The Greatest Sight (standard:Inspirational stories, 828 words)
Author: Apple Annie	Added: Sep 22 2003	Views/Reads: 3677/2	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A terrific short story about the Chrismas I treated a homeless girl to a sleigh ride and a picnic, and reunited her with her mom and dad. Please read it, it will warm your heart.

The Greatest Sight 

On Christmas morning, I woke up at 7am and looked out the window. 
Through the snow misted pane, I saw a poor, helpless girl crying.  She 
had hair the color of sunset, but it was hard to see because the girl 
was covered with snow.  From the way she was shivering, I could see the 
girl didn't have much clothes on.  Through the window, she looked about 
6-7 years old.  I wanted to help her. 

I got dressed as quickly as I could.  I tiptoed down the stairs,
skipping the creaky ones, and went into the cold garage.  I wanted to 
get my sleigh, just in case the girl was too tired to walk. 

After I opened the front door, I immediately closed it.  Too cold.  The
girl was probably freezing. I ran back upstairs to get my blankets and 
more coats.  I looked at my watch, 7:45am.  I groaned.  My mom always 
wanted me to eat breakfast by 8am.  I grabbed some bread, a box of 
cereal, two cartons of juice, and a packet of chocolate chip cookies. 

Seven fifty-one.  Good My parents and my older sister didn't wake up
until 10:30am.  I had plenty of time.  First I wrote a note. 

"Went out sledding.  Be back by 1pm. Love, Jennifer."   Perfect. 

I went outside to look for the girl, "Uh-uh" I said to myself.  She
wasn't there.  I looked around and saw footprints.  I followed her to a 
bush.  I looked in.  The girl stared at me. I stared back.  Then I 
said, "Hi. What's your name? My name's Jennifer, but you can call me 
Jen or Jenny." 

The girl said in a soft voice, "Mine's April. You can call me April. 
Who are you?" 

"I'm a friend, a good friend. You cold? Or are you hungry?" I asked
April. 

April considered the question before answering.  "Both. Hungry and
cold," she said. 

"Guess what I brought for you." 

"Food?" April guessed. 

"Food, blankets, and guess what else? A sleigh ride for April." I said
merrily.  I felt like Santa Claus.  April's eyes got rounder and 
rounder. "Really?" she gasped.  I nodded. 

April scrambled out of the bush.  When she saw all of the stuff I
packed, she shouted with joy. 

"Yippie!" She shouted. "When can I get in? When?" 

I pretended to think deeply. "Hmmm....you can get in 2 days later."
April's face fell.  "Or now." 

As soon as I said the word, "Now," she jumped in.  I put the food on the
ground for a moment to tuck April in.  Then I gave her a carton of 
juice, two slices of bread, and opened up the cereal, so she could eat 
it like popcorn.  Then I gathered the rope in my hand, and pulled her 
to the park. 

April laughed the whole way to the park.  As we entered the park
entrance, I said, "Now Princess April and her magnificant horse, Jenny, 
is entering the Crystal Castle."  The park did look like a crystal 
castle.   Everything shined in the sunlight. 

"Wow," breathed. "It's beautiful." I continued to pull her into the
great park, to my favorite picnic spot by the Swan Pond. 

"We are going to have the best picnic ever!" I declared to April.  And
we did.  After we finished the whole loaf of bread, all of the juice, 
and half of the box of cereal, I took out the cookies.  When April 
started her thrid cookie, I asked her where her parents were.  After a 
moment of silence, she started her story. 

"Well, I lost them when I was 5. I am now 6 years old.  I was walking my
dog, Queenie, in front of my house.  Then she started to run towards 
somewhere I didn't know.  And then she broke loose, and ran away from 
me.   When it started to get dark, I cried and cried.  I think I fell 
asleep against a tree. I hid from people.  I ate Queenie's biscuits at 
first because I was so hungry.  Then I ate grass.  Sometimes I begged 
for money for bread.  It continued like that until today.  I want my 
mommy!"  April's eyes got moist.  Then tears fell down from them. I put 
my arms around her and said, "don't worry, "I'll find your mommy and 
daddy." 

I cradled her until she fell asleep. Then I put her gently back into the
sled.  I led her to a police station. I talked softly to the officers. 

By the time April woke up, the situation seemed much brighter.  The
police found her parents and called them.  They were coming to get 
their little "devil."  Even though they said, "devil," I could hear in 
their voices that they were very, very glad and relieved.  In fact, 
when they saw April, they cried in delight.  Little "Devil" changed to 
little "Angel."  When they were in a tight group hug, my eyes filled 
with tears.  It was the greatest sight I have ever seen. 


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