A Christmas Do-Over
by Jennifer Sue
The cross shaped church was packed as it was every year for the Christmas Eve Family Service. The altar, pulpit, and lectern filled the top arm. The gaily and brightly decorated fifteen foot tall Christmas Tree had temporarily replaced the Baptismal Font on the right arm of the sanctuary. A three foot high nativity sat atop the closed lid of the grand piano in the left arm of the sanctuary. White lights twinkled in the green garland wrapping the railing separating the congregation from the choir and organ in the area between the arms of the cross. The main congregational seating was in twin rows of twenty pews each sitting 12 people. A flickering single candle sat atop each seven foot tall candelabra which were clamped to the inner and outer sides of every other pew.
The pastor was in the middle of his sermon pausing for a dramatic moment of silence when the door from the right vestibule opened with a squee from a worn hinge. A bedraggled emaciated figure staggered in looking around the sanctuary blinking with amazement in the dazzling light. Alerted by the noisy hinge everyone turned to see who entered. In that moment the sermon was kaput.
“Ex...excuse me,” the small person asked in a small quavering voice. “I... I’m looking for Harry and Livie Clark...”
Nearly everyone turned to look at Harry and Livie. The couple were a mainstay of the congregation. They were the somebody’s of the church... as in ‘Why doesn’t somebody do this?’ or ‘Why doesn’t somebody take care of that?’ The couple stood and looked at the scrawny child.
“We’re Harry and Livie,” Harry stated. “Who’s asking?”
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This story is 289 words long.
