Bringing Christmas Home!

That particular night was biting cold. The whole park was lit up with fairy lights shivering under the mild wind. The bells, the candy canes, and the ribbons seemed like weirdly shaped moons hanging over the soft glowing fire. And the most beautiful Christmas tree stood next to the fire. From a distance, the tree must have looked like some wise old man watching over the happy gathering with his back towards the fire.

There were kids, brothers, sisters, and friends — all of them very young — with their Christmas hats on, singing their carols, and making merry. The ate popcorns and candies, laughed and spilled juices on their fine shimmering dresses, and played catch and toppled an awful lot on the wet grass. A few grown-ups took turns to play Santa and look out for the younglings.

“The Christmas tree looked like some wise old man with his back towards the fire and looking over our friends. Don’t you think so? I wonder if our Christmas tree will remember that I wear the same red sweater for every Christmas! Do you think it will remember, Jay?” asked Kay of his elder brother, standing at their porch across the park. Jay passed a wry smile and said “Maybe. You can ask it the next Christmas!”, staring at the fire beside the Christmas tree. Kay could see the fire flicker in his brother’s eyes but he could not see the flickering when he looked at the real fire. He got perplexed about which of these fires were real. He tried to grab a hold of Jay’s freezing hand to pull him inside the house and realized that Jay was still clutching the 50 rupees note which was meant to be half of their share of contribution to the Christmas celebrations; half of the price they had to pay to be a part of the magic unfolding in front of them; full of what their parents could afford to provide them with for Christmas. Jay offered him his other hand and they turned away and walked inside.

Kay did not realize how much time he had spent sitting under the candlelight to complete his sketch of Santa Claus. He drew the Santa he had seen outside. He was staring at his drawing through the flame of the candle and wondering if there was a flicker in his eyes like he had seen in his brother’s when suddenly the candlelight began brightening up. It took him a few moments to realize that it was not the candle growing brighter but some other light trying to tear away the curtains and shine up their darkroom. He ran to the window and pulled the curtains aside, and gave out a joyful shriek that startled Jay in his slumber.

The decorations, the fire, and the Christmas tree were right next to their window, on the same porch where the two brothers stood don’t know how long ago, with the little ones stuck to it, calling their friends, Jay and Kay, out from the dark. The fire still burned softly in the park at a distance but Christmas had come home. Their friends had brought their Christmas home for them. Kay grabbed hold of Jay’s hand as they merrily ran out of the room and towards the porch. On their way out, Jay closed the drawing book lying under the candle and wondered how long did it take Kay to sketch their friends in the park.

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