Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of Disney and are only used for fan related purpose. Stress is the property of this author and any other original character has been shamelessly borrowed ;)
--
O'Malley's on 12th
--
It was a little shop, nestled between some big and busy well-known department store and a quaint little bakery full of sweet chocolate scents and the warm cinnamon-y goodness of the season. It stood there year round but was only open during the holidays and, unless you knew it was there, you never saw it—it was that sort of shop. Easily forgotten and barely noticed, the storefront was indistinguishable from the brick walls and the bright displays of its neighboring brethren.
The windows were small, dusty and streaky. The door had neither a lock nor a chime, and the handle was fashioned out of a pale wood so fair and smooth that it was hard to think of it as being the entryway to this dark little shop. There was nothing at all about it to tell what type of wares the shop offered or what kind of patrons it hoped to attract save for a small mat at the foot of the door that, in an ornate script, read: Something for Everyone.
This shop, with its hand-carved sign and hand-painted letters, was known simply as O'Malley's.
--
December 1898 descended upon Manhattan with a flurry of activity. By the time another Thanksgiving was nothing but a memory the city had been blanketed entirely with a thick sheet of snow more than three times already; as the year slowly drew to a close, winter was only all too prepared to hang on for those last few days before 1899 received it.
It was a chilly winter, all dry air and fierce winds whipping a welcome against the raw cheeks of those on the less than busy streets. Too cold for a wet, heavy snow, the light powder that fell instead fell often and fell fast. It had barely enough of a chance to mingle with the dirt and the debris on the ground before the muddy slush was covered with ice and slick and a freshly fallen coat of virgin white.
Children frolicked in the snow until their hands and their toes and the tips of their noses burned bright red from winter's bite. Mothers, when they could afford, kept pots of hot soup boiling in the tureen; fathers, when they could not afford, trudged off to work, braving the cold and the harshness of another December.
And if mere survival wasn't enough, with December came Christmas and the desire to show affection for loved ones with a present—whether that could be afforded or not…
The less fortunate, those who lived on godforsaken corners and in the worst of the City's slums, they were no exception. Ribbons on the gas lamps, the scent of peppermint in the air and a nice Christmas goose hanging temptingly in the nearby shop window… it was futile to try and resist the lure of the holiday.
Christmas spirit was all around, permeating every nook and cranny of Manhattan even more effectively than the ever present cold. For the ever-toiling factory workers, the foreman was a tad bit kinder. For the young seamstresses, their masters were a might less demanding. And for the newsboys who stood in the chill and the snow, hawking the headlines no matter the weather, the patrons were a touch more forthcoming with their purses.
It was as if, despite the snow and despite the constant strain of New York City life, the snow had brought something else to its inhabitants besides inconvenience. Like the icing on a yuletide cake, the December blizzards had welcomed in the Christmas magic—
—but not for everyone.
Author's Note: This is going to be my entry for Dewey's Holidays with the Newsies contest on the NML. I've been meaning to write a Christmas-centric short story for a few years now and, well, I love a good challenge! This story will have four parts and, since the deadline is Friday at midnight, updates will be fairly quickly :) I hope you enjoy and, as always, I'd love to hear what you'd have to say.
-- stress, 12.10.08