A little girl around six, only in her nightgown and slippers, trembled in the skin piercing air, not looking back. Her hands were tucked tightly under her arms in attempt to keep them warm. She was poorly dressed for being out in the snow, only wearing a thin nightgown and shoes with no coat of any sort. The orphanage clothes were apparently not designed for this kind of weather. Why was she out in this cold weather? Well, this night was Christmas Eve and she decided that she would escape for just one night of the year to see the lights on the Christmas trees. She did this every year. The little girl walked the streets of the snow covered ground with complete caution, looking around to see if anyone would notice her escape. Even in the shivering air, the child stared at the fully decorated trees that sparkled the night. Her look of awe suddenly vanished by her shivering and her coughing from the cold. Snowflakes landed in her hair and onto her fragile eyelids. Just then, she heard a rustling in the bushes. She thought that somebody must've found her, so she trudged as fast as she could, with her muffled footsteps from the snow, into the darkness. She ran through the woods, and was surprised to see an ancient hotel standing in front of her. It looked as though it hasn't been used in decades! This hotel, unknowing to her, shut down after a fire had killed the owner and his family. Since nobody had owned the place, it went bankrupt and had been abandoned for some time. Nobody in the surrounding towns ever considered of the place re-opening.
For some reason the little girl's instincts told her to go inside.. and she did so. A beautiful lobby with cream colored walls and garland covered banners filled the room. In the corner stood a gigantic Christmas tree. The child stood in front of it, looking at the gleaming ornaments and the humungous star on top. She then glanced back behind her to see if anyone was watching her, but the room lay perfectly still, no sound escaping except the howling wind of outside. She thought, "Who is running this hotel? Where is everyone?"
Since she was apparently the only person in the place, the girl laid down near the tree and closed her eyes to sleep. The child's form went up and down with her peaceful breathing. Meanwhile, the hotel owner had been walking home from the Old City Bar, carrying his electric guitar with him. He had black long hair and wore a simple white long sleeve with a black vest. His eyes were a turquoise color, rather than a green or blue.
After a big night of music, he felt that a good night's rest would do the trick. The man had arrived at the hotel and opened the door, unknowing that a child was fast asleep beside the tree. He gasped quietly. He thought, "A lonely child on Christmas Eve... Let's change that."
He smiled to himself and went silently to a broom closet, grabbing a warm blanket and going back to the lobby. He set his electric guitar down so it leaned against an arm of a cushioned chair, then he gently put the blanket on the child who was sleeping in his hotel. At that moment, the child started to stir. The man backed away quietly and slowly as possible, but the child was already awake.
The girl gasped, "I'm sorry! Please don't send me back! Please!"
The man simply smiled, "It's alright. I won't send you back."
"You won't?"
He shook his head, "Never... You lost your family, haven't you?"
She nodded, "How did you know?"
The man chuckled, "Magic."
She was puzzled, "I thought there was no such thing."
He laughed, "Oh, but there is such thing! It's everywhere! You just haven't gone looking for it!"
The man then picked up his electric guitar and opened the door to the outside. He smiled at the child who just stared at him blankly. When he continued on to go outside, she quickly ran behind him to catch up.
He then looked down at her, "Watch this!"
The little girl's eyes lit up as the darkened forest surrounding the hotel turned colorful with light. All the trees were turned into beautiful Christmas trees and the snow lightly covered the branches. The man looked down at her, seeing that she was amazed.
"But that's just the beginning," he said, "Follow me."
Trudging through the snow, the two walked through the woods and came to the little village where the child had escaped from. She soon realized this and clung to the man's leg, hiding behind his tall form which almost made him trip. Her heart raced.
The man looked down at the scared child with a soft smile across his face, "I won't send you back. I promise. I just have something I want to show you."
She didn't believe him. She wouldn't let go of his leg. He then sighed thoughtfully and picked the child up, carrying her like a person would hold a year old infant. She put her arms around his neck, which he didn't mind, and his electric guitar hung over his back. He kept walking down the snow covered street with the child in his arms. He then came to the Old City Bar, which was where his band had played. Nobody really came to that bar around the holidays, but if they did, they would swear they would hears echoing sounds. Like ghosts.
Surprisingly, when the man opened the door and walked in, the band was still there, occupying themselves with their instruments, while the chorus was harmonizing. When he walked inside, everyone noticed him with the child. The man said nothing, but walked in further. The little girl was almost asleep in his arms. Luckily, a lounge chair next to a fire place stood in the corner. Gently, the man set the little girl down in the chair, and played a Christmas lullaby.
When the little girl woke up, hours later, not even sunrise, she looked around to see the band asleep. The man was leaned back in a bar chair, awake. His legs were crossed and his feet on top of the bar table. The little girl took tiny footsteps toward him. The man said nothing, but got up from his seat and woke the band members one by one with a shake of their shoulders. They were startled, but didn't argue as they laughed of the man's surprise. For the first time since she was born, she giggle made the man's heart flutter with happiness. The little girl went up to the band members and tried to mimic the man when he had woken them up. They laughed lightly at her imagination of playing pretend.
"Get up!" she giggled, lightly shaking each of the member's shoulders.
The man chuckled and picked her up, making her notice that he had already woken the band up.
