| |
Authors: Janet , Walter Jones, Denise-Annette Langner-urso, Gregory Christiano, Regina S., Christopher D., Leah G, Little Lost Angel.
Read the story and you will understand the challenge posted at the end of it. PLease Take MY Challenge!
I breathed in the chilly midnight air. Something about the feel of cold air being sucked into my lungs always made me feel so alive. The Christmas’ lights overhead lit up the main street sidewalk. Snowflakes floated down and stuck to the fur collar of my jacket. I had just finished my last-minute Christmas shopping and was headed toward my parked car.
My vehicle was parked behind town in a vacant parking lot. A huge no parking sign was located directly in front of it. Yes, I had seen it when I parked, but all the other parking lots were full. Luckily, my Bronco had not been towed way.
I balanced my armload of packages on my knee, and fumbled with the key, trying to get my door open. Someone behind me spoke and I dropped all my packages. I expected to turn around and find a traffic cop with a parking ticket in his hand.
When I turned around, I found myself eye to eye with Santa Claus. My first thought was this was a serial killer dressed in a Santa suit. I really had to stop reading those horror books. My hand automatically rested on the pepper spray in my coat pocket. I was not willing to take any chances. If Santa made one wrong move, he better hope Rudolph had learned to read e-mail.
“Excuse me, Miss, I need to speak with you for a moment.”
“What would you like to speak to me about?” I asked, placing a firmer grip on my pepper-spray.
“First, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Santa of unselfish wishes.”
Now, I was really becoming frightened. This Santa was really demented. Santa of unselfish wishes, I might have found this to be totally hilarious, if I had not been alone in a deserted parking lot after nightfall.
“Listen, I don’t know what kind of prank you’re trying to pull, but I need to get home.” I pulled at the driver’s side door, but it would not open. The door was unlocked a few moments earlier. I reached in my pocket to retrieve my key, but it was missing.
“Please, just hear me out,” he said, stepping in front of me.
“Please, just go away and leave me alone!” I yelled, hoping someone would hear me and come to my rescue.
“I am not here to hurt you," he said. “I am here to grant you three wishes.”
“Ok, I wish you would go away.” Now, he was a Santa Claus who thought he was a genie. I was thinking, that he must be a schizophrenic. Where had I put my keys? I had to get out of here fast.
“I know you do not believe me,” said Santa. “Perhaps, I can convince you.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out my car keys and dangled them in front of me.
I reached to grab my keys and they disappeared into thin air. Oh this, was just great. I was alone in an abandoned parking lot, with a psychic, schizophrenic, magician, dressed in a Santa suit. I would probably end up on a milk carton and he would be featured on, America’s Most Wanted. My lips were trembling and my knees were knocking. I could not believe I was being this severely punished just for parking in a no parking zone. Maybe, the wisest thing I could do, was play along with him and pray someone would show up to rescue me. “Ok, Santa, I wish you would give me back my keys.”
“Sorry, but there are rules that apply to these wishes.”
“What are the rules?”
“Rule number one; you cannot wish for anything for yourself.”
“Ok, then I wish that homeless man, that I saw earlier, had a brand-new home.”
“Rule number two; your wishes cannot involve anything materialistic.”
“Ok, then I wish the homeless-man was happy.”
“Rule number three; the wishes have to be made for your three worst enemies.”
“Ok, then I wish . . .”
“No!” He interrupted, before I could finish making my wish. “I am not going to make your neighbor’s, busy-body mom’s nose, grow so long she trips over it every time she walks.”
He really was a psychic. He had read my mind. “Ok,
I wish . . .”
He interrupted me again. “I am not going to turn Tammy into a big ugly toad frog,” he said, shaking his head in disgust.
How did he do that? A psychic psychopath, this was really scarey. Now, I understood why he was still on the streets and not behind bars. He could read the investigator’s minds. My body would never be found, and he would never be caught. Santa Claus appeared to be getting very edgy. He was shifting his weight back and forth from one foot to the other and nervously twisting his long, cottony, beard. This was not a good sign. It was pepper-spray time. I quickly pulled the pepper-spray out of my pocket, but before I could hit the sprayer, it flew out of my hand.
“Naughty, Naughty,” said Santa, holding up my can of pepper-spray. “ I am going to have to tell my twin brother you have been a very bad girl this year.”
I stood there, staring at him in shock. Who and what was this guy? I must be dreaming. That was it. I was just having a really bad nightmare. All I had to do, was force myself to wake-up, and this insanity would end. I pinched myself really hard. “Ouch!” I wasn’t dreaming.
“Well, I am waiting for your wishes,” said Santa.
“If I make these wishes will you give me my car keys and let me go home?”
