The Christmas Boy

         “Can you please help me, ma’am?” he asked a middle-aged woman as he tugged on the hem of her sleeve.
         The woman looked down at the boy who was dressed in fine winter clothing. “What is the matter, child? Are you lost?”
         “Yes, ma’am,” he answered her as he began to cry. “I am scared because I can’t find my mommy and daddy.”
         “Oh, you poor dear. Don’t cry. I will help you
find them. What is your name?”
         “My name?” the little boy asked through sniffles.
         The woman took a handkerchief out of her purse and dried the boy’s tears. She then knelt down to his level to make him feel more comfortable. “Yes, Dear. Your name.”
         “It’s Gabriel... Gabriel Smith.”
         “Well, Gabriel, my name is Lucy Sampson and I would be happy to help you.”
         Gabriel quickly wrapped the woman in a warm hug. “Thank you, Miss Lucy. I knew I could count on you.”
         Lucy smiled brightly and returned the hug that was given to her. She then stood up and took hold of the little boy’s hand. ”So which way should we go first?” she asked, as she peered up and down the rich and lavish streets of this small wintry town. It was a beautiful view this early in the twentieth century.
         “Um... Maybe we can go to the toy store? Mommy and Daddy always go there, especially around Christmas time.”
         “Okay, then to the toy store it is.”
         Lucy and Gabriel walked to the main section of town, and all the while they both admired the Christmas lights that were displayed on almost every building.
         When they reached the toy store, Gabriel tugged
his new friend inside with all his might. “Come, Lucy!”
         “I’m coming, Dear, but I’m a little too slow for you, I think.”
         Inside the little boy played for about an hour with various things. Then suddenly with a sullen look, he strolled up to Lucy, who was watching him from about five feet away. “I think we should go now, to the forest.”
         “What is wrong, Gabriel? Why do you want to leave?” Lucy was very concerned as to what could possibly be making this boy unhappy. Besides his losing sight of his parents.
         There was something else that Lucy was sensing. Something very intense and almost supernatural.
         Just as they exited the toyshop, Lucy ran into a couple of her friends on the sidewalk. She talked with them for a minute or two before introducing them to Gabriel. “Beth, Judy, I would like you to meet...” she gazed down on both sides of her and saw that Gabriel was gone.
         “Lucy, is everything all right?” Judy inquired seeing a lost nature enter her friend’s eyes.
         “Um... I’m not sure. Did you see a little boy walk out of the store with me?”
         “No. I didn’t. Did you, Beth?”
         “No,” she answered grabbing Lucy’s arm to get her attention. “Is everything okay?”
         Lucy smiled wanly, “Huh? Oh, yes. Everything is fine! I must go,” she said anxiously. “Have a Merry Christmas!” She waved goodbye to her friends and then went in search for Gabriel.
         It grew later into the night and a nasty wind picked up as Lucy traveled beyond city
limits and into the nearby forest. She knew she shouldn’t be out here all by herself, but she couldn’t imagine a little boy out there in the cold all alone. He must be so cold and scared!
         With determination set in, Lucy, a young widow, pressed on through the cold. “Gabriel!” she called, pulling her burgundy velvet dress more tightly around her. Nothing but the bitter and sharp howl of the wind answered her words.
         For hours she walked through the trees shouting Gabriel’s name--and fighting with the wind for her hat--but no other voice was heard.
         She was tired now and her throat was getting raw, so a few minutes of rest were in order. Lucy brushed the snow from a log that was nestled in between two large oak trees, and then lay down.
         While she basked in the light of the full moon, she admired the winter scene before her. Snow covered the ground as well as the tree limbs in a vast blanket of whiteness. It was purely a sight to behold, while the moon’s reflection made the snow sparkle.
         “Miss Lucy! Please, wake up!” Gabriel insisted as he shook the sleeping woman.
         “Huh? What?” she replied and then sluggishly wiped her eyes and stood up.
         “It’s me, ma’am,” he said, as he tugged on her dress.
         “Lucy’s eyes followed the direction of the voice.
“Oh. Gabriel, Sweetheart, are you all right? I was worried about you.” She knelt down and gave him a hug.
         “I’m okay, Mom. I mean, ma’am.”
         Lucy released the little boy and looked at him genuinely. “Did you just call me ‘Mom‘?”
         “Uh...” Gabriel started and then declined to answer the question.
         In the distance, a train whistle blew which reminded the lost child of his mission: to bring his mother home.
         “Is that a train?” Lucy wondered aloud.
         “Yes, and we must go. Daddy is waiting for us.”
         “What! Are you playing a game that you’re not telling me about?”
         “No. I am telling the truth. Daddy and I have been waiting for you to come home for seven years. We missed you a lot!” Gabriel tried explaining to this woman who she really was but it just wasn’t working.
         “Gabriel, Honey. Listen, I don’t have a son or a husband,” she stated in a kind voice.
         “Yes, you do, Mommy. You just don’t remember.”
