A Christmas Miracle

by Paul Faulkenham

The story you are about to read is true, and while it may be sad at times, hopefully for those of you who will read it, if you feel lost or without hope, this short story of a Christmas Miracle will give you strength on Christmas day and every day, the entire year through.

I was about 5 years of age when my mother passed away. My father was an alcoholic and was so busy drinking, that for me, life was almost unbearable. At times I had to eat out of a garbage can to survive, as his drinking took all the money he made.

Christmas eve was fast approaching, and as usual my dad was on another of his drunken sprees. I prayed that he would sober up for Christmas so at least we would have a tree for Christmas. That wasn't to be the case and when Christmas eve did arrive, he came home in his usual drunken condition, laid down on the chesterfield and fell to sleep. I hadn't eaten all day, truly I was hungry. I searched his pants for any change that he might have, but I wasn't lucky, he was completely broke. I sat there and looked at the man I called my father, drunk out of his mind, no Christmas tree in the house, no gifts, and no food to eat.

I must have fallen to sleep, because I don't remember the rest of that night, but when I awoke in the morning, I got the surprise of my life. There sitting in one corner of our room, (we lived in a rooming house) was a Christmas tree, with tiny white lights on it. To be completely honest, at that time I don't know if the lights were sparkling, or the tears in my eyes made the lights sparkle. That wasn't all, under the Christmas tree sat a gift, wrapped loosely in red wrapping paper. I got up from my bed, I couldn't believe my eyes, maybe dear old dad hadn't let me down after-all. I walked past him, he was still sleeping where he had fallen the night before. With the greatest anticipation I think I ever felt in life, I ran to the Christmas tree and bent down to open the gift. It was exactly what I had wanted for Christmas. A steering wheel, connected to a simulated dash board of a car, it even had a horn that beeped. I was stunned, as now I knew that there was no way my father could have bought this gift, I had never told him about it, he was too busy drinking and was always ready to pass out as soon as he entered our room. We hardly talked, he couldn't have known. Could it be possible that Santa really did exist?

The truth be known, there wasn't any Santa, but perhaps a guardian angel or God himself. If ever I could say that I had witnessed a Christmas miracle it had to be that day long ago, for there was no way that anyone could have gotten in our room, I always locked the door as soon as my father came home. When he had sobered up that morning, I asked him where the tree and lights came from and of course the gift. He was as stunned as I was, I could see it on his face, he had no idea.

In closing I want to thank Joe and you the readers, for taking the time to read this short story concerning Christmas and miracles, and while you don't have to believe this story, it really did happen, just as it is written. Now at the age of 54 I still remember back to those days when I found that Christmas tree, twinkling white lights and the gift. When I am feeling down, I reflect back to that beautiful morning and thank God, that he was there for me, even though I didn't realize it. If you ever feel down in the dumps, perhaps you feel as I did, that these things can't happen, you would be doing yourself a great in-justice. Miracles do happen. Hopefully if one day you need a miracle, it will be there for you.

Merry Christmas,

Paul Faulkenham
faulken@cyberglobe.net
http://users.cyberglobe.net/~faulkens

In some of the past issues of the weekly horoscope, I referred to Paul Faulkenham's web site. Paul is a member of the weekly horoscope list and also a great poet and writer. He's just released his first e-book, a book which you can download from the Internet and read on your computer. Click here for Paul's Site

You can check out Paul's e-book called "Catch Me If You Can" on the following page (please allow some time for the time to load, it's quite big): Click here for Fairgo EBooks

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