Polar Express
A Christmas Fantasy


Christmas Eve 1986

“I will have none of this behaviour, Susan Thomas. They are your guests and it is your duty as hostess to see that they are enjoying themselves…”

“You mean they’re your guests, mother,” Sue stood stiffly with her hands on her hip, an exaggerated sigh of frustration blowing her golden fringe of hair off her forehead. “I didn’t want Marcella or Libby to come to my party…I didn’t want a party at all…”

“Why you ungrateful little girl! You have no appreciation for the things you have in this world…Susan, don’t you dare do that…”

But 8 year old Sue dared. She closed her eyes and turned her back on her mother, effectively bringing their ‘discussion’ to a close. Inside she was seething with fury and she couldn’t stop herself from stamping it out on the worn linoleum. She felt her mother’s no nonsense hand on her shoulder and tried to shrug it away but she was no match for her mother’s strength and determination. Her body was whirled about face and she scrunched her eyes up as tightly as she could in an effort to block out the rest of her mother’s tirade that would undoubtedly end with the admonishment to go back out there and mingle.

'Out there' was the dining room where a bevy of sugar high and Yuletide excited girls were busily slapping together gingerbread houses with copious amounts of white frosting and a decadent number of Christmas candy. It was Sue’s annual Christmas party where she invited a few close friends and they spent an afternoon giggling over seasonal crafts. Only, it wasn’t really Sue’s party – it was her mother’s. From table settings to the menu and down to the crafts they created – Carla Thomas’ stamp was everywhere. And Carla had picked the guest list. She always did, because Susan was too shy and the girls that were invited were never the girls Sue would have invited had the choice been left up to her.

Like Marcella and Libby. They were popular girls and the daughters of her mother’s closest friends. They behaved with sickening sweetness in the presence of a grown up but were the most vicious of bullies when no one was watching. Sue’s nervousness when they were around only made the girls’ behaviour even more outrageous. Freak they had mouthed right under her mother’s nose. Retard. When the girls were left alone Marcella and Libby made sure to face away from Sue, engaging the other guests in a lively conversation that deliberately excluded their hostess.

Sue had spent an uncomfortable hour with them, mostly squirming in embarrassment and fighting back tears. It was Christmas Eve and all the joy of anticipation had vanished in this battleground of childhood prejudice. Even the imminent arrival of Sue’s granny did nothing to dispel the feeling of gloom that had settled over her. She didn’t even object when Marcella greedily crammed Sue’s allotted gumdrops into her mouth. The dark haired girl’s cheeks bulged like chipmunks and Sue meekly looked away, concentrating on blocking out the cruel jibes of her guests as she created a simple gingerbread cottage. The roof was heavily laden with white frosting snow, unadorned by any candy. Absorbed in sculpting a dangling icicle she hadn’t noticed Libby’s stealthy approach until it was too late. Sue screamed in fright at the unexpected shove from behind and fell forward, smashing her gingerbread house into cookie crumbs.

Tears spilled freely down her cheeks and turned into shuddering sobs when she noticed the merriment and laughter amongst the other girls. Freak, Marcella gloated, scooping up a fistful of frosted gingerbread and popping it into her mouth. Soon the other girls followed suit, eagerly devouring Sue’s Christmas cottage. Her wail of outrage had brought her mother running and that was when she had been unceremoniously hauled into the kitchen.

R-o-o-m. N-o-w. Sue felt the letters her mother fingerspelled into her hand and indignation rose within her at the unfairness of her mother’s reprimand. Banished from her own party – and on Christmas Eve too!

It turned into a long evening of isolation, not because her mother hadn’t eventually relented, but because Sue stubbornly refused to forgive her and chose to remain alone that Christmas Eve. Her brothers tried to coax her downstairs with a fistful of Santa cookies and marshmallow-laced hot chocolate, but though Sue accepted their offering, she remained steadfastly on the edge of her bed, staring determinedly out the window.

“What are you doing that for?” Luke demanded.

“Waiting for Santa.”

“Aw – that’s hours away yet…and anyway, he won’t come until you’re asleep,” Luke scoffed, scowling warningly at his sniggering brothers.

“There’s no such thing as S….” Michael was wrestled to the ground before he could finish his sentence and the boys rolled under the bed in a rowdy rough and tumble until their mother called them down.

Sue stoically ignored their departure, setting back into her watch for she had a plan. When Santa came she was going to sneak away to the North Pole with him. She’d already packed a bag and had it ready by her side. She was sure the elves wouldn’t make fun of her because she couldn’t hear and they certainly wouldn’t call her freak. After all, they’d accepted Rudolph, hadn’t they? And he was definitely different. She knew Mrs. Claus would be fair and kind and jolly. Just like her husband. There couldn’t be a better place in the world to live, she decided. And so she waited.

She must have dozed for the next thing she new she was blinded by a bright light that shone in through her window. She ran to pull back the curtains completely and looked down into her backyard.

“Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!” she chanted as her eyes took in the amazing sight. A silver ribbon of railroad track wound out as far as she could see, though one hadn't been there earlier in the day – or on any other day either. “It’s magic!” she thought, her excited breath dancing a sparkling pattern across her windowpane as she stared raptly at the train below. It was big and black and shiny and clouds of white steam curled up towards her window, as if beckoning to her. And then a man in uniform hopped out into her snowy backyard. He scratched his head and looked around, and then slipped a golden watch out of his pocket and held it up to his ear and then squinted at it in concentration.

When he looked up he stared right at Sue and she jumped back from the window in surprise.

Well, are you coming or not? You’re late.

She felt the words in mind. I’m not sure, she thought back. Where are you going?

Why to the North Pole of course, on the Polar Express. Hurry along now, Miss Thomas, we’ve one more passenger to pick up and I’m afraid he’s in a bit of a bind. We need to get to him fast. I’m counting up to a hundred and if you’re not here by the time I’m done, we’re off without you.

Sue gasped.

Ten. Twenty. Thirty.

That’s not fair! But she grabbed up her bag and raced for the door.

I feel so sad for little Sue

One last passenger ? Dare I hope ???

i was wondering if anyone would do this one!
im glad its you, kav!

Well, from the look of your first post, this promises to be a wonderfully magical journey---count me in for the ride!!

Oooo... Interesting start. Does young Sue get to meet a young Jack, by chance?

Great job, Kav!

I'm using my entire smiley allotment on that particular smiley because it's how I felt when I got home from church (after a pit stop at Olive Garden) and saw that you had entered the Christmas Challenge!!!!!!!

I'm so happy you are writing a challenge story, kav. I can't wait to travel on this magical journey with you.

Carrie's reply works for me....I am so excited too....

I think its time for pie and hot cocoa - we can curl up and read Kav's story!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Another Kav Story!!!!

I am so happyyyyyy!

Kim

All Aboard. Perhaps the next stop will be a small town in Wisconsin.

cant agree more lin

I'm so excited!!!!

Em

Me too!

I had often thought how Sue must have felt when her so-called-friends would make fun of her deafness - you've put it into words beautiful, it's very sad..

However, that magical journey that awaits is intriguing and I'm overly excited!
Sooo leeet's go see who that other passenger is!

yeah! i love cute little sue...i could totally relate when i was 8. I can't wait to read more. I've never seen that movie but i'm trying to wait till i get home to mommy and daddy to watch it. I just can't wait to see my family for thanksgiving then again on christmas. so i love the brothers bringing her cocoa...very sweet

Woohoo! I'm so happy that you're writing another story, Kav! I was so sad when you finished the last one.
I loved this first post. to Sue's "friends"! Kids can be so mean!
I can't wait for your next post. I want to meet the next passenger...

Ornella

This was me when i realised that Kav had started another story and a christmas one at that.

My favourite christmas story is the polar express....I'm looking forward to see it in Sue's verison.....


~laura michelle~

i'm so happy....i loved the movie the polar express....it was just so sweet and thru...and very christmas spirited....and i'm glad kav that your writing this one......

Kav you are my new BESTEST friend!!! I was wondering when on earth are we going to get another Kav story and BAM you read my mind!!!

So excited!!!!

Jen

KAAAAAVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV! ** taps on computer monitor....*** Are you in there? (where's a face smoosh up against the window smiley when you need one...)



MORE MORE MORE

?

Jack dove for cover, rolling through the snow and ice, kicking wildly and grinning with satisfaction when his heel made contact with flesh. The startled oomph of his opponent was rewarding but he couldn't afford to linger and enjoy his triumph. With a twist he was free and scrambling to his feet, racing back up the alley at the side of the church.

Even though his mother was going to kill him, he sought the sanctuary where his family was in attendance at the midnight carol sing. Not only had he ducked out of the service early on Christmas Eve, in full view of the entire congregation, but he had been fighting...again.

"Jackson Samuel Hudson," his mother would lament and the tone of her words would carry more weight than any lecture ever could. She never could understand how it wasn't his fault. It never was but she would ignore his pleas and explanations, sighing in exasperation. "It takes two to fight, son. Remember that."

He'd never be able to forget it. They would never let him. The town bullies he'd crossed one too many times. Walter, Lorne and Jerry. They moved in a pack, sniffing out those weaker than they and circling in for the kill. As long as Jack could remember they had been wrecking havoc amongst the kids in his small town. One of his earliest memories was standing up to them in the nursery school sandbox. Walter had kicked sand in Allie's eyes and made her cry. He couldn't let them get away with that. Though small in stature, he had stood up to the three preschool bullies and received a mouthful of sand and Allie's undying gratitude for his trouble. That was the day an unspoken war had been declared and it was still being waged eight years later. The odds were just as uneven -- three against one, and they were still all bigger than he was.

He could hear them now, their heavy steps only slightly muffled by the freshly falling snow, warning him that their long legs were making strides towards him. Then he was tackled from behind and sent crashing to the ground, wincing as rough shards of ice grazed his hands. He felt the unmistakable sound of tearing fabric and groaned. If the bullies didn't finish him off his mother would, for putting holes into his brand new Sunday pants.