         Lucy decided to humor this child, as she was sure that he had confused her with someone else. She also wanted to spend as much time with him as she could, for he reminded her of little boy about which she used to dream. “Please, then, Gabriel, help me to remember.”
         The boy smiled and began his tale. “Well, it was about seven years ago when you sent Daddy and me out on Christmas Eve to get a few last minute things for Christmas. After Daddy and I got the things you asked for, he took me to the toy store. He let me play there until I wanted to go home. Only...” his voice grew soft and he began to cry again.
         “Only what, Dear?”
         “Daddy and I never made it home. It was a really cold night and the car stopped on the train tracks.”          
         “What do you mean ‘stopped‘?”
         “It just wouldn’t work. Daddy tried to turn the
key, but nothing happened.
         “Oh, you mean it stalled.”
         “Yeah, I...I guess so. But then the train was too close for us to make it out of the car...and we didn’t survive,” he concluded as his crying started to cease.
         “Oh, Honey. I’m so sorry to hear...” Lucy stopped suddenly as she had a realization. “You mean I’m talking to a ghost?” she asked, while every cell in her body began to shake.
         “Yes, but don’t be afraid. I am a good ghost and I have come to take you home. But before I do, Daddy said that I have to help you remember what happened.”
         “But, what if I don’t want to remember?”
         Gabriel started to weep and through sobs he said, “Then, Mommy, you cannot come with us to heaven, and you will be lost here with all of the other wandering ghosts.
         “But I still don’t understand why you believe me to be your mother.”
         “Because you are. Look in your purse.” Lucy did as was suggested and inside she found a couple of black and white photos. As if by some kind of magic, Lucy recalled all of the events about which Gabriel had talked. She also knew why she went back to using her maiden name, Sampson; it was to suppress the painful memory that surfaced with the usage of her married name.
         Simultaneously, with these memories, she also had flashbacks of the photographs she possessed. It was three days before the dreadful accident that Lucy, her husband Jack, and their son, had taken a short drive to the photographer just down the road. What a lovely day that had been, with the sun shining and the birds chirping. Everyone in town was happy.
         “Do you remember now, Mommy?”
         She snapped her head out of her thoughts and began to cry, “Yes, Gabriel...my son. I do.” Lucy held her little boy in yet another warm hug, but somehow there was a difference in this one. Perhaps it was because she now knew that this child was hers, and with that came more warmth and compassion than she ever thought imaginable.
         “Are you ready to go see Daddy now?”
         “But how can I?” She stood up, “I’m not dead...” Lucy began as the earth planted an ice patch under her feet. She fell back toward the log, where she had fallen asleep, and prepared herself to hit it. That didn’t happen. Instead, she supernaturally, slipped through the log and landed hard on the ground.
         “Mommy, are you all right?”
         “Yes, Dear, I... Ahhhhh!” she screamed as she stood up and raced to her son’s side.
         There before both of them was Lucy’s body. It was in the position of sleep and very frozen. The spirit of Lucy was in shock at the sight in front of her. Her mouth was agape and her eyes wide at the paleness of her former body.
         “You see? Now you can come with me to see Daddy.” Gabriel smiled and grabbed his mother’s hand.
         It took Lucy a few seconds to respond, and when she did her words seeped out though her lips in a whisper. “I guess I can now, can’t I?”
         “Yup. Are you ready to go?”
         Without knowing really what to say, Lucy nodded.
Instantly, her son pulled her along with him through the rest of the way to the train tracks.
         “Why are we here, Gabriel?”
         “Because, Mommy, this is where the accident happened and it’s where Daddy is waiting for us.”
Lucy looked up and down the train tracks. “But there is no one here.”
         “We must wait until we can see the train,” he reported, trying to make things as clear as he could. “See! Here it comes.” Gabriel squealed as the train blew its whistle and the headlight came into view.
         As the train barreled down on them, Lucy still clung to her mortal fear while they stood in the middle of the train‘s path. Gabriel, being the perceptive child that he was, sensed his mother’s uneasiness. “It’s okay, Mommy. The train can’t hurt us. We are ghosts, so it will go right through us.”
         Her son’s reassurance helped Lucy to calm down only slightly, as the large metal beast came within a few feet from them, staring them in their faces. The train then seemed to collide with them and Lucy let out a curdling scream.
         “It’s okay, Mommy. See?” Gabriel pointed up toward the sky. There, a white light appeared from out of nowhere and transported Lucy and her son into heaven. “Daddy, we’re home!” Gabriel called.
         Jack, his father, walked out of a bright cloud and greeted his son. “Gabriel, my boy,” he said, as he knelt down on one knee and took his son into his arms.
         Lucy stared at this display and then more discretely at her husband as she recollected how stunning he looked in life, and marveled at his still well groomed appearance. How could she have forgotten the dark hair and the mysterious features he possessed?
         Jack stood up and approached his wife, while he admired her long, curly auburn hair and green eyes. Standing in front of her, he placed a hand on her cheek and peered intently into her eyes. “Welcome home, Darling.”