What made my christmas

Walking home from school one snowy day when i was about seven or eight, I had passed a man who seemed to look at me with curiousity in his eyes. I had ignored him and kept on walking through the briliant white snow enjoying the way it sparkled in the sunlight making it look like tiny granules of gold had been sprinkled on it. Lost in my own thoughts , he had suddenly appeared at my side and asked me something in a language i didn't understand.I shook my head signalling that i didn't understand starting to feel a little uneasy of his dishevelled appearance and a face that showed many sleepless nights. He asked again clearly pronouncing a street name that he was obviously looking for. Feeling slightly relieved I pointed him in the right direction. Feeling safer I continued home once again lost in my own thoughts.

Christmas was in two days and i was feeling estatic! Christmas always meant a lovely dinner that my mom would prepare and a little present that my dad would give me, and that huge white thick lovely candle that i had carefully saved up for to place on the christmas dinner table , almost picturing the adoring smiles that my parents would share.
I finally made it to the big grey apartment building that stretched tall against the snowy sky making it look gloomy. I pushed the heavy doors open making alot of noise as it slammed.The stone stairs were heavily littered with rubbish that no one bothered to clean up,
the inside of the building had once been painted reddish brown but now the paint had peeled off revealing a green mouldy looking wall, the doors also had been painted the same colour but had chipped in most places. On the ground floor right by the door there was a barbers shop that i had been taken to cut my hair ever since i could remember, but one day when the hairdresser had been combing hair he had come across something that made him stop what he was doing and call over my dad, he was pointing to my head and saying something that i couldn't really understand, but ever since that my dad cut my hair at home himself.

I heard someone wail and a door slam on the top floor.I had always loved it up there,it seemed so alien and strange to me. Sometimes I would sit up there with my friend Gustav and look out the locked gate that led to the roof thinking how cool it would be if we could open it. Or sometimes I would picture me living in one of those apartments that were probably much cooler then mine, or just sitting on the stairs with my face pressed against the cold metal banisters thinking about anything that jumped in my mind.

I didn't really live in the best part of the city as you had probably already imagined, Nearly everyday in the street there was always someone calling at you from the doorway offereing something, or a drunk trying to corner you somewhere.Nearly everywhere you walked on the street you would stumble across rubbish or even syringes, or see several abandoned or occupied bulidings with broken windows, kicked in doors and burnt down black walls. It wasn't uncommon to witness a fight breaking out or rare to see someone in the park sleeping on the cold wet ground hugging their bottle oblivious to the world and the world oblivious to them, or just even see someone sitting out on the cold stone steps outside shops or buildings drowning in their own sorrows.

I lived on the ground floor right in the corner near the public bathroom. We were quite lucky since we didn't have to go far if we needed to use the toilet especially when its cold. I rang the doorbell, we owned one of those old fashioned doorbells that you turn and make a loud shrilling noise like one of those old-fashioned telephones. My mom answered the door her brown musey hair tied back and her face pale from the hard days of work she endured. I hugged her relieved to be home and breathed in her familiar scent, I kicked off my shoes and hunted in the kitchen for something to fix up.
Now I would have said that our kitchen had been tiny, but then it seemed okay, with just enough place for a fridge, a stove, a tiny counter, a pantry at the back and the samll dinner table. Yet we rarely ate together, I always ate at the table and my parents ate in the living room which is also their bedroom with a couch that has a pull-out bed. Further on was my bedroom, it has been mine since the day i was born, my old crib was still there at the back which I had slept in till I was five. All our windows faced the small empty courtyard outside , I remembered that as a really young kid I used to climb out of my bedroom window into the courtyard. Even though there wasn't much to do but I felt quite pretty grown up being outside on my own but then i got quickly scared and climbed back in.

I had started school only a few months ago, It was okay i guess but ther teachrs were mean, and clipped you on the ear when you misbehaved which i seemed to do alot. I didin't care much for schoolwork then, all I seemed to do was pick fights with my classmates and daydream.But sometimes I did try to be good just so that I would get a good report in my journal which I could proudly display to my parents basking in their praises,I never did. Like i said, the teachers were mean…especially to me.

I also had a boyfriend in my class, well he wasn't REALLY my boyfriend but he did like me, he said so himself! He also like four other girls in our class.When I asked him who he liked the most he merely replied '' Its like a tower of cards, If you take one away the rest collapse.'' I nodded wisely like I understood, he had been pretty smart. Our friendship had been short-lived though, when I had stolen two euro from his room when he wasn't looking. What a scandal that had been!

I had been eating my sandwhitch in the kitchen when suddenly my dad burst in grinning from ear to ear his blue eyes sparkling behind his glasses. ''Guess what Anna!'' He cried, my mom shuffled in behind him her old slippers worn out. ''What is it Andy?'' She asked her green eyes full of concern.
''I just got an job offer in…America!''
It was quiet in the room you could hear the clock ticking th seconds away. My mom covered her mouth and took my dads hand
''After all this time they replied'' she cried
''They did indeed'' My dad boomed still grinning, I still didn't say anything.
''Well Anna'' he placed his hand on my shoulder
''This means that you're going to have to pay more atention in you English class in school!''
''America'' It sounded strange and foreign on my tongue, I liked it! My face broke into a smile listening to my dads excited chatter about the house and car and everything els that we are going to own.Picturing those things in my head made my own dreams come true.
That truly had been the best christmas.