A Second Chance (standard:drama, 2575 words)
Author: Michael H. Silverman	Added: Nov 28 2000	Views/Reads: 4065/2536	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A Christmas story. A young child gets a second chance, to do the right thing.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

Mary looked down and didn't answer. 

"You got a skateboard! Didn't you?", Jimmy grinned in satisfaction. 

"But I LIKE my skateboard!", She insisted. 

"Yeah, yeah, sure.  But it proves that Santa is a lie!" 

He looked at Cameron. 

"Hey, you asked Santa for new parents, Cam old buddy.  Didn't ya?",
Jimmy put his arm around the silent, sandy-haired boy. 

"Right.  Like the rest of us.  But not just for Christmas.", Cameron's
voice breathed out a low, barely perceptible groan. 

"And what did you get?", Jimmy persisted. 

Cameron didn't answer. He hopped off the bed, and went over to his own.
He picked up a book from his bedside table and threw it against the 
wall. The sound echoed for a long moment with no immediate response. 

"Stop being mean!", Mary aimed her angry blue eyes at Jimmy. 

"I ain't being mean! Just trying to wake you dopes up to reality." 

Sal, done and satisfied with his hand-made Christmas card, looked again
at Jimmy Johnson over his heavy wire rimmed lenses. 

"You're so hot to tell us what Santa really is. Well, I'll tell you what
Santa isn't.  He isn't a thief.", Sal's light hazel eyes glared hard at 
Jimmy.  The seven-year-old was wise beyond his years.  He didn't 
believe for a moment the tales Jimmy told about where he got his gold 
pocket watch, the new silver pen knife, or his latest acquisition, the 
leather bomber jacket.  Especially since Jimmy takes great care to hide 
these items from the home counselors.  Jimmy shot him back a nasty 
glare. 

"That's nothing.  You think you're pretty smart, Sal ol' pal, don't you?
 Well you have to take what you want in life, because there ain't no 
Santa, and no one else to get it for you." 

"You don't believe in anything, do you Jimmy?", Sal replied sadly. 

"I believe in what I can take!  Because that's all I have!" 

The sound of footsteps echoed up the long hall, and Jimmy's eyes grew
nervous.  He quickly slipped his stolen jacket off and ran to tuck it 
into the box under his bed.  It was where he kept the gold pocket watch 
and the silver pen knife as well.  The door opened to reveal Toni 
Vespucci, a dark-haired brown-eyed woman of about thirty, who smiled 
broadly as she saw the children. 

"I have someone who wanted very much to meet you all.", she beamed as
she stepped aside to let the visitor in. 

A man followed her into the room.  He was tall and heavy set, dressed in
a soft velvet suit of red with snow-white trim.  His large white beard 
sparkled around a cheerful pair of lips which sat just below a 
cherry-like nose and two bright twinkling eyes. 

"Santa!", Mary leaped up from her bed and clapped her hands excitedly.
She ran to give the familiar figure a hug.  He lifted her up and 
winked. 

"I know you've been a good girl Mary!", he said in a throaty happy
voice. 

"Yup!", she smiled back at him expectantly. 

Santa reached into his big canvas sack and pulled out a brightly wrapped
box with a big pink bow on it.  Mary accepted the present and eagerly 
unwrapped it.  Her little jaw dropped open for a long moment as she 
examined the contents therein. 

"A Jenny Jump-Rope Doll!", her voice had an unusual tone, one both of
elation and tears. "Oh Santa!  Jimmy said you weren't real, but I 
didn't believe him!  I knew you were real!  I knew it!" 

Jimmy looked over from his bed, unwilling to join the other kids who'd
clustered around the jolly old man. Jimmy's eyes grew a bit wide at 
seeing what Mary had gotten, but he said nothing.  Next, Santa bent 
down to look into Sal's excited be-spectacled eyes. 

"And I know you've been very good this year too, Sal!", the friendly
white-bearded form winked at him. 

He opened his sack and pointed and nodded. 

"Go on Sal, reach in and take out your present!", he chuckled merrily. 

"But.. what if I take out the wrong one?", he said somewhat timidly. 

"You won't, my lad... you won't.  Trust me now." 

Sal reached into the bag full of wrapped gifts and pulled out a box
covered in spangles and bright white paper.  He looked up at Santa, 
questioningly. 

"Go on... open it.", he gently urged the boy. 

Sal carefully ripped the paper from the long box to reveal the expensive
professional calligraphy set he'd seen in the store window of the fancy 
stationary store downtown.  He gazed up at Santa, mesmerized. 

"How... did you know!?", his voice heralded joy and shock at the same
time.  He had forgotten to write his letter to Santa this year, and he 
never told anyone about his wish for the set. 

"Oh, my elves are watching all the time.", he replied with a gentle
laugh. 

Next, Santa Claus turned to look at Cameron.  His Christmas smile never
left him, but his eyes took on a more serious aspect.  He sat down on 
Mary's bed and lifted Cameron into his lap, putting his big comforting 
arm around the slender boy. 

"I know what you want, lad.", he said in a gentle tone. 

Cameron smiled sadly. 

"It's okay Santa.  I know you can't bring me that. I'm just glad you're
here." 

Santa's big belly laughed and his twinkling eyes winked. 

"Now, you didn't let me finish.", he said, nodding toward the door of
the room. 

