The Christmas House Read online

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  "Chime, chime, chime, chime, chime, chime." The grandfather clock announced to the guests that it was once again 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Day. It was time to say good-bye.

  Michael and Arianna transcended the stairs for they have been watching the minutes tick away as they lay in each other’s arms for the last several hours. Michael was visibly upset and saddened by the passing of the time.

  “I can’t believe it’s already time for you to leave. It seemed to take forever for you to get here and then in a blink of an eye, the time for you to leave has come so quickly,” Michael said.

  “I know Michael. I wish we could spend everyday like today, but I guess we should just be thankful that we do have this one day per year, thanks to Martha and this wonderful house.”

  Guests were putting on their coats and grabbing their empty trays and platters as Michael and Arianna reached the foyer area. One by one they exited the house and walked into the darkness. Michael hugged and kissed each of them, as he bid them farewell until the following year.

  Jack and Wanda arrived in the foyer and Michael became teary eyed.

  “I’m going to miss you both very much. Please look after my family over the next year. You have always been there for me Jack. I love you both,” said Michael as he became choked up with emotion.

  “Take care buddy. Have a great life. Well be seeing you around,” Jack replied.

  “Hey, next year I’m going to beat you at a pancake eating contest Jack,” Michael said.

  “Sure, Mikey, whatever you say. Merry Christmas,” he replied as he left the house.

  Wanda said not a word but hugged Michael tightly and ran from the house crying. As she caught up to Jack, they walked toward the street and vanished into the night.

  Michael and Arianna’s parents were next to leave and unlike previous years of joyful and happy good-byes, this time they were deeply saddened.

  “Merry Christmas Mom and Dad. Hey, it’s okay. I’ll see you next year,” Michael said.

  They all just stood there crying, as they hugged and kissed Michael good-bye. Michael was starting to question why everyone was so unhappy, but then assumed it was simply because he was so unhappy. The situation was much different this year than in years past.

  Dennis joined the family at the front door and told Michael that he was going to walk out with his parents, but he would return.

  As both sets of parents and Dennis departed out the front door, Michael turned to find Arianna, David and Nicole standing in front of him. Except for Martha, they were the last to leave. Michael dropped to his knees and took Nicole into his arms and hugged her petite body over and over again. She kissed Michael on the cheek.

  “Thanks for my horse Daddy. Merry Christmas. I love you.”

  She ran out the door and waited for her mother to join her on the front stoop.

  As Michael rose wiping tears from his eyes, David extended his hand.

  “I’m going to miss you Dad.”

  Michael by passed David’s hand and wrapped his arms around him as he brought him close to his chest. David broke away from his father’s grip and as he headed out the front door he shouted, “Merry Christmas Dad! I love you!”

  Michael continued to weep as Arianna placed her hands on his face and wiped the tears away.

  “It’s okay Michael. I love you with all of my heart.”

  Michael looked at her neck and saw the heart shaped pendant hanging from the gold chain.

  “Speaking of hearts, you need to take that off or I will never see you again,” Michael said.

  He helped Arianna undo the necklace and placed it inside of his pants pocket. At that moment Martha walked into the room.

  “Time to go Arianna. I’m sorry child, but rules are rules,” Martha said.

  Arianna smiled at Martha and turned to Michael.

  “I love you so much. The time will pass fast. I will be here again before you know it.” She kissed him deeply and ran out the front door.

  Michael turned toward the door and watched his family as they walked toward the street. They stopped and waved at Michael. He waved back as they continued to walk and then vanished into the foggy darkness of the evening.

  Martha came up to Michael and laid her hands on his face.

  “Michael I have something very important to tell you. I think we better sit down for a minute.”

  Michael walked away from the front door as Martha took his arm and led him into the dining room. As they sat at the dining room table, Martha took both of Michael’s hands into her own.

  “Michael, a decision has been made by all of the guests that visited your home this evening, with the exception of Arianna and your children who will learn of this decision shortly. It has become obvious to all of us that your life would be wasted waiting for Christmas Eve to come around year after year. You have made it clear that you will never remarry and you will live your life as a hermit everyday but Christmas. This is not the way a young man should spend the rest of his life. If you were going to die soon, I may have felt different but I have it from a very reliable source that you are going to live a very long life. We all want that life to be just as happy as it will be long.”

  “Martha, what are you trying to say?” asked Michael.

  “Michael, none of us will be returning to visit you again. We have all decided to give up our privilege to visit you, so you will not plan your life around our visits. You will be forced to get on with your life,” she replied.

  “No! Wait! You can’t do this!” he shouted.

