjoy it!
It’s Christmas morning!
When you’re finished we have things to
do!”