“You will be free to go, after you have made three suitable wishes.”
“Tell me all the rules one more time.”
“Ok, but try to pay attention this time, “ he said.
“I am listening,” I replied, wishing he would let me go home.
“These are the rules”;
“1) You can’t wish for anything for yourself.”
“2) Your wishes cannot involve materialistic items.”
“3) The wishes have to be made for your three worst enemies. They cannot be selfish wishes. You cannot wish anything harmful on them. That is a very selfish wish, and it is something you want. You are allowed only one wish per enemy for a total of three wishes. Your wishes must be something that would have a positive impact on these three people’s lives.”
“You never mentioned all those rules before.” I said, trying to force my brain to work.
“Perhaps, I would have, if I hadn’t been busy trying to keep you from putting my eyes out,” he said.
I was going to be stuck in this parking lot forever. Help me!
THE CHALLENGE
I am in a really bad situation. Santa will not let me go home, until I make three wishes for my worst enemies and I must follow his rules. Will you please help me get home? The challenge is for you to finish my story using your own three worst enemies. They can be any enemies you have had in your entire life. You must follow Santa’s rules. Then I will have people from P.N.P. vote for the best ending and it will be the ending for my story. I will read every person’s submission that answers my challenge. Ok, who is going to satisfy this picky Santa and get me home before Christmas Eve. If you do not have three enemies, you are probably an alien, and you have a great imagination, so make some up. The winner will be my co-author for this story. I hope everyone will take my challenge I cannot wait to read all the different endings to my story.
Of course there is a lesson to be learned here, but if you do not accept my challenge, you will never learn it.
{Ending No.1) by Author: Walter Jones}
As the cold winter air hit my face, the pain of the last three months, jumped before me. The Devil, death and I were my worst enemies. There was not much I could do about any of them and I did not believe in this illusion.
Still, as a prayer escaped my lips, this Santa started backing up. There was a fear in his eyes I had only seen once before. He was reading my mind and I scared the hell out of him. His words came slow, but determined, I cannot grant the Devil a second chance, I cannot let death take a holiday, but I can give you solitude from your pain. Your enemy, the man who killed your daughter, needs your forgiveness.
I fell back into my vehicle, engine running, packages neatly stacked. I was home. There were squad cars parked in my neighbors drive. Two officers were escorting Tom to the squad-car. I walked over to find out what was going on. “I am sorry, but I didn’t see her, really.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. Why, Tom had been there when Bill died, he had done everything. I wanted to cry, but somehow, I felt better. I left the packages in the car. I walked into the house and there stood Santa. “The Devil doesn’t want a second chance, and death has come for you,” he said.
An angel touched me. A voice spoke, it was my daughter.“Mother, I am happy, do not believe this man, he is only your grief trying to consume you.”
I awoke to a police officer pounding on my window, “you can’t park here.” I drove home in a state of confusion. Tom was shoveling my drive as I pulled up. “What a night, no more Christmas parties for me.”
{Ending No.2 Author: Janet }
“You are the only one, who can help you,” said Santa “If you want to get home and wrap those presents.”
“It’s hard for me to think when I am freezing.”
Santa handed me my keys. I unlocked my door and climbed into my driver’s seat with the plan of leaving Santa far behind, but something stopped me. Santa was definitely a strange character, but there was something about him that kept me from leaving. Maybe, it was simple curiosity, or maybe it was something more. I cranked the car, turned on the heater and became lost in thought.
I suddenly remembered why this Santa frightened me so much. Why, I always carried pepper- spray, slept with a loaded gun close to my bed, and always locked my windows and doors. I had even taken an advanced self-defense course. The face of the stalker who forced me to live in fear for three long years was standing in front of me. Every stranger’s face had been transformed into his for the last twelve years. I was no longer able to trust people.
“Santa, I am ready to make my first wish.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I have thought about it for the last twelve years.”
“Ok, make your wish.”
“I wish the man, who stalked me for three years, would be caught. He is a sick man and he needs help. If he was caught, he would have to admit what he did and get help. This would have a positive impact on his life.”
“Ok, I suppose you followed the rules,” he said.
“No, Santa, I didn’t play by the rules. That man is not one of my worst enemies. My mistrust of people is one of my enemies. Another one of my enemies is my own fear.”
Santa’s blue eyes twinkled and he smiled. I was beginning to see just how clever this Santa really was.
“Are you ready to make your next wish?”
“My father is an alcoholic, and I wish, he would get help for his problem.”
“This would be a positive impact on his life, but I cannot believe you consider your own father one of your worst enemies," replied Santa.
“I don’t consider him one of my worst enemies,” I said. “The anger that I feel toward him, for the pain he put my family through, is my worst enemy of all.”
