Home for the Holidays, Number 6 in a Series of Short Stories: Christmas Fudge

At last, we’re on our way out of here. It'll sure be good to see San Diego. We'll have to go through headquarters in D.C., but I can’t wait for that first morning back home.

I'm planning a slow walk in clean, crisp air out to the barn where my horse used to be stalled. He was a beautiful animal, strong and brave and fast. The memories will be like a warm summer breeze when I finally stand in that doorway again.

Soaking up the smell of the cold wood and the sound of the few chickens that are left, seeing the cats curled in the sun on the window sills with stray sun beams from the cracks in the barn siding streaking across their backs--it all spells home.

Hushed with a blanket of snow, the farm will be real still in frosty air. Icy diamonds glinting in the sunshine will dance to blessed silence. Smoke rising from the chimney will call me back in when my parents get up, but I’ll need to roam around in the quiet a while before breakfast.

I want to feel the snow crunching under my feet and hear my dog's breathing as she walks beside me. Chip will wag along beside me, watching my every step. When I was little she wouldn't let me leave our front yard and I guess she's never gotten over it.

Yes--I am aware that Chip is a boy's name. Try telling a 6-year-old boy that matters, though. Everyone else calls her Maggie and she ignores them unless she's hungry, but she comes when I call her Chip. Explain that and I'll call her Maggie.

I need to ease through the old trees and breathe in the calm peace of the fields. There’s a small river between the woods and the main field that I want to get reacquainted with. He and I are old friends, and I need to hear his voice again.

Nah, he shouldn’t be frozen through. He’ll be rumbling around rocks and logs, calling to the birds to come drink, and telling the world not to give up. His waters are very deep in some of the pools, but they are clean, clear waters that speak hope to creation.

I’ll make my way back up the long driveway just about the time the biscuits come out of the oven. It’ll be just the three of us, for everyone else is married and living off the farm now. I’ll wash the dishes with them when we’re done. Such a simple thing, but I’m sure looking forward to it.

Dad’s been hunting for weeks and Mom’s hands are already promising the best food the country side can provide. That afternoon will be as noisy as the morning’s quiet. They’re planning on all the relatives being there for supper, and that’s a lot of people.

My brothers and sisters, along with their families, will stay through New Years so I want to make the most of my time home alone with our parents. They’re not getting any younger and I don't know when I'll get home again.

I'll help the littlest kids pet the chickens, and I'll build snowball forts in the orchards with the rest of them. You can bet I’m going to eat dinner in the kitchen with the kids. Laying on the rug by the Christmas tree with the lot of them we’ll play “I spy.” If they only knew...

All shapes and sizes of them will be piled around me under the picture window and I'll have them looking out into the night for snow rabbits and stars. Then we'll talk about what they do in all the cities they live in. They’re all south of the farm in a triangle from Dallas to Oklahoma City to Little Rock.

Yeah, sure, I'll answer their questions about our work--mostly. They think I’m a Seal. I’m giving each kid a Navy Hoodie for Christmas.

They’ll quiz me to no end, 'specially the boys. I’ll answer as honest as I can, but carefully--I may have to do a little fudging. They don’t know what we do.

When they start with their questions, though, I'll first go find my mom to tell her I love her again, and give her another hug while trying to make her think I just want more of her Christmas fudge.

If I don't look her in the eyes she might not know what I'm up to.

• Fostering Care -- Home for the Holidays, Number 8

• Perfect Traditions -- Home for the Holidays, Number 7

• The Favor -- Home for the Holidays, Number 5

• A Holiday Respite -- Home for the Holidays, Number 4

• The Gift of a Lifetime -- Home for the Holidays, Number 3

• Grandpa's House -- Home for the Holidays, Number 2

• A Change of Plans -- Home for the Holidays, Number 1

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