A/N: I do not own A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Christmas Story or the Bible. Or, of course, any of the characters from Hey Arnold or the show itself. I only own all of my own characters and, though I doubt anyone would want to, they may not be used without my express permission.
Chapter 10: The Beginnings of Everyman
In the foyer at the front of the building was a bench. It sat against the right-hand wall, had no back or arms, and was bolted to the floor. It was upon this bench that Arnold now sat, alone, staring listlessly through the plexiglas double doors and into the warm afternoon horizon. It was early November now, but still strangely warm outside. Arnold's wheelchair sat directly beside him, empty. He hated sitting in it – far too confining. Having to rely on it just to get around by himself made him feel trapped, almost claustrophobic. Thank God Aaron and Weitman had been so helpful or he never would have made it downstairs to look out the windows.
The entirety of the concourse was lined with windows, but they were all covered with sheets of metal. Most of the classrooms had windows, but the views from them were painfully lacking and the rooms themselves belonged to other people. Arnold wanted to be alone, which was often the case whenever he wasn't exercising his legs.
The view from the front door wasn't exactly pristine, but Arnold would never admit that. There was actually one room on the third level of the east wing that offered a full, wide view of the parking lot, the surrounding woods, the single-lane road leading to the main road, and the fields beyond, but Arnold didn't like that room. It was too high up for his comfort and it would have taken him far too long to get from there to the front door where he now sat quite comfortably. From here he could see the parking lot and the road that would bring travelers to the building.
Yes, it was the perfect spot to wait from, and Arnold knew it.
Sometimes Arnold felt that if he thought long and hard enough he could reach Helga's mind like they used to do in books and movies. He remembered hearing somewhere that some people are born with a special link and that when one feels something strongly enough, the other feels it too. Of course, Arnold was sure whoever had said it had been talking about family relations, like twins or something. But perhaps…
Helga…he said earnestly in his mind. A weight sat deep inside his heart, as though his time were running out…Helga, hurry. Come back to me…
Christmas is here and there's been no sign of our group. It was deduced that they either bunkered down in the city to wait out the winter or were lost along the way. I pray to God for the former-
Arnold paused in his writing. Why had he said that?
For some odd reason he would never fully understand, Arnold wondered for the first time who this man was whom he sometimes prayed to. Was there really some big guy up there watching over him – watching over Helga – dispatching guardian angels to those in need?
No, He did more than that, didn't He?
The more Arnold let his mind dwell on question after question that he never knew he never knew the answers to, the more determined he became to find those answers. He wished Dr. Brandon was there; surely he of all people would have the answers. Brandon believed in this God with a faith Arnold had never seen before. It was different from those young Youth for Christ representatives that had come to their school once a long time ago. This faith Dr. Brandon had, he lived.
And Sara – oh, how Arnold missed them both – Sara lived it, too. They weren't perfect Christians or anything; they made mistakes. They were normal, finite people just like everyone else. And what's more, they didn't push their religion on others. In fact, they hardly talked about it. They just lived it. That was different.
A fresh longing for the return of his wife and friends enveloped Arnold as he sat there with his notepad laying abandoned in his lap. These questions and curiosities plagued his mind now, and he knew that his coming friends would have the answers. And then suddenly it dawned on him. As he was dwelling on thoughts of his friends he recalled their parting back in the city and the book Dr. Brandon had given him. A Bible. Surely that would have answers.
Arnold's notepad fell to the floor as he bent to retrieve his back pack. Now settled at the school and in his own living space once more, he didn't keep much in the old bag. But beneath a few other things rested the doctors old worn Bible.
Arnold pulled it out and opened it before realizing with a sinking dismay that he hadn't the first idea where to begin. For such a large book, the print was very small and each book within was broken down into many sections and full of numbers and references. Arnold tried reading a few random portions of it, but in the end all he got was upset.
With a frustrated snarl the Bible went over the arm of the wheel chair and landed unceremoniously on top of his back pack.
It wasn't until Christmas day that Arnold got his first glimpse of the Bible that actually made sense. Very few, if any, gifts were exchanged among the people at the refuge. But there was a small, sparsely decorated evergreen tree set up on the concourse and everybody gathered around this on Christmas morning to sing and listen to a Christmas story. Arnold didn't know what Christmas story they were talking about – perhaps a reenacted version of that movie he'd seen once about the boy and his rifle – but he really enjoyed Christmas carols (whether he sang with them or not – singing did not strike his fancy much these days), so he came.
After some songs were sung everything quieted down a bit and some people started leaving. Forgetting about the aforementioned story and thinking it was time to leave, Arnold started moving his chair.
"You're not staying for the story?" Curly asked from where he sat on the floor beside Arnold's chair, Jenny settled next to him.
"Oh, yeah." Arnold repositioned his chair, wondering why so many people were leaving, mostly adults. He looked foreword toward the tree to see Jordan, the young man with the bushy brown afro of hair, seating himself in a somewhat tall chair with a book in his hands.