Santa smiled again and placed his gentle hand on my shoulder. I did not put Santa into an arm bar and knee him where it hurts, which is what I would have normally done to any stranger who touched me.
All of a sudden, I was setting in front of my tree wrapping Christmas presents. I looked down at the glass of eggnog sitting beside me. “Honey, did you spike the eggnog again this year?” I would avoid parking in a no parking zone again. Guilt could make a person have all kinds of horrible illusions.
That night, I left both doors and all the windows unlocked in my house. I unloaded my gun and threw away all my pepper spray. That night, I had peaceful dreams. The man’s face no longer haunted me in my dreams. My father’s drunken rage, no longer made me angry. I was free at last. Free from my mistrust, fear, and anger. For the first time in my life, I was free from the prison walls, I had created inside myself.
(Ending NO.3 Author Denise L.}
“Ok.” I said, hoping he would let me go
“My greatest enemy is war. I want every war to stop immediately, and for all mankind to live in peace,” I said. “I do not want any more wars, not ever.”
“My second enemy is hunger. I want you to end the existence of starvation.”
“And my third enemy of course is pollution. My last wish. I want earth healed from pollution. All mankind will have fresh air and clean water and plenty of it.”
I still do not know what happened, but I was standing in paradise. The air smelled so fresh and bells were ringing because the wars had stopped. A radio announcer spoke about how clean and pure all the springs, oceans, and rivers were. Everyone had fresh water and plenty of it. I heard a T.V. spokesman announce, “Crops are growing in soil where nothing has ever grown before.” Food was bountiful and starvation no longer existed.
I heard a loud ring, and I fell out of my bed. A new day had arrived with the same old world wide problems. Nothing had changed, but I will never forget the beautiful dream of last night.
{Ending No.4} Gregory Christiano}
Hmmm. My mind was racing. First I had to determine who were my worst enemies! That didn’t take too long. Second, I despised these people so much I didn’t want anything positive to happen to them! Quite a pickle I found myself in! I thought some more…
I looked at this bogus Santa right in the eyes…”Really now!” I began, “You could say my worst enemies are the seven deadly sins! You could stretch it and say ‘I’m my worst enemy!’ No, I guess not. How about poverty, ignorance, insanity? These are mankind’s worst enemies? What about that?” Santa shook his head, no. “You want real people, right?”
Santa nodded in agreement.
I paused a moment and thought how ridiculous this whole thing was. Here I am talking to a lunatic dressed in a Santa suit, in an empty parking lot! But, fearing for my life, I continued to amuse him, occasionally darting my eyes around, hoping someone would come by. This guy seemed to be reading my mind!
I searched my mind for my worst enemies…of course, my mother-in-law, a natural. She’s a rather arrogant woman, opinionated, sour, bigoted through and through, and really uneducated. I’ve been at war with her for years. I thought long and hard. What could I possibly say to change her attitude towards me or anyone else for that matter? She had so many faults I couldn’t single out just one that wasn’t just as bad or obnoxious as the other! She’d have to have a complete personality change, including an education!
I stumbled over my words…”I wish my mother-in-law, that lovely, no-good, sweet, pain-in-the- neck, be given a sudden revelation! Let her be aware of the pain she inflicts on people when she selfishly hurts their feelings. Every time she opens her mouth and some insult comes out, let her experience how it feels to have your feelings hurt! Hey, that should shut her up! She’d have to think twice about the next thing she says.”
Santa smiled and winked at me! My eyebrows went up in surprise. He nodded and said, “Done! Next.”
“Oh,” I said aloud. “Let me see. Ah! There’s that miserable, arrogant, strutting creep at work. He’s a co-worker of mine and the biggest phony you’d ever meet. He’s always berating people behind their backs. He never has anything good to say about anything or anyone. He gives new meaning to the word – negative. He is so two-faced and has everyone fooled with his phony charm and smooth manners. He’s so pleased with himself it makes me want to puke! He thinks he’s Prince Charming whenever he’s around me, while he’s conspiring to ambush me and make me look bad. How’s this for a worst enemy? “
I took a breath and continued, “I’d rather you strangle him where he stands!”
Santa didn’t say a word, just stared at me steely-eyed. I sighed, “Okay, how about another personality change. Is that what this is all about? I’ve got it! Place the crumb in situations where he’s overheard by the very people he’s talking bad about. When they hear what he really has to say about them, they’ll run him out of town. Now that’s a positive change. Right?”
“Clever,” said the phony Santa, “I’ll do it. Next.”
