There was a Christmas stocking
hanging from the mantel !
She hadn't had one of those since
she was a child .
Where did it come from ?
Who had put it there ?
If her husband were alive, he
might have done it, but he'd died
two years ago .
She'd been looking for her wedding
ring ever since the day of the funeral .
Somehow, it had gotten lost, and
she'd been heartbroken. It was so
very special to her...all she had left
of Jim.
She shook her head and dried her tears,
and thought, 'Well, whoever had left
that stocking, I might as well
accept it'. She took it to her bedroom,
and sat cross-legged on her bed,
like she did when she was a little girl
and started emptying it...methodically,
the same way she did back then, one
item at a time.
A pretty bottle of perfume was at
the top...Obsession, her favorite !
then a package of Seashell stationery
she'd always liked . Next, a pair of
pearl-encrusted combs for her
long, dark hair that Jim used to remark
about . How he loved her shining,
luxurious hair !
Meg laughed, when she reached in
and pulled out a box of animal crackers.
That was one of her favorite stocking
treats when she was a child . There were
the other treats she remembered
receiving in her Christmas stockings ;
the box of filled Christmas candy, the
mixed nuts, the apple and orange...
oh ! it felt so good ; brought back such
happy childhood memories !
Near the bottom, she found an elegant
golden pair of dancing slippers, and
a tiny golden purse to match !
She and Jim had always danced
so well together. She was nearing
the bottom of the stocking now, and
she reached in for the expected coin,
like Santa had always given her, but
there, in the bottom, in the very
tippity- tip of the toe, was her
wedding ring !! She turned it around,
and found the inscription, 'For Meg,
I'll always be with you'... Jim .
I wrote this on November 30, 1997
I know it's a bit predictable, but I
enjoyed writing it. There's a little
of myself in there, with the food items
in the stocking. Every christmas my
sibs and I had those items in our
stockings, and we had a nickel in the
toe...pretty good money for a kid
back then. And, yes, we took our
stockings to our rooms and sat
like Meg, in the story, eating some
of our goodies.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the
story, juvenile though it seems now.
D
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