Some Call It Luck - Chapter 7

by Jim Wile

Background
A brilliant and beautiful but insecure, nerdy young woman befriends a going nowhere older alcoholic caddie. Together, they bring out the best in each other and collaborate on a startling new invention

Abby St. Claire

1 week later
Christmas Eve, 1977

This was the best Christmas Eve ever! I don’t even know how Christmas Day tomorrow can top this day. I invited Fred over to have dinner and to go caroling with us over in Grandpa’s neighborhood after dinner. Lisa also invited a friend for dinner and caroling.

Before dinner I got to show Fred the cat door I made for Lester. “Wow, Abby. You built this all by yourself?”

“Well, Dad helped a little with getting the back door off and back on, but I designed it and did pretty much everything else. I had to make a modification to the original plan yesterday because Lester kept bringing dead mice and birds into the house and depositing them on the kitchen floor. Mom suggested that I make a rigid door to slide up and down in front of the flap. She suggested we put it down after Lester went out so that he couldn’t come back in until he meowed to be let in. I would crack open the door to make sure he didn’t have an animal in his jaws before letting him in. Mom thought that if we did this enough, he would learn he couldn’t come in on his own unless he dropped his catch first. I don’t know if it’ll work, but I agreed to try it and made the sliding door.”

“Looks like you did a great job on the whole thing.”

“Thanks. Hey, Fred. I’ve got a present I’d like to give you before we go out caroling tonight. I think you might need it.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I’ve g-got one for you too which you may also need.”

I went and got his from under the Christmas tree where all the presents were, while he got mine from a shelf in the coat closet where he had hung his coat. He opened my present to him first.

It was a soft, red scarf. “I noticed that you didn’t wear one the couple times we went ice skating together, and I thought maybe you might need one.”

“It’s beautiful, Abby, and so soft too. Most scarfs are itchy, but this one looks like it will be really comfortable. Thank you!”

He reached down and picked up the present for me that he had laid on a table. “Here’s yours.” He then handed me a package that was beautifully wrapped in silvery paper with light blue and white ribbons that spilled over the edges and reminded me of icicles. “I wrapped it myself,” he said.

It was almost too pretty to open, but I did, eventually. In it was a long, pointed white snow cap—the kind an elf might wear. It had green trim around the bottom and a green pom-pom on the end that matched my green eyes, and it looked really cute when I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror on the side of the coat closet. My red hair looked good against it.

“I love it, Fred! It’s so cute.”

After a dinner of pot roast with potatoes and carrots, buttered green beans, and apple cobbler for dessert, we all piled into our station wagon and headed over to Grandpa’s house. He had put Christmas lights in all the bushes in front of his house and up and down the columns on his front porch. It looked pretty when we came driving up in the dark.

I introduced him to Fred, who he hadn’t met before, and they shook hands. After settling down in his living room, Grandpa handed out little booklets of Christmas carols that we would use tonight. He and Mom and Dad were going to go caroling with us kids. The seven of us practiced some songs first before heading out, so we could all agree on the right key to sing in. Grandpa had a little tuning thingy that he would blow softly to start us out right. I sang very softly because I tended to sing a bit offkey. Fred had a nice voice, and he didn’t seem to stutter when he sang.

After a couple of songs, we were eager to get started. Our first stop was the Huffnagles next door. The front of their house was brightly lit with lots of colored bulbs too, like Grandpa’s. They both stood at the door and listened to us sing “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” while we stood on their front porch. They thanked us when it was over and wished us all a Merry Christmas.

We went up and down the street, stopping at every house to sing—even at the Steins’, who were Jewish, where we sang “Frosty the Snowman.” Some of the folks decided to join us in our roving troupe of singers. There was a small park just around the corner, and we all gathered there to keep singing.

By the time we got to the park, there were maybe 14 of us—about half kids and half adults. Grandpa had brought extra song booklets, which he passed out to the new folks.

It had started to snow gently, and it looked really pretty when lit up by the lights in the park. We set up beneath one of the overhead lights so the singers could read the song books.

Lots of people came out that night to stroll through the park and listen to our little choir, and we encouraged them to join in. Fred and I stood next to each other. I wore my new hat, and Fred wore his new scarf. We held hands while we sang.

When it got to be about 9:00 PM, we were getting pretty cold, so we all said good night and Merry Christmas to each other and headed home. Our original seven headed back to Grandpa’s house.

He made a big fire in his fireplace, and we all sat around it to warm our hands and faces. We kept our coats on until we started to warm up. Grandpa also made a big pot of hot cocoa, and we each had a cup of that with marshmallows.

We reminisced about past Christmases we’d had while we enjoyed our cocoa. After a while, the talk died down. Grandpa had turned off the lights, so the room was only lit by the Christmas tree and the crackling fire in the fireplace. We just sat there staring into the fire and thinking our own thoughts, when Lisa began singing “Silent Night” very softly. It was beautiful, and we all started to join in.

Yup, this was the best Christmas Eve ever.

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A memorable Christmas eve for Abby

A chapter in the book Some Call It Luck

Some Call It Luck - Chapter 7

by Jim Wile

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