I thought about it and thought out loud. “Well, there’s my next-door neighbor, nosy and pushy. Then there’s my quarrelsome cousin, oh and my ex, of course! Hey, wait a minute. What about a national figure. A person who I don’t know personally but who is really an enemy, not only to me but to all decent people?”
Santa looked me in the eye. “Now that’s more to the point. An enemy that most people could hate! Go ahead. Name the person and state your request.”
“Osama! Who else!” I said and winked at him for a change. Santa actually chucked, “Really? What do you want me to do?”
“Expose his whereabouts so we’ll catch him off guard and we’ll finally capture the bastard. Now the trick is to make it happen so he’s captured unharmed. He’ll stand trial and we’ll bring this terrorist to justice once and for all. What do you think?”
He nodded again. Before he could speak I asked, “Who are you, really?”
He paused a moment and came closer, I could see his face much clearer than before. He had deep blue eyes behind wire-rimmed spectacles. His face was wrinkled with age but it had a calm wisdom about it. In fact, his white beard was real! The dim light of the parking lot hid the true appearance. His costume wasn’t really a traditional Santa suit, it was elegant in its refinements. Funny I hadn’t notice all this before. Probably because I was too traumatized.
“Tell me who you are?” I demanded.
“I am known by many names, by many cultures. You know me. Search your past and I am there. For almost two millennia I have traveled here to become your benefactor. Few are chosen. You were one, because you have a good and pure heart. I want no veneration only your outstretched hand to accept my gift. Accept it, embrace it. I am Saint Nicholas of Myra.”
I thought a moment and realized the amazing truth. He was a figure out of history, out of myth and legend, yet here he was – flesh and blood. There was no denying. Before I could utter another word -
Santa vanished! He disappeared right before my eyes!
Yes, all three wishes were granted, don’t you know.
I did make it home safely that evening. As the next day dawned, I found a changed personal life and a changed world as well!
THE END
Gregory J. Christiano
(Ending No.5} Author: Regina S.
"Alright, alright, fine! I’m almost sure I fainted or something, but I’ll play along. Even if I am dreaming, I don’t think I have too big of a choice here. My first wish is for Tammy
I wish she wouldn’t be so selfish, and would learn to respect others, and discover the important things in life so she’ll be a better person, and have the respect of others in return."
"I’m glad you calmed down, at least now, I have nothing to worry about. Your first wish is granted.
"What is your next?"
"My next wish is for one of my old teachers, Mrs. Marin, she was my 6th grade teacher and I wish she would appreciate her job more, be inspired everyday by her students, and in return inspire them back."
"A wise, unselfish wish. It will be granted. What is your next?"
"Well, actually, my next wish is for you, since you are my enemy at the present time because you are making me make wishes for others and keeping me from having a safe trip home.
I wish you would be safe and sound in your home, instead of out here in this cold, and that you would spend Christmas with your friends and family instead of stalking innocent women!"
"Thank you, as you wish. But young lady, I was far from stalking, this year, you were chosen." I was about to make a repartee, when a wind sweeped a bunch of snow from the ground and circled it around the Santa. I tried to protect my face from the swirling snow, but it was gone as fast as it started. I looked around the empty parking lot, and couldn’t see anyone at all.
I then remembered that that Santa had my car keys! That THIEF! I was never going to get home! I picked up the presents I dropped, and put them on the car. I searched my coat pockets frantically for a quarter to call home. I was so frustrated that I didn’t even notice the jingling sound in my pocket as I felt around for some change. I lifted out my keys and stared closely at them. They were right where they were before!
That Santa was either a psychic, telepathic, magician, or I was just psycho! Either way, I decided I would just ignore the events of the past five minutes, and just get out of that parking lot before any police officer saw me. I drove home, with the car radio on loud. Not so loud as to attract attention, but just loud enough so I couldn’t hear myself think.
I parked in front of my house, took some presents with me, and was about to open my door when I noticed a small, neatly wrapped package on my doorstep. I put down all my other presents, and picked up the little package. There was no name on it or anything, so I decided to open it. I ripped off the shiny, green paper, and a small card fell out. It read "Merry Christmas, from Tammy!" I couldn’t believe it! Was this some sort of joke? I opened the small box, and inside was a beautiful sterling silver necklace! I read the card over and over.
Had my wish really come true? It couldn’t have… it was just impossible! I opened my door and went inside. I dropped everything and started to write a thank you card to Tammy. Maybe when I was done, I could write a story about all this. I might as well put it under fiction, it’s not like anyone's going to believe me anyway.
Ending No6]Author:Christopher D.
had to remain calm and think clearly if I was going to ever get my keys back and get home. I knew without question that I had to come up with three wishes. This Santa stared back at me undaunted by my silence. Suddenly, visions from the past popped in and out of my mind, and various scenes appeared and disappeared, as if I was going quickly through a stack of snapshots. I sorted through the stack, throwing most into a discard pile and a handful into the possibilities pile. The discarded pictures vanished and my brain picked up the possibilities’ pile and sorted through it.