He smiled at her and he brought her outside. The toy store was down the street, and they went there, only stopping in front of the building. In the window, toy trains, dolls, carousels of porcelain horses went around and around. The child had never seen a toy store before in her life, since she had lived in the orphanage. In fact, she never really seen a toy at all! She stared at the hand-carved nutcrackers that was also painted with great detail. Her eyes filled with wonder, amazed from the things she had never seen before.
The little girl then saw an older man, walk past her, but he noticed her and stopped.
"You're from the orphanage! You escaped! You are in big trouble, young lady!" he spat.
"I'm scared, Mr. Guitar Man," she cried, unable to move from her being frightened.
"Who is Mr. Guitar Man?" asked the older man, loosing his patience.
"But he's right here!" the girl said pointing to the guitar man behind her. She could clearly see him! Why couldn't this older man see him?
The older man just shook his head in annoyance, "There is nothing there!"
The child was so worried that she would be sent back to the orphanage, that she ran past him and into the hospital. The old man growled, but didn't follow her. The little girl caught her breath. Why did he not see Mr. Guitar Man? In the hospital lobby, she saw a nurse rummaging through papers until she saw the little girl.
The nurse asked, "Can I help you?"
"I-I don't know."
The nurse then recognized her, "You're that girl... who lost her parents in a fire five years ago.."
She then quickly went on the computer that sat on her desk and punched the words, "The Brooke Family," into the keyboard. Once she pressed 'Enter', a picture came up of someone vaguely familiar. It was the guitar man! He was with a woman that was holding not even a year old infant. The little girl looked at the picture and then at the caption that read, "Alec, Rose, and Grace Brooke."
"These are your parents. I'm sorry, but they're dead," the nurse said sadly as she put a hand on the little girl's shoulder.
The child's eyes widened as the nurse went back into the file and pulled out a guitar pick that had a rose that was wrapped around a guitar on it, but it was hooked to a silver chain.
"This was your father's guitar pick. I'd like you to have it. It's no use for it to be in this run down hospital. It's been in the lost and found for years. It was found during the fire."
The child didn't believe the nurse's words. She only could mumble a small, "Thank you."
Without a word, she took the necklace and the picture, and she ran back to the Old City Bar. So many questions ran through her mind as she ran. She ran into the bar and abruptly stopped. Nobody was there. The band was gone and the lights were out. The only thing that remained on was a Christmas tree in the corner of the room. It wasn't there before, but the child didn't really think much of it. She didn't hesitate to sleep in the chair she had slept in earlier, holing the picture of her parents close to her chest. She had just closed her eyes, when she heard the swirling of the wind and she heard a male voice beside her whisper. It was the guitar man's.
"Merry Christmas. I love you."
The little girl's eyes opened to see him crouching next to the chair, smiling at her.
"But-You're a-!" she managed to say. She could finally see that the man was transparent and could see through him in some areas.
He put a finger to her lips, "Yes. I am a ghost. Only you can see me and my band. They are ghosts too. You had the magic to make us alive again."
"So, you're alive?"
"No, but your magic, for one night, believing in Christmas made us live. And I'd get to see you one last time," the man replied.
"You can't leave," the child cried.
"I will never leave you. None of us will," her father said, "We will always be in here."
He pointed to her heart.
She sadly smiled, "I love you, daddy."
"I love you too. Merry Christmas."
The child hugged the man and she noticed he felt like flesh and blood, but he was only a ghost with little magic left. Just then, a mist filled the room. As it cleared, they noticed it was the rest of the band, smiling at the two, father and daughter.
The man looked at his child, "It's time."
"I don't want you to go," the child said as tears filled both her and her father's eyes.
He kissed her fragile forehead and stood up. The ghost walked over to his band and slowly looked back at his daughter, not wanting to leave her. He didn't want her to be alone since they had only just met a few hours ago and he felt that she would be safer with him rather than an orphanage. But, who would believe that? He was a ghost. People couldn't see him anyway.
Just then, a white light appeared. Light beams of tinted gray lit up the floor with little specs of particles, maybe dust that was already on the floor. It's essence filled the room as a soft voice, a woman's, echoed through the air.
"Alec Brooke, you want to be with your daughter, correct?" asked the voice.
The Guitar Man looked up at the light, a bit skeptic at first, but then responded, "I do, very much."
"And do you, Grace Brooke, want to be with your father?" the woman's voice continued, never speaking loudly, but almost angelic.
The child, now known as Grace, nodded her head gently.
The voice continued, "Very well, then. This is the only thing I will offer you: I will restore life to each of the band members and the father of this child."
"Who or what is the light?" asked the child looking up at the white light, confused.
The guitar man smiled, "That's your mother. She's in heaven."
"How is she in heaven and you are here?"
"My band and I were lost souls that had unfinished buisness. My band was stuck in the Old City Bar, while I could roam freely. I knew one day that you'd find the hotel, so I opened it up. I wanted to be with you," he replied.
"You..You still want to stay with me?" Grace asked, looking up at her father.
He nodded, "I do."
With that, a light surrounded the group of ghosts, restoring them to their flesh and bone. The band looked at themselves as their lives have been restored and smiling at each other. Mr. Brooke grinned at his daughter and without even thinking, scooped her up in his arms and swung her around. He was now with his daughter. He could care for her now. People might say it's impossible, but anything can happen on one Christmas night. Miracles happen everyday and magic always is there and just like a father said to his daughter, "You just have to look for it."