Mary Migley WLP 211C 12/14/00 My Christmas Story I know what I'm getting from my roommate for Christmas. A packaged-wrapped Tasty Cake with a ribbon tied around it. Her grandfather had sent her a whole crate of them, and she's giving one to everyone on this floor. Does that mean I have to give her something? My grandfather only sent me an address book and an envelope full of rubber bands. I've already written in the address book. So do I have to buy her something then? We're not that close, and she's not buying me anything. I'll feel bad if I don't give her anything though. You might as well call me Scrooge. That must be the reason I'm braving the bitter cold wind to walk to the closest CVS store. There should be something suitable there. I figure I can't get her anything better than a Tasty Cake - that would make her feel guilty and me uncomfortable. I hate Christmas. Somewhere down the street, I hear Christmas music blaring, and it's steadily moving closer. I realize my thumb has found its way to my mouth again, and I've been unconsciously sucking on it. That's become a habit ever since I scraped it against the top edge of my bedrail two days ago. I don't even know why I bothered hanging up Christmas lights - I'll be leaving for home in five days. The wind feels even colder on my saliva-wetted thumb. I jam my hands into my coat pockets, looking around to find if anyone noticed my thumb-sucking. The loud Christmas music is right beside me now, and I see Santa Claus driving a Mercedes with its windows rolled down. "Merry Christmas!" he says with a hearty, bone-grating laugh. The light turns green, and he's gone. My pace picks up as I make my way towards CVS. The wind alternates from painfully cold to numbing cold. There's no snow though, so everything is just gray. Mercedes-driving Santa passes me three more times before I finally reach my destination. Apparently I'm not the only one doing her Christmas shopping at the convenience store; there's a good crowd of fifteen to twenty people squeezing their way down the store aisles. I'm standing in front of the snack shelf, debating whether I should get my roommate a pack of cheese crackers or a bag of sunflower seeds, when someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around, my eyebrows automatically rising. "Hey! Christine, right?" My eyebrows immediately return to their original position as I shake my head at the guy standing in front of me. "No, sorry." "Are you sure?" he asks suspiciously. "Well...yeah. Pretty sure." "Ah, gee. "Sorry to disappoint you." "No, that's okay. My mistake." He pauses before adding, "Say, I don't suppose you know where Christine is?" "Christine who?" "Well now," he says, scratching his head, "I'm not sure." I slowly inch towards the front of the store. "Um. Okay. Well, I better go." The inches quickly turn to feet. "Could you help me find her?" That stops me and I feel my eyebrows pressing against each other. "Me? Huh? What? Why?" "I need to find her, as soon as possible. She needs help." "Oh, really." I didn't even try to keep the suspicion out of my voice. "Yes." He tilts his whole body towards me and lowers his voice. "She wants to kill herself. It's our job to stop her." "Oh." I'm not sure how to respond to that. "Are you going to show her what the world would be like if she was never born?" "Why would I do that?" "It's a Wonderful Life? You know?" His eyes widen at that. "Yes! And I'm glad you know that too!" I blink a couple of times before turning towards the front of the store. "Okay. Well, I need to go. Good luck with your...Christine." A hand grabs my own, jerking me back. "No! You have to help me, remember?" "But..." He cuts me off before I could articulate a complete thought. "Oh, come on! We'll be late!" I try to pull my hand out of his, but his grip is too strong. "Don't worry, you'll be safe. I won't let anything happen to you. And believe me, you'll be glad once you help me save this girl's life." Those words were hardly reassuring, but for some reason, I decided to stop struggling. Hey, it's not like I had anything better to do. Anything better than possibly getting raped or killed? It's this whole Christmas deal, making me think fuzzy. The hand pulls me outside and drags me down the street. "Maybe she's at the mall," the guy leading me thinks out loud. As my feet struggle to keep pace with him, I find myself staring at the back of his head. It's pretty attractive, for a back of a head. The hair is brown with a gold shine. Well, that will help me if I survive and need to describe my attacker. We do end up at a mall. Pine Crossing, in fact, which happens to be my favorite one. But right now, I'm less than happy being there. The entire inside is just a mass of moving bodies lugging shopping bags. The guy pulls me along as we pass each and every shop in the