By the time my brain and I finished the stack, only three pictures remained. "I have my three wishes ready. My father would have been my first choice, but he has passed from this life and I believe he is getting all the care he needs without my wish. I picked three who are still here and need help. I could barely believe this was happening. It all just seemed to click into place and felt, well, right somehow.
The Santa of Unselfish Wishes gave me a slight smile and a wink then nodded his head as if quietly telling me to proceed.
"I have an uncle." My words were calm and quiet as I reached into myself finding the right way to make the wish. "He belittles others and always makes me feel like everything I did was wrong. His harsh words and attitude cost him his marriage and severely damaged his relationship with his own children. Now this wish might sound harsh, but it is not meant to be. I wish for him to hear his self as others do, really hear his own words and experience the pain he has caused others. He has been miserable without his family and I know they miss him. If he could just understand what he has been doing, then maybe he could change and his family could reunite."
"My second wish is for my cousin." I stared at the pavement as I thought deeply and spoke the words. I almost forgot the Santa was there. "He is physically and verbally abusive. He and I have gone the rounds and I ended up with a few broken bones and various bruises. He struggled in school and finally dropped out. He needs to know he can't use his size and physical strength to make up for the total hatred he has for himself. His misplaced anger causes him a lot of misery. I wish for him a dose of confidence and the courage to go back to school and try again. He has potential if he would just believe in himself."
"My last wish will be for a neighbor we had when I was younger. He hated everyone it seems and if my cat wandered into his yard he would throw rocks or anything else he could get his hands on at me, and the cat, while I tried to remove it from his yard. He drank quite a bit and always had a couple of bags of beer cans for the recycling truck every week. He was always alone, and I don't remember ever seeing anyone visit him. I think he was and still is miserable. This Christmas season I wish for peace to fill his mind. If I can sneak in an extra wish, it would be for him to have a friend. Nobody should be isolated and forced to live their life alone."
I closed my eyes and cried quietly for a minute, overwhelmed by emotion. So many people I had considered my enemy, including my own father, I now saw in a different light. They were all consumed in their own little hell and lashed out the only way they knew how. This revelation released a lot of anger and pain in me.
Compassion replaced the anger that had burned inside of me for so long. When I finally opened my eyes, Santa was gone. My bags of presents were safely in my car and my keys were in my hand. Outwardly, it was as if none of it had really happened. I sat in my car for a while consumed with wonder at the magic this season holds. I was filled with an inner peace I had not felt for a long time, and I drove home to my family, to the place my heart dwells.
Ending No. 7) Author: Leah G
"For crying out loud, Santa Claus," I complained testily, "I just want to get home. What are three wishes going to do to my worst enemies? They're my enemies for a reason, you know." I tried to turn away from the red-robed man but I found that I couldn't. I couldn't just brush him off, not because I didn't want to, but because I couldn't [i]move[i].
Santa folded his arms, not saying a thing, his wild blue eyes boring into my fey green ones. I tried reasoning with him again. "How are three wishes of mine going to completely change someone else? I can't even wish for something beneficial to my friends, not to mention myself. I don't know my enemies. I don't know what they want, much less what they need."
It appeared that my pitiful attempt at getting off the hook by claiming ignorance was not going over well. I guess my mother was right all those years; I [i]could[i] try the patience of a saint, because Santa rolled his eyes and harrumphed. "Don't be ridiculous," he said brusquely. "I thought I made myself clear; I guess simple is too much to ask. Kindness is complicated. It requires you to step out of your thick tortoiseshell and [i]look beyond what you surround yourself with to see the Ignorance and Want in the rest of the world![i]"
Oh my. I had managed to get Santa Claus mad. Things were decidedly not looking good. They didn't get much better when Santa expelled a deep breath and gently waved his hands through the mist that ensued. Snowflakes appeared from the small cloud of breath, slowly at first then faster and faster and more and more until all the world was a white whirl all around me. The earth was spinning beneath me; at least, that's what my inner ear was telling me because all I saw was a wall of white. Suddenly the spinning top screeched to a halt.
When the snow cleared and I could see around me, Santa and I were standing in the center of a parking lot behind an old, abandoned strip mall by my house. Brief, small snow flurries skitted past.
Silent figures stepped out of the shadows into the yellowed light of the lamppost. There were three of them, hooded and cloaked, and they surrounded me. I, having the instincts of a cat, was terrified to discover that there would be no way to run from them should the need arise. I looked over for reassurance from Santa and found him to be transfigured. No longer was he the short, pudgy, slightly balding, jolly man in a red suit. This was someone whose appearance was so awe-striking, so impressive, that there were hardly any recognizing features. I trembled, and was still.
