Twelve Days of Christmas
I wasn't going to but changed my mind and have written a Christmas story. I hope you like it. I would love to hear your opinions and look to working further on the story.
I do not own or have connection with the "Criminal Minds" program or its characters.
Chapter Three. Three French Hens
She hung up the phone and sighed as she realizes that she had been on the phone with them for over two hours. It was going to increase her phone bill quite a bit but the chat with her girl friend in Paris was fun. It had been a long time since they had seen each other but they talked often by phone. She walked to the sink to splash her face and revive a little energy when she hears a large crash outside her door. Rushing to the door and opening it she sees a large woman with a cane struggling to get up and then pick up her bags. She rushes over to assist the woman.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
"Yes, I am okay. My knee collapsed on me while I was walking back to the bus stop from a friend's place just down the street. It is the reason I use a cane but sometimes it is just not enough. Could I come in and sit for a few minutes?"
"Well, I don't usually let strangers in but you seem to need to sit for a while so come on in." She helps the woman by carrying her bags and allowing her to use one arm for support as they walk into the townhouse and past kitchen into the living room. The woman sat heavily down on the sofa.
"Thank you for your kindness. I hope that I am not interrupting anything."
"No, I had just gotten off the phone with an old friend and was going to fix a snack."
"Yes I had finished seeing an old friend myself and was walking to catch the bus home. There is nothing like old friends to help put perspective into your life. When you think of what you were then and what you are now."
"Exactly, she and I met one summer when I was visiting my grandfather in France. I was eleven and we discovered that we were the same age and ran around the woods all summer. We went fishing and played with her dolls visiting each other in the houses we made from dead trees and small clearings. It was kind of idyllic at the time and we talk and see each other once in a while but not as often as we would like."
"Those old friends can be a comfort. Do you see a lot of old friends like that?"
"It seems lately that I have been seeing some."
"What do you do? Do they help or aide in relieving some of the pressures of the job?"
"I work for the government and see some of the worst people of society and what they do to others. I don't really know if talking to my friend helps relieve the pressure but I guess in a way it does do that. I usually feel better when I finish talking with them."
"Then it is good to have that old friend isn't it?"
"Yeah." She looks sad however as she remembers something from the past.
"What is it? What brings that look to your face?"
She breaks out of reverie and looks at her. "I was just remembering that summer and the other friend that we knew. My grandfather called us the three little chicks as we ran all over the woods. I haven't thought about her in a long time. I wonder what she is doing now."
"Maybe through your connections at work you could find out. This is the best time of year to reconnect with old friends."
"You know you are right I think that I will do that. Thank you for giving me the idea."
"It was a pleasure. I really should be heading on now. Thank you for your kindness in helping a stranger. She stands up and walks to the door followed by Emily. Neither woman makes notice of the bag left by the sofa as they shake hands and the woman leaves the townhouse.
It is not until many hours later when Emily notices the bag that the woman left and is saddened by it since she doesn't know the woman's name or where she lives or anything. She had talked with Penelope about her old friend and just got off the phone with her friend who is now living in Toulouse in the south of France. She is so thrilled to have able to reconnect with her. They had talked for hours and learned so much of what had happened to each other since childhood. Surprisingly her friend had also been thinking about her and what she was up to. She had just gotten bad news from her doctor and was feeling sad and depressed. The phone was just the thing to remind her of the great people that she had in her life.
Emily looked inside the bag to see if she could find any clue as to the woman's identity but all she saw was a box. She takes the box out and sees her name written on the side of the box. Opening it up she takes out an ornament of an angel with three little hens etched on it and in her right had she holds a telephone and in her left hand, there was a fishing pole with a small fish on the end of the line.. Emily smiles when she sees it as tears well up in her eyes.