three-story shopping center. Every once and a while, he'll look back at me expectantly, as if I'm supposed to react to something. Each time I'll either raise my eyebrows or shrug my shoulders or mirror his expectant look. Finally we end up at one of the mall's entrance. He gives me a small smile. "I guess this wasn't the place," he said apologetically. I squeeze his hand before I even realized it. "Hey, we'll find her, I'm sure." "How about the library? Do you like the library?" "Well, yeah...on occasion, I guess, but what-what does that have to do with anything?" "Okay, the library it is!" He announces, already pushing open the glass door. The library, unlike CVS and the mall, is almost empty. It doesn't take long for us to look through each section of books, and we're soon back at the front. He seems hesitant to leave right away though. Instead, he peers into my face as if he's looking for something. I shift my feet and look away, waiting for him to stop. Finally, he speaks. "How about the park?" "Well, sure, I guess." Why is he asking me? "But we better hurry. It wouldn't be cool if she was there alone once it gets dark." "Yes, yes, let's go!" Once again, his hand is pulling me through the door and down the street towards the city park. There's people everywhere, wondering up and down the sidewalk. I could very easily shout for help. Just like I could have in the mall, or even the library. But I'll just see what he's up to first. Then I'll scream. The park is pretty during the holiday season. All the trees are adorned with lights, which are already shining in the twilight of the day. Fortunately by now, he's slowed his pace, and we're walking side by side. He still holds onto my hand though, as if he's afraid I'll take off. It almost seems as if we're a loving couple taking a nice stroll through the park. Of course, if we were a loving couple, we'd know each other's names. The park proves to be just as fruitless as the other places. Christine has yet to shown up. I really believe she doesn't even exist. He sighs after we have combed the entire park. "Give up?" I ask him. He visibly shakes himself before saying, rather forcefully, "No." He bites his lower lip and taps his foot. "Oh, I know! One more place, okay?" I wave my free arm. "Sure, why not." This time we take the subway. Fortunately for him, he pays for my fare too. On the train, he motions me to sit down by the window and then takes the seat next to me. Half a dozen stops later, he's on his feet again and tugging me up and off of the train. I recognize this stop right away - I've been here many times, even deep into winter. We take the same route I take every time I come here, and sure enough, he stops at the exact location I always end up. It's an outcropping of jagged rock that protects a strip of sand lying before the ocean. A smile tugs the corner of my lips for the first time. "I love this place," I admit to him. He grins at me triumphantly in return. "I knew this was the place!" The corners of my mouth drop slightly. "What place? Christine isn't here..." He ignores my question, continuing with that grin still plastered to his face. "You wouldn't want to die here, would you?" Now my stomach drops, and then flips over. "You-You're going to kill me here?" He laughs, his eyes crinkling. "Oh, no! And you won't either." My stomach refused to stop churning, and it takes a lot of effort to choke out, "What?" "You can't kill yourself here. You love this place too much to do something like that." "Kill myself? I wasn't going to kill myself!" "Yes, you were." "But I'm not Christine, remember? You made a mistake." "No, I didn't. I ran into you just in time." "I was buying my roommate a Christmas present, not plotting my suicide!" He looks at me, for the first time looking as confused as I felt. "Are you sure you weren't thinking about it?" "Well...I guess my life is really pretty sucky right now - but no!" "Really?" "You've been dragging me all over town for no reason?" "I...I guess so." For the first time since we left CVS, he lets go of my hand. "Well isn't this just great!" "I'm sorry...I really thought...I'm sorry. Did I keep you from anything?" "Well, no. Nothing really." I looked at his dejected look and suddenly felt sorry. "Hey, you know, it's okay. I actually had fun." Lying couldn't hurt. "And besides, it was kinda an adventure. And I couldn't have asked for a better ending point." His eyes studies me for a second before he gives me a small smile. "Thank you." I smile back, "No problem." "Well, it's getting dark. The least I can do is accompany you back to your place." "You'll also have to pay for my fare back." "Of course." "And I still don't have a present for my roommate." "I'll pay for that too." I laugh and grab his hand. "Don't worry. A pack of cheese crackers shouldn't cost too much."