Santa was taller, leaner, shaggier, wilder, as though this were the original and all the superficial commercialized Santas were some sort of degraded copy. He was dressed in a dark hawk-red robe, tied with a sash of mistletoe, the white berries like milky phoenix tears against a backdrop of blood. His cape swirled around him with the breeze as though with a mind of its own - it was the glittery smoke-burgundy color of a nebula, shimmering with the tiny lights of a million far-off stars. His long white hair was crowned with a wreath of holly, and his blue eyes blazed like the hottest part of a bonfire.
"Who... [i]are[i] you?" I gasped when I finally found my voice. I suddenly had this incredible urge to -
"Do not kneel to me, girl," commanded the new Santa in a tone that would have made the tide stop coming in and out. He continued, when the threat of my kneeling to him was abated, "I am Bitter Kindness; I am Painful Generosity. I am in everyone who gives until it hurts; I am part of those who dedicate themselves to the basest form of service to others. I was created as part of this world to inspire men to the Greatest Love - to lay down one's life for another. I do not come to give easy, warm feelings inside - that is for my kinder, gentler brother. I am Latham."
I shrank back from him but dared come no closer to the three hooded figures that had been as still as stone. Santa - no, Latham - beckoned to the first one, in a bright glittery red robe pulled tightly around the slender figure. It hesitated, then stepped forward and let the robe drop.
She was a stunning woman, with long, thick blonde hair curling around her body, perfect aquamarine eyes, rose petal lips, and alabaster skin. Her white sheath dress clung and fell in all the right places. She was the most gorgeous female I had ever seen.
But somehow, as I looked closer, I saw that her hair was limp, tangled, and matted; her perfect eyes were downcast and red from crying; her lips were trembling with pent-up emotions; and her gown was stained and torn. Either way, I didn't recognize her at all.
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, her head snapped up, and I saw remnants of a bygone pride flash in her eyes. "I am Love," she stated in a clear, melodious voice.
I protested, "Love? But I know you, I revere you, I follow you! How can you be my worst enemy?"
She snorted delicately. (That was actually quite a feat. Lord knows [i]I've[i] never snorted delicately.) "You have abused Love, and I have hurt you almost more than you can bear. I think that's an acceptable recipe for enmity, don't you? Or don't you remember the boys you destroyed with your superior intellect and sharp, caustic tongue? Sweeping them aside as though they were dominoes and you wanted to play chess. My throne in your heart was cruel and cold, and you ruled me with an iron fist."
"You sent me through your flames and left me bruised burned, and broken with nothing to support me!" I cried, lashing back. "You crushed my heart, my spirit, my dreams, until I had rotten memories and a hole from which you fled after I tried to protect myself by controlling you! Of course I wanted to play chess. I wasn't attracted to those boys; they were juvenile and tasteless. If they were your sick idea of a love object, well I'm sorry but I want a man who will love me for who I am, not what I am or what I can do!" I was almost crying now. Images flooded back of Kyle, Jordan, Chris, Ryan... "The ones I loved you refused to let love me!"
"They saw you for who you really were!" Her biting answer hit me like a steel-tipped arrow shot from a 45-pound bow. Her blue eyes were ferocious, her lips like drops of blood against her pale skin. Love was a viper as well as a dove. I looked to Latham for support, but he stared back, impassive.
"I have to make a nice wish for you?" I exclaimed. "Why, you b-"
"Sorry to interrupt you," said the next figure in a cultured, refined voice emanating from the swath of bright blue. "But it's not nice to call Love a female canine. After all, you're not much better."
I whirled to the figure. "And who in heaven's name to you think [i]you[i] are?" I snarled, my green eyes sparking dangerously.
"To be precise - I am Intellect." The erect young man flung his robe aside and stood before me in a crisp long-sleeved white shirt and black pinstripe pants. He shook his head a bit to settle his shaggy brown hair from being mussed beneath the hood. "Yes, I too am your enemy. You take horrible care of me, forever hiding me in front of certain people and not feeding me enough at all - "
It was then I noticed that he was not simply tall and thin, but tall and - positively [i]emaciated[i]. I was appalled. "But - but I'm always learning new things; reading about them and talking to other people. I'm [i]very[i] proud of you, I'll have you know."
"Oh and how I know too," sniffed Love. "You are such a show-off. Too much Intellect for the boys."
"See?" I told Intellect. "I had to hide you sometimes to appease that - [i]female[i]." Neither seemed happy to hear that. "If I'm too smart, people get nervous. But I can't completely deny Intellect either, so some of those people just had to go."