Arnold was tempted to ask Curly what the story was about and how long it would be, since Jordan's book looked fairly large. He didn't get a chance though, because as soon as people were resettled Jordan flipped to a page near the center of the book and began reading.
"And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered…"
One of Arnold's eyebrows voluntarily went up in puzzlement. What kind of Christmas story was this? A Roman myth? He didn't dare leave. Something told him that people would be insulted if he left while Jordan was still reading. He glanced around to see that a few people looked bored, one or two looked just as puzzled as he, but most looked fairly interested. Arnold turned his attention back to the story when something familiar caught his ear.
"…And behold an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were so afraid. Then the angel said unto them "fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people…"
Arnold recognized the story now. He'd heard it a couple times as a child when he was able to catch A Charlie Brown Christmas on tv. This was Linus' speech that he made on the stage with the spotlight and all that, after Charlie asked if anybody knew what Christmas was all about.
All at once it dawned on him. Jordan was reading the Bible, and it was actually making some sense to him. This was the story of the birth of the Jesus. Arnold knew that story if only because of that old cartoon and all the makeshift mangers that different churches in the city used to put in front of their buildings during Christmas time. Arnold had always known the story and hadn't ever given it a great deal of thought. But then, what did Jesus have to do with God? Anything? Somewhere there was a connection, but Arnold didn't know where. He listened intently now as Jordan finished the story, trying to soak in as much as possible and get a deeper picture than what lay on the surface. He wasn't able to glean more than what the words told, however, and felt somewhat disappointed as the people around him shuffled about and returned to whatever they'd been doing before.
For a while Arnold didn't move, just sat in his chair staring at his hands, deep in thought.
"Hey Arnold, you ok?" Curly asked.
Arnold looked up at him and smiled falsely. "Yeah. I just…miss Helga, I guess."
Curly smiled a soft, sad smile. His hand was linked with Jenny's.
"I know, man." He said. "They'll be here eventually. Eric knows how to take care of people."
Arnold's smile was small, but genuine this time. He appreciated Curly's words of encouragement.
"I know. Thanks, Curly."
Afterhis friend left, Arnold rolled his chair a few feet in the direction of the stairs and then spotted Jordan out of the corner of his eye. He was walking toward the stairs himself.
"Hey, Jordan!" Arnold called out, rolling the chair a little faster to catch up with him.
Jordan's smile was bright as he greeted him. "Hi, Arnold. How you doin' these days?"
"As well as can be expected, I guess." Arnold said casually.
"Better than that, from what I hear. Need help up the stairs, do you?"
"Actually, yeah, but that wasn't what I stopped you for."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah. See…" Arnold hesitated, trying to organize what he desired into a coherent question. "I wondered if you might…explain that story to me a little more. Or maybe…could you…help me understand the Bible? I have a lot of questions about it, and I have a Bible of my own that a friend gave me but it's really hard to read because it doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, the story of Jesus is in the Bible, but what does that have to do with God? I don't-"
"Whoa, slow down, there, shotgun. One question at a time." Jordan said, chuckling a little. It was not a derogatory laugh by any means, but a good natured one. Jordan didn't seemed perturbed in the least that Arnold, someone he barely knew, was asking him all these questions.
"To answer your first question: Sure, I can try to explain the story better. That translation I had is a little difficult to grasp if you're new to it, an NIV version would be better."
"NIV?" Arnold was entirely confused.
"New International Version. It's a more recent translation. Do you know what version your Bible is?"
Arnold shook his head.
"Ok. Well, it doesn't matter that much, I suppose. Were you wanting to look at it now or another time?"
"Um…well, if you're not busy-"
"No, not at all!" He said, smiling reassuringly. He smiled a lot, Arnold noted.
Once they were in Arnold's room that he shared with the other guys, Jordan sat down with him and opened the Bible back to the story of Jesus' birth. He read it again, explaining in more detail what it all meant. He showed Arnold the footnotes and side notes all over the book, all the hand-written notes and markings put there by the doctor, presumably, and explained to Arnold that his was a New King James Study Bible, hence so many different confusing references and such. He told Arnold to ignore most of them for now, as well as a lot of the confusing questions he had concerning God. The answers to those would come in time, he said – for now it would be easier to start with the basics.
Just as he finished explaining this to Arnold a bit, a young boy knocked on the door.
"Jordan, Chris wants you." He said, referring to the man in charge.
"Can he wait?" Jordan asked.
"He didn't say. He's working out back in the shop."
With a sigh, Jordan stood. "I'll be right back, is that alright?"
"Yeah, sure. No problem!" Arnold said. After the other man had left, Arnold pulled the open Bible onto his lap and looked at the confusing pages a moment. Start with the basics… Well, there was only one basic way Arnold knew how to read a book. He slipped his hand beneath the cover and flipped the book closed, then pulled it open again to the first page. Skimming past the preface and reference guide and all manner of other things, he finally stopped at the beginning of the first book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and began to read.