The Wish on the Holly

It was Christmas Eve, and the poor family had nothing.

Maria sat huddled against her two brothers and sisters, her mother and father doing their best to keep everyone warm. The barn had no door, so the wind had invited itself to bring them illness.

The barn was a gift from the Thomas family. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas were growing old, and owning a farm meant work, to which their graying heads and rusty bones had no use for. So the barn was given to Maria's family.

A stiff gust blew in and her brother buried himself into his mother. His face was cold, like a gravestone. The thought made Maria angry at herself. How could she compare her dear brother to something resembling death?

It wasn't all her fault, you see. Her brother did in fact look as close to death as would a withering tulip. His eyes were gray, his face like cinders from a far gone fire, his thin arms hiding under his rags.

Maria was a sickly girl, only eleven, with a very pale skin tone, eyes like amber, and hair the color of almonds. She was very thin and fragile, once related to bird, said Mrs. Thomas. But Maria didn't like to hear herself be compared to a bird. She thought of herself as a fawn, carefree of fear.

In the bundle of shawls, Maria stood up. Her bones held her like branches held the snow. Kissing the frozen faces of her mother and father, her two sisters and two brothers, she whispered goodbye to each of them. Maria walked to the night air and the snowflakes fell into her eyes. Shivering in her shawls, she saw the moon. It looked like an ornament, hanging in the very dark sky.

The clouds had let the night be clear. As the young girl watched the stars mix with the snowflakes, she smiled. It would perhaps be the last time she would see such snow. It was so deep, poor Maria had to step as though she were walking through mud. But she did not have the energy.

Maria sighed. In minutes, midnight came. And the distant church bells warmed her heart. If only she could see them, hear them even closer. In moments, the girl felt her eyes blur, but not from tears. She was fading, was she not? But she did not want to leave Christmas. It was so beautiful.

But Maria was too weak. She dropped in the snow, so cold that it did not melt under her fingers. She laid her head on the welcoming white blanket and caught sight of the barn. She would not see her family in the morning.

But was there morning? Maria's question was answered when a voice spoke.

"Come, Maria," it said. She turned her face and saw the image of a shepherd. He gave her his hand and he helped her stand. The shepherd was white as milk, accompanied by a lamb. They had a ghostly appearance, but it didn't frighten Maria. The shepherd took Maria through the snow. He only looked up at the sky once, and it puzzled her.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly.

"You may call me the Shepherd." he answered. The shepherd held out his hand for her again. She took it, but it was neither cold nor warm.

The shepherd's feet levitated over the ground, and Maria's did, too. They flew over the trees, and Maria smiled at all the snow. She could see chimneys smoking in the distance. How lovely it would be to feel the welcoming kiss of a flame.

Her feet landed on the ice of a lake, and the shepherd held her hands as they spun. The air whipped around her face as she turned her head. The ice had made her feet cold, but she could not feel it. All she felt was joy. The joy of skating on solid ice.

Laughing, Maria lifted into the air once more. The shepherd took her to the town. Maria spotted a candle in the window of a shop and watched it dance in the iris of her eyes. She wanted to feel the flame embrace her. The shepherd led her inside a beautiful house. She saw her reflection on the door handle and touched it. What she would give to wear one of the long dresses the ladies wore.

Inside the house were decorations of holly, ivy, happiness, gratitude, laughter, and music. There was no one inside. A table was set with every dish imaginable. A Christmas feast! Maria rushed to the table and touched the turkey, but it crumbled in ashes in front of her. The cranberries, the decorations, the feast, soon it all disappeared in front of her, and she was left alone in the street with the shepherd.

"Come back!" she cried. She had never seen such a magnificent feast, and it was gone as soon as she saw it.

"It has gone," said the shepherd. "Christmas has gone."

Maria felt herself sink to the snow.

"It can't be gone. Surely everyone can have Christmas. Oh, Shepherd, please tell me I will have Christmas!"

The shepherd took his crook and hit it against the dirt. He swirled into the night as did the vision of the feast.

Where had everyone gone? Was Christmas forgotten?

Maria's tears melted the snow as she watched the empty streets. She was lost, lost in the wintery night. Perhaps she wasn't alone. The girl stood up and walked to the shops.

Oh, if she could have a Christmas dress, a Christmas feast, and all the decorations! A big house, a lovely dinner, all the candles in the world!

But Maria was poor, and her family had left her alone, truly alone. It was only the sound of the church bells that had awoken her from her sadness. She followed towards the sound, soon stopping in front of a beautiful church. The bells swayed and rang out into the night. Maria closed her eyes, and when she opened them, all was gone again. She was laying in the snow not too far from the barn. Maria stood up, brushing the snow off her shawls. She saw a light ahead. It wasn't too strong, but it unfolded a path. Maria walked on the path, her steps careful. The snow under her feet disappeared. She felt her lungs fill with winter air, and she thought she would freeze. But then a hand reached from the light. When Maria touched it, it was warm.

"Come, Maria dear." It was the voice of someone she had loved long ago. It was the voice of her grandmother. Maria closed her eyes, afraid it would all go again, but she felt the welcoming heat of a fire around her. She opened her eyes and saw a table with a feast and her family was sitting in all the chairs. Her sisters and brothers jumped to greet her.

"Maria! Look what we have!" they said, showing her all the food.

Maria looked at the faces of her family. Nobody looked hungry, nobody looked cold, nobody looked sad. This brought Maria a smile as she approached the empty seat at the table.

"May a Merry Christmas give us love, hope, faith, and happiness!" said Maria's grandmother, joining them all.

As Maria was given a plate full of all the best food, she made a wish.

"I wish for Christmas to never be forgotten, and for everyone to have all that I do, and more." she whispered with her eyes closed and her hands clasped around the holly.

And so it was a plentiful Christmas. Maria spun around on the ice, she danced with the candles, and she swung with the church bells. Best of all, she was with those whom she loved.

She was given a small box by her grandmother. Inside was a delicate red ribbon. She tied it into her hair, and it was beautiful. When Maria hugged her family once more, she laid into a soft white bed with pillows and blankets, and for the first time Maria felt perfectly fine. She was neither hungry, cold, nor sad. Watching the chimneys smoking below her, she kissed them all goodnight.

But once more she laid there in the snow in front of the barn. Her face was cold as a gravestone, her eyes closed, and her smile light and pure. Wrapped in layers of shawls, she did not shiver, she did not cry. The red ribbon in her hair had decorated her as though she were a Christmas gift. The snow fell onto her eyelashes, and the stars sparkled in response to her smile. The moon hung with the sky, and the wind sailed with the snow. Although she never opened her eyes again, Maria's heart still chimed with the church bells, the sound of her very spirit.