Intellect said, "So you just want to be a dumb slut?" just as Love said, "I guess you'll be a bookworm [i]nun[i] for the rest of your life."
"No!" I protested. "You're not getting it!"
"Pray tell me," dripped a dry tone from behind me, "what would be so bad about becoming a nun? It would be very satisfying and rewarding." A slim nun dressed in a black habit with white trim and a long black veil dropped her grey cloak and stepped forward. "You deny your Lord as Peter did in order to be more 'acceptable'," she stated in simple terms. "I am Reverence. Your Lord is nailed again with every sin, stabbed again with every denial, and dies again with every time you turn your back on Him. I scream with every offense against the Christos, but you seem to be deafened."
"Well," I said nervously, twisting my hands, because discussing my infidelity to my Messiah always put me on the edge, "you're not exactly amenable to mainstream culture, and some people keep telling me that you're archaic and outdated."
"Does your soul tell you that I am outdated or archaic?" asked Reverence patiently. "Is mainstream culture so spectacular that you are willing to give yourself to all the indiscretions, lies, and corners in which it traps you?"
"Er. no. To both questions." I was sweating bullets. "But you take me away from so many things! It's hard to reconcile my friends with you, and if I become a nun, I'd have to forego Love!"
Love nodded curtly.
Reverence smiled and shook her head, her grey eyes shining with a steady light that I couldn't place. "Your sort of Love is too caught up in physical relationships," she explained. "Love, as well as you, will have to learn about the sort of Love between sisters, the sort of Love for our fellow man, and the immense, perfect Love that your and everyone's Creator and Father poured out for us along with the blood of His only Son on the cross."
Love lifted her head, startled. "I have heard of that Love," she said softly. "I did not know it was for me."
Intellect coughed. "It is completely irrational to believe in something that cannot be seen or felt," he scoffed. "The illusion of a Supreme Being is completely against the principles of science and logic."
Love, Reverence, and I turned to him. Love got the first shot. "Nobody's yet been able to see or feel [i]me[i]," she retorted. "According to [i]you[i], I shouldn't be here either, yet here I stand. Riddle me [i]that[i]." Intellect was a bit flustered and Reverence said calmly, "My Lord is not against the principles of science and logic that you hold so dear. The Law of conservation says that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Yet there is all this lovely matter around us. It had to come from somewhere. Logically, there must be an Uncreated Creator." My turn. "What do you [i]mean[i] you can't feel or see my Lord? I have felt His perfect Love, His endless Forgiveness, and His eternal Peace. I have seen Him in my parents' eyes, my friends' faces, and the beauty of His creation. Sorry Intellect, but you lose this round."
Intellect snapped, "You still hide me."
Love simmered, "You still pain me."
Reverence sighed, "You still deny me."
Latham spoke. "Now you must make a wish for each of these, your best friends and worst enemies, following each of the rules. Choose wisely."
I was confronted by three faces and no ideas. The my heart began to murmur, my mind began to mutter, and my soul began to whisper. For once, I listened to them. I listened carefully, and then I made my decision.
I turned to Latham. "With all due respect," I said, "I don't think I need to use wishes. I think I already have what I need to give them. Thanks, though." I searched his face and eyes for any sort of acceptance or rejection. He was expressionless.
I took a breath of icy air, blew it out, and faced Love. "Love, I give you my relationships. Take what is between me and my parents, my friends, my teachers, my enemies, and my darlin' and transform it as you will. I submit my relationships to you." I bowed to her.
Love's face glowed with happiness and her mouth parted in joy with a short laugh. Her hair and skin shone with an internal light, and all her cuts, tears, and stains faded away to perfection. She clapped her hands together and spun around, light spilling everywhere, and flew up and away into the sky. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a fleeting smile flit across Latham's face.
Next was Intellect. "Intellect, I give you my dreams. Take all my hopes, wonders, and philosophies and make them into realities. I submit my dreams to you." Intellect flashed me a boyish grin and the thumbs-up sign, then took a glowing blue piece of chalk out of his pocket, drew himself the glowing blue outline of a door, opened it, stepped through, and disappeared. I could have sworn Latham smiled again, but I guess I couldn't've been 100% sure.
Last was Reverence. "Reverence, yours is the hardest gift to give, but I want you to have it. I give you my life, to transfigure and enrich as you will until the day I may join my Redeemer in His House." Reverence bowed her head with a smile and I heard, faintly as though it were far off, a choir singing in Latin. Her veil began to glimmer and as the angelic voices grew louder, her veil grew brighter until light spilled all over her. The sun was beginning to come up. I wondered how long I had been out here.