  “Michael, hush! It is the best thing for you and for us. And to make sure that none of us could change our minds, we have purposely left you a gift of mass and matter, which is sitting by the Christmas tree. This is a clear violation of the rules of this house. We are not allowed to return because we have left you such a gift,” she stated.

  “I don’t want some stupid gift of mass and matter! I just want you and my family to be with me on Christmas!” Michael exclaimed.

  “Michael, the decision has been made and it cannot be reversed. We all love you dearly and that is why we are doing this. God bless you child. You will find happiness and love without our annual visits. I have to leave now Michael. Merry Christmas,” she said as she stood up from the table and walked to the front door.

  “No, wait. Martha! Please come back! What did I do wrong? I built the house! I regained my faith! What did I do wrong?” he shouted as Martha opened the storm door and walked into the darkness.

  Michael continued to yell after her.

  “Martha! Martha! Please come back! Martha!”

  As Michael stood looking out into the night air, he saw nothing but fog and a light snow falling to the ground through his tears. He stepped back into the house and sat down on the second step of the staircase. He lowered his head and covered his face with his hands as he strongly wept. Many minutes passed until his crying subsided, for Michael had finally run out of tears.

  He stood up and slowly walked into the family room. Looking at the fireplace he saw a crystal decanter sitting on the mantle. The decanter was filled with whiskey. Michael took a glass that was sitting on a nearby table and then grabbed the bottle from the mantle. As he sat down on the apron of the fireplace, he removed the crystal stopper from the decanter and filled his glass three quarters of the way.

  As he set the bottle down on the floor and raised the glass to his lips, he saw a white envelope balanced on the back of the rocking horse. He set his glass on the floor next to the decanter and walked over to the horse positioned near the Christmas tree. As he reached for the envelope, he saw the notation written on the front that read, “Merry Christmas Michael from your Family and Friends.”

  He opened the envelope and pulled a piece of paper folded into three parts from it. He unfolded the paper and read the letter.

  It simply read, “Our gift to you is love, faith and friendship. Merry Christmas Michael” and it w
as signed by all of the guests.

  Michael stared at the letter for a few more seconds. He was confused. Love, faith and friendship were not gifts of mass and matter.

  “Why can’t the guests come back next year for leaving me these consumable feelings?”

  He became outraged and kicked the rocking horse so hard that it slid into the Christmas tree and shattered several glass ornaments into a thousand little pieces. As he stared at the broken colored glass lying on the floor, he couldn’t help but think how the shattered pieces of glass that were once solid and beautiful, were the perfect metaphor of his life. In a matter of seconds, his life, like the fragile glass ornament, was reduced to shattered and crumbled ruins.

  As he walked back to the fireplace and sat on the apron, he heard the front door open and shut. He yelled out.

  “I’m in the family room Denny. Come on in here. I need you to help me try to sort this all out,” he shouted.

  As he sat and pondered the letter he heard the footsteps enter the room.

  “I got this letter from all of the guests and Martha said that- ” He stopped talking as he looked up expecting to see Denny but instead he saw Arianna and the children standing before him. Arianna and David were crying. Michael stood up with letter still in hand.

  “Arianna! David, Nicole? What are you doing here?”

  “We walked into the darkness but we never vanished. We just stood there for several minutes. We have never done this before and we were so scared and confused. Then, out of nowhere Martha came to us. She told us not to be scared and then she said, “Welcome home mass and matter. Merry Christmas,” and then she vanished. What did she mean by that Michael?”

  Michael looked at the letter and then realized that the gifts of mass and matter that the guests left behind for him were his family. Arianna, David and Nicole were home to stay.

  Michael ran to Arianna and the children and hugged them all tightly and kissed them repeatedly. He placed his hands on Arianna’s face and looked deep into her eyes.

  “You’re not dead anymore! You’re home! Martha said that the guests made a decision to never visit me again because they felt I would be wasting my life waiting for you to come here every Christmas. My God, they gave up their opportunity of immortality just so we could be together again!”

  “What are you talking about Michael?”

  “Don’t you see what has happened? They left behind a gift of mass and matter. They did so knowing they could never return. The three of you are that gift! That’s what Martha meant when she said to you, “Welcome home mass and matter!”

  “Oh my God! No Michael, you must be mistaken. How could they do this! Why didn’t they tell us they were doing this?” Arianna asked.

  “Because if they would have told us, we would have never agreed to it,” responded Michael.

  “Michael is this really happening? Are we really here for good?” Arianna asked.

  Michael hugged her and kissed her.

  “I will never let you go again. My undying love for you has brought you back to me and it will keep you here for the rest of ‘my’ life, which I have been assured from a very reliable source will be very long and now also, very happy.”

  Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out the white diamond and blue sapphire necklace.

  “I believe this heart as well as the one inside of me belongs to you,” he said as he attached the necklace around Arianna’s neck.

  “Does this mean I have to go back to school on Monday?” David interrupted.

  “I don’t think that would be a very wise idea David. Might create quite a stir,” Michael said.

  “Oh Michael, we have to move. We can’t stay here. We will surely be recognized in no time at all. How will the kids attend school? How will I work? I can’t go back to the police station. They will think I’m a ghost! This will be very difficult to explain.” Arianna said.

  “Arianna, relax. We are going to move as quickly as possible. The magic of this house is no longer available to us. We should move and let another family live in this magical home. A family that will be able to appreciate the wonders this house can bring to a loving a caring family,” Michael said.

  Standing in front of the Christmas tree, Michael embraced Arianna and picked Nicole up in his arms.

  “Thank you Martha. Thank you for all of your generosity and your love, but most of all, thank you for giving me back my family.”

  Three Months Later.

  As the time passed, Arianna and the children seldom left the house on Festive Lane. She asked Michael to visit the library to check out suitable books for David to study until he could be enrolled into a new school under a new identity. Nicole was busy playing cowgirl on her hobbyhorse and had been fairly easy to control. David on the other hand was terrible. In his mind, he missed a full year of school. All of his classmates were now seniors in high school, when he would be started over as a junior at another school. He wanted to go outside and hang out with other kids. He was getting bored being a prisoner in his own house. Michael and Arianna were at their wits end trying to help David make the adjustment to life.

  Unfortunately, Arianna was not doing much better herself. She was very happy to be with Michael again, but the lack of freedom was driving her crazy as well. She counted the days until they would move to their new home so her and the kids could once again live life as they once remembered.

  Michael was living life to the fullest. The happiness in his heart was so great he felt like he was walking on air every waking moment. His love for Arianna was stronger than ever. He spent a substantial amount of time with his children and worked a little less. Work would always be there; his family as he knew all too well, may not. Life was good for the Carters. Life was also good for the Kowalski’s. It seems that on his way back to the house after walking out with his parents that Christmas night, Dennis ran into a very attractive woman dressed up as Mrs. Santa Claus. Dennis and Sharon are due to be married in June.

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  At the end of March the Carters followed a moving truck to their new, yet smaller home in Algonquin, IL. Algonquin was a nice middle class suburb that 60 miles west of Lake Forest. Great schools and a healthy population of kids awaited David and Nicole’s arrival. Michael sold the house on Festive Lane to a wealthy couple who had three children of their own.

  Unlike the previous attempts to sell the house, this transaction went through without any conditions having been applied to the sale. The local Realtor, Thomas Clark finally made a commission from the sale of the home and the buyers were not even remotely related to Tony Cesario. Michael took the profits from the sale of the house on Festive Lane and donated the majority to charity, as he and Arianna always intended.

  Michael and family were back together. Michael often reminded Arianna of a phrase Martha said to them once. “Paradise is anywhere that I can be with you,” and a modest three-bedroom ranch home in Algonquin was all the paradise they would ever need. As they looked back over their short 5 years at the house on Festive Lane, they realized that it was a wonderful experience that they would not have missed for the world. The house brought them many years of joy and happiness as well as desperate times and moments of anguish. They learned a great deal from the house. Michael regained his faith forever and understood life much better these days. Should he ever lose a loved one again, before he passed on himself, he would not blame God for his loss. It was part of life. Michael was grateful to have a second chance with his family to live his life without questioning every disappointment.

  5:59 p.m.

  Christmas Eve

  148 Festive Lane

  At the house on Festive Lane a family of five sits down to a Christmas dinner. The parents are in their mid 40’s and their children, a boy and two girls, are sixteen, thirteen and ten respectively.

  An older couple walking hand in hand approaches the front walkway carrying trays of cookies. They step up onto the front stoop and ring the doo
rbell.

  “Merry Christmas Susan!” they shout as the front door of the house opened.

  “HOLY SHIT!” a woman’s voice exclaims.

  It was exactly one minute after six on Christmas Eve.

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  Life can take many twists and turns. To find our way, we have to keep an open mind and a loving heart. Thus, the next time you are walking down a crowded street, you may see someone you think you recognize. You may be startled and confused when you realize that the person you thought you saw was an old friend or family member that has been gone for many years. When this happens and it will, don’t let common sense steal away that split second that may allow you to call out their name and embrace their love once again. That split second may be the difference between a lifetime without them or a little slice of magic that can only be described as heaven on earth.

  The End