A young couple came through the door on his cue, happy smiles lining
their cheeks.  A fresh-faced brunette-haired woman in a heavy winter 
jacket, and a clean-shaven young man in a light gray business suit 
walked over to the bed and hugged Cameron. 

"The papers finally came through.  We've been accepted.  You're coming
home with us tonight Cam!", the young woman said happily. 

Tears spilled freely down the small boy's cheeks as he hugged his new
mother tightly. 

Jimmy now sat with his mouth open, staring at the scene unfolding before
him.  It went against everything he understood.  Miracles don't happen. 
 They just don't.  He shook his head as if trying to clear it of some 
dream. At that moment, two men burst into the room.  One had a shock of 
gray hair, sagging jowls and wrinkles around his eyes. The other was a 
big burly man with bloodshot eyes and a black beard.  Jimmy instantly 
recognized the two as the merchants he'd stolen from. 

"There he is!", the big man shouted angrily, indicating Jimmy. "That's
the little sneak thief who stole a knife and pocket watch from my 
store!" 

"Yes!  There's no doubt of it! The other man piped in.  He stole a
leather jacket from me three night ago!  I saw him in the store, then 
when my back was turned the alarm sounded.  Both he and the jacket were 
gone!" 

They went quickly to stand on either side of Jimmy's bed. His eyes, now
filled with terror, darted back and forth between the two angry faces 
that hung over him. 

"Where did you hide it!", the little man screamed at him. "Speak up you
little thief!" 

"I.. I... uh... I don't know what you're talking about.", Jimmy
stammered, struggling to come up with some sort of bravado, but his 
nerves were failing him. 

The big man ducked to look under Jimmy's bed.  He pulled out the box  of
looted goods and opened it.  Jimmy closed his eyes.  It was all over 
now. 

"Here it is... the evidence!", he waved the box at the orphanage's
security guard who had permitted them into the room. 

"What's going on here?", Toni Vespucci shouted at the guard. "No one is
allowed into the home who hasn't gone through a full security check!" 

"Well, Miss Vespucci, the two gentlemen threatened to bring the police,
and I thought it would be better if...", the timid-eyed guard began to 
explain. 

"You shouldn't try thinking, it goes against your grain!", she shouted
angrily interrupting him.  She then focused her attention on the two 
intruders. "No child here is allowed out of the home without 
supervision.  I assure you that Jimmy could not possibly have sneaked 
out of here to steal things and then brought them back without being 
noticed." 

"Well what do you call this!", the old man shouted, waving the leather
jacket in her direction. 

Jimmy now had his back against the wall, his head was down.  His
thoughts were only on the bleak outcome of all this.  He'd be sent to 
the reform school.  He'd stolen before and been caught, and threatened 
with being locked away if he ever did it again.  He felt tears stinging 
his cheeks, remorse, a sense of utter helplessness overwhelming all his 
hopes. 

"Just a moment gentlemen.", Santa spoke up. "I think you should take
another look at what you've got." 

"Keep out of this!  I won't allow any dime-store Santa making trouble!",
the big black-bearded man pointed an angry finger at him. 

Santa walked over to the box that held the stolen goods and looked
carefully at it. 

"These are certainly not yours.", he said to the men. "These are gifts I
gave to Jimmy." 

"Hah!  Don't hand me that garbage!", the wiry old man shouted. He turned
the leather jacket's label out and showed it to Santa. "See... it says, 
Bruger's Fine Leathers!" 

"Hmmm.  I hate to disillusion you, but what it really says is, Made in
Santa's workshop at the North Pole.", Santa said with a glittering wink 
of his eye. 

The old man looked at the label again. It did say "Made in Santa's
workshop at the North Pole" perfectly stitched and woven into the 
fabric in fancy green and red lettering.  He blinked and shook his 
head. 

"It must be a trick!", he said, now somewhat mesmerized. 

"Examine it closely my friend. I think you'll discover that it isn't the
item you thought.  In fact, I suggest you check your inventory again.  
I'm sure the missing jacket will turn up.  You did thoroughly check 
your stock before accusing the lad of thievery, didn't you?", Santa 
said with a coy look. 

"Uh..., no. But... umm.  Hmmm.  It does seem to be a bit different than
what I usually carry.", the old man put the jacket down and frowned.  
After a moment he turned on his heel and headed for the door. Jimmy 
looked stunned.  Santa took the jacket and handed it to him. 

"There you are Jimmy.", he winked and smiled at him. 

The other accuser also seemed to be re-evaluating both the pocket watch
and the silver pen knife.  He turned them over and over in his hands. 

"Is something amiss?", Santa questioned him. 

"These both are stamped with a seal that marks them as being made at,
Santa's Workshop!", the big man replied with a bizarre expression of 
puzzlement over his haggard features. "And..., well, they don't seem to 
be quite the same as the items I sell off the shelf.". 

With a disgusted look, the big black-bearded man dropped them back into
the box and left the room in a huff.  Santa bent down to pat the 
wide-eyed Jimmy on the back.  He gave the child a reassuring smile, and 
then gently turned to leave.  Jimmy scrambled out of his bed. 

"Wait!  Santa!", he cried out with a gasp. 

Jimmy paused for a moment, then went to him and put his arms around him,
letting his tears fall softly onto Santa's big red-clothed belly. 

"It's alright Jimmy.  You got what you most wanted for Christmas, didn't
you?", Santa asked with a smile. 

"Yeah... Jimmy nodded.  I got a second chance." 

- Mike H. Silverman  (c)2000  All rights reserved. 


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