Suddenly Reverence raised her head and reached out her hand to mine. It was shining with light and I was suddenly afraid to take it, but I heard Love say, "Now I know that His Love is for me," and Intellect chimed in, "His beauty is reflected in His creation, and He created you." Reverence smiled and I took her hand.
Brilliant light suffused the world as the blazing power of My Lord flowed from Reverence to me, in me, through me. The sun was up, blinding in its radiant glory, and angels sang the Gloria. I felt such joy and exuberance burst through my veins as never before, until it faded away, along with the light and the angel song. Reverence was gone.
"No, they are not gone," said Latham. "They are a part of you and you are a part of them. You have given yourself to them, but you have also given yourself back to you."
He drew aside his cape to reveal two impoverished children at his feet - one boy and one girl. They shrank back to Latham's legs, so frightened were they. The girl was dressed in rags and her sunken eyes held no spark of hope. The boy was also in rags and filthy.
"Latham!" I exclaimed, astonished. "They're pitiful! Are they yours?"
"No," he replied softly, stroking the girl's head. "But I keep them for Man. The boy is Ignorance, and the girl, Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased."
"What can I do?" I asked anxiously. I've always been a sucker for kids, and with my new goodwill, I couldn't bear to see them so.
Latham pointed to the sky and said, "Look."
I looked up at the clouds and saw a vision in the sky.
Intellect was sitting down with Ignorance and Want in desks; his head was bent near theirs and they were discussing something. I can teach them.
Reverence was giving Want and Ignorance a basket of food to take home and blessing them with the sign of the cross. I can donate to and pray for them.
Love was embracing them both when Ignorance was crying and Want was shivering. I can comfort and cherish them.
Latham smiled. "They're not your enemies anymore. Work with them, and see what you can do with earthly enemies." He breathed another snowstorm, and the world spun off one more time, and I was back in the parking lot. My gifts were neatly stacked in the back, the engine was purring, and the heater had just reached toasty warm.
I smiled and drove home.
Ending number7] Unknown Author
{This ending was e-mailed to me at my regular e-mail address, from an 11 year old child who comes to pnp at night to read my poetry. I do not know this child's name or who she is, but she asked me to post her ending on my challenge. The only name I was given was Little Lost Angel. Well angel, I am granting your request and my prayers are being sent nightly for you and your mother.}
"Ok, Santa," I don't believe you have the power to change my enemies, only God has that power, but maybe you could give him a message."
Santa stared at me and tears ran down his face. I think he had read my mind again. He knew what I was about to wish for.
"My first wish is for the man who owns the strip club, where my mom works. He is one of my worst enemies. I wish that he would realize how little children cry when they have to stay home alone at night, while their mommys work for him. He should see how his club affects people's lives and lock the doors forever."
"I will talk to the man upstairs and see what He can do," said Santa.
"My next enemy is the man who sells my mommy drugs on the street corner. I wish he would get caught by the police and go to jail for a very long time."
"Ok, I will see what I can do to help you," said Santa, wiping his misty eyes with his red coat sleeve.
"My last wish is for my mommy, she is the person I both love and hate the most in the whole wide world. She is my best friend at times and my worst enemy at other times. I wish she would change her life for the better. She needs to admit she has a drug problem and get help."
"I want her to stop working nights in that club and leaving me home alone. Santa, I am just eleven -years old and I all ready feel so old. I stay home alone at night, cook my own supper, and clean our shabby little apartment. I cannot tell anyone one about my problem, because they will call social services. They will come and take me away. I want to live with my mommy, not some strangers that I do not even know."
"I do love my mommy very much, and I know she can change, but I need a little help from God to make her want to change. So, my last wish is for everyone to pray for my mommy. I heard that when a lot of people pray God really listens."
Santa's face lit up like the Christmas tree at the White House. His red suit and white beard disappeared. His long, satiny robe was blowing in the wind. Two feathery, white wings sprouted out of his back and the golden halo on his head was so bright, it almost blinded me. He wrapped his wings around me and I felt safe. It has been along time since I felt happy and safe.
I woke up back in the shabby apartment alone, but for the first time in a really long time, I awoke with a ray of hope for my future.
{I hope you will post my ending on your story and everyone will read it and say a prayer for my mommy}"
Author: Little Lost Angel
|
Help Us Stop Plagiarism -
Nearly all works at PnP are original. However a few people choose to plagiarize.
To check, choose a phrase from the work, then either drag and drop to the search box or copy and paste.
click on search and works at Google will be shown which match. Just to be sure, please do this before
you recommend or rate the work highly...
|
 |
|
|
|
Select a Random Work
from Stories
|
|
Welcome !
