The Christmas gift - A Christmas story - Chapter 2

                                          

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Jonah woke up somewhere in the middle of the night.  He was freezing and when he peeped outside he realized that it started snowing. He loved the snow, and he has some faint memories of his dad playing with him in the snow. They even built a snowman in front of the house once, and they decorated it with one of dad's hats and mom gave them a carrot to use as a nose. 

It was so much fun, and he can remember spending hours to try and make the snowman perfect. It stood there for days until it started melting, and when the sun came out, the snowman disappeared back into the snow. Jonah remembered the lonely carrot lying on the ground. It was then, at the mere age of four that he realized that nothing lasts forever. 

Jonah can remember how sad he felt, but his dad sat with him on the stairs, and promised him that they would build a new snowman the next winter.  

That never happened. He would never forget the day his father died. He was on his way home after work, when a drunk driver skipped a stop street, and ran him over.  

Jonah remembered that he was sad forever and he wished that he had die too. For months mom cried and then one day while he was upstairs playing, he heard his mom laugh. He can remember the excitement in her voice when she called him downstairs, but the excitement didn't last. That day Jonah's life changed forever. It was the day that he met Jack. He knew from the first minute he laid eyes on him, that Jack did not like him. Jack had this look of hatred in his eyes, and Jonah knew that he had to stay out of his way. In the beginning mom always took his side, but later on mom was too scared to say anything. 

Jonah could feel the hunger pains chewing on him, and he knew that he had to find food urgently. He crawled out of his self built shelter and took a deep breath outside. Everything smelled so clean and fresh and Jonah suddenly felt a little happier than before.  He started to walk away and nearly fell over when something hit him on the back of his head.  He turned around and saw Terrence standing there with another snowball in his hand, and Jonah had to duck not to be hit again. He smiled and grabbed a hand of snow to make his own snowball and threw it at Terrence.  It was the most fun Jonah had in days.  Terrence signaled to him to come closer.  

"Hey kid, how've you been?  I brought you some hot soup and bread."

Jonah smiled and walked over to Terrence and took the food.  He immediately found a place to sit and started to eat the food slowly.  

"Come on man, don't play with the food, eat...it's getting cold."

Jonah ate a little faster, but not too fast as he knew this might be his last meal for a few days. Everyone was always looking out for him, but he knew he could always trust Terrence to help him out. 

"Where were you Terrence? " Jonah asked when he took his last bite. 

"I found a job mate, but that's over now. I was able to save up some money so we're going to be okay this week."

Jonah walked over to Terrence and hugged him.  

"Don't read too much into this we're not out of the alley yet."

Jonah laughed. 

"I'm glad you're back Terrence.  I thought you left me." 

"Now why would I ever do that? You're my best mate here, and I will never leave you as long as I live." 

Jonah looked up to Terrence and he could see a twinkle in his eye. He trusted Terrence, and he knew that he always looked out for him. He didn't know what he would do if anything ever happened to Terrence, but he also knew that everything in life is only temporary.  

Terrence smiled at Jonah.  "Come on mate, I want to show you something."   

Jonah took Terrence's hand and they walked out of the alley towards the street.  

-To be continued

To read the previous chapter please click here