A Christmas Story

Twas Christmas in merry old England and in a small village house lived Heather and her family. Heather was the oldest child in her family and was also the brightest. Her little brothers Ben and Sven who were both six years of age and the town jokers who would play pranks on all who they found. Then there was little Sue who was still a baby girl. Heather was almost 16 years of age and took up the role of an adult in the house as her father was a heavy drinker who would always come home drunk and smelled of alcohol. But her mother was, unfortunately, a member of a mob in the town and usually came home all bloody and battered. Heather’s family had very little money, though her mother did usually bring home a hefty sum of cash.

Her father would usually spend half of it in one night on alcohol and gambling. Heather had gone to the market late in the morn to buy the food for dinner while the rest of the family was fast asleep. After that she made breakfast for her family excluding her parent who left the second they could. Heather was homeschooled as were her brothers, and they were taught by an old widow who was much nicer than her mother and father. At the start of the widow´s first lesson she said, “ tomorrow is Christmas, the day Christ was born, a time of wonder and beauty , and the time Saint Nickolos and Krampos will visit us, and hopefully someone else too.” Heather didn't know who “someone else “was but she ignored it for the time being. Twas almost five in the afternoon and the widow had left to spend time with her relatives. Heather was almost done fixing up dinner and Ben and Sven had just finished throwing snowballs at the neighbor's cat, but mother and father had not returned yet. Heather was used to this at this point, her mother and father had always been late for Christmas, usually coming home near midnight. After a dinner that mainly had Ben and Sven throwing their mashed potatoes at each other, Heather had tucked Ben and Sven (who were difficult to get into bed), and little Sue into bed. She changed into her night clothes and got into bed, but she couldn't sleep for she kept thinking of the misfortune that had plagued her family for years. That is when she saw it: a knight clad in golden armor with the exception of his forearms, boots and his helmet which were a red and green color. His blue eyes glowed brightly and looked out of place with his armor, but the strangest thing about it was that on top of his helmet was a red and white hat. The knight stood on the tip of a ridge and as Heather continued to look on in wonder at the knight, he began to walk down the ridge, and soon he was near the street Heather lived on. As he reached the corner of the street, the knight started to walk down the sidewalk to Heather’s house. As the Knight drew closer to her house, Heather’s wonder was replaced with fear at the realization that the knight might have come to hurt her and her family or worse. With this realization Heather jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs to the fire place to find something to defend herself. That’s when she heard a knock on the door. As she looked on in fear at the door, it opened after the first knock and at the front the knight was standing in front of the door. After a minute of silence the knight spoke and said, “ Child, come here.” Heather, terrified at the sight of the knight but also no t wanting to anger the knight, walked cautiously towards the knight. When she got close enough, the knight asked her, “ What is your wish child ” Heather was at most mildly confused but complied with the knight. She thought hard on it then she replied, “ I wish for my family to be happy again.” The knight nodded and stretched out his hand and said, “Take my hand and your wish will come true.” Heather, filled with the idea of a happy family, grabbed the knights hand. Suddenly there was a flash of white light and Heather was sitting in a chair near the fireplace and her mother and father were smiling in two chairs in front of her. Heather looked down to see Ben and Sven sitting at her feet and little Sue was in her lap. Before she could question what was happening, her mother said, “Kids, we have good news, your father and I have decided to be better parents. Your father will try to stop drinking, and I will try to find a better job.” Heather could not believe what she was hearing and by the look on her brothers faces they could not believe it either, but their parents kept their word and became better parents to them, and to this day Heather is forever grateful to the Christmas knight’s gift.