I don't want to see you coming home with the knees out of your pants one more time, Jack. You're getting too old for this kind of thing. The fighting has to stop. Violence is never an answer."

"Ah, Moooommmm -- it wasn't my fault..." but she would never listen.

"It's time you learned to just walk away, Jackson."

But he couldn't. Not the time Lorne and Jerry held down a classmate so that Walter could kick him in the ribs. Not the time that Jerry tried to steal kisses from a reluctant Melanie Watson or the time the three had tied a stray cat to the railroad tracks to see what would happen when the 5 o'clock roared through. And not tonight when Jack's wandering eyes had spied them through the church window, tormenting a dog that was already limping. He'd tried to tell his father but was shushed repeatedly. Was he the only one who could hear the confused yelps of the little dog that belonged to old Mrs. Wistow who was laid up with a broken hip? When he couldn't stand it anymore, Jack had slipped away as the congregation stood to sing Joy to the World.

Their joyful noise drowned out the ruckus that ensued outside as Jack wrestled the bullies away from the dog who gratefully made a beeline for home. Deprived of their prey, the boys had turned on Jack which was why he was now lying face down in the snow with someone jumping on his back. He groaned and bucked and managed to heave the lout off only to be thumped back down as a snowball hit him square in the head...a snowball with a rock embedded inside. Exhausted, Jack was beginning to concede that he might not gain the upper hand this time round, and wondered if his mother would still be mad when she was confronted with the sight of his broken and bleeding body lying abandoned on the church steps.

He thought he was done for when a glaring bright light obscured his vision after a particularly forceful punch. Thankfully it distracted the other boys as well giving Jack an opening to roll off to one side. He'd barely managed to sit up before Walter had a hold of his feet and though he struggled to get free, the bully held fast.

"Jack!"

He looked up, still blinded by the light.

"Jack, over here!"

He squinted against the glare and made out the form of a man in uniform.

"Jack -- you don't have much of a choice there boy. Either stay with them or grab my hand."

Instinctively Jack reached out and felt his hand firmly clasped. A strident whistle sounded and he felt a powerful rush of wind whip against him.

"Hang on!"

He did, and found himself lifted, suspended in the buffeting swirl of snow and ice for a moment before being thrown into someplace warm and safe and dry.

"Sorry about that. We timed it pretty close, didn't we?"

Jack looked around him in bewilderment, allowing the tall conductor to help him to his feet. "We're on a train!" he exclaimed in amazement as he took in the bustling interior of a railway carriage. It was filled with excited children and buzzing with activity.

"The Polar Express," the jovial man agreed, dusting him off and tsking at the tear in the knees of his trousers. "Mrs. C. will fix that in no time," he murmured reassuringly. "My fault we got here late. Looped around to pick up an extra passenger. Hadn't planned on her, but the North Wind whispered in my ear and when he does that I always listen."

"But there aren't any train tracks by the church...and none through town," Jack protested in disbelief.

"Got you in nick of time, I see...your believing is already fading. Shame how that happens the older a body gets. Still, there's time to set you straight. It's not too late. Now find a seat and catch your breath it won't be long until we get there."

"The North Pole?" Jack's voice betrayed his doubts.

"Don't worry, we'll make it in time -- Santa will still be there."

"Santa? But there's not such thing as...."

A scandalized silence zipped through the car, as the boisterous children stared at him in horror, a startled gasp ringing louder in his ears then their collective noise of earlier.

"Watch your mouth, there, boy," the conductor warned ominously.

Jack flushed crimson, feeling ridiculously guilty as if he had been caught rudely swearing. He could feel a multitude of eyes on him and he glanced nervously at the packed seats, crammed with disapproving children. Everyone was staring at him but one little girl -- about the age of his sister who sat silently in a corner at the back, her nose pressed against the window pane, completely oblivious to the noise and movement around her.

"Go on then," the conductor urged. "Can't keep on our journey until the passengers are seated."

In a daze Jack made his way through the cluttered aisles to the empty seat beside the golden haired girl.

"That's right," the conductor nodded his head in approval. "Perfect choice," he added as if the seat Jack was headed for wasn't the only one left available. "We'll make a believer out of you yet, Jackson Hudson. Just you wait and see."

*bounces excitedly*

This is going to be delightful!!!!

I'll be for more...

Kav this is awesome so far!!!

Your gonna make a believer out of me too! I just love Christmas and a Kav Christmas story is just

Wonderful! Oh Jack! My knight in shining armour! Never a dull moment, eh Sparky!

Can't wait for more!
Ornella

Kav, this story has such wonderful possibilities. I can't wait to see how it plays out with your wonderfully creative touch.

Did I tell you I was excited? Well, I am!

this is me- i am so happy and excited....

Kav, this is the best Christmas gift ever!! And it's still November!!

Jen

ihihihihihihi squeeeelsssss this is to great.

i love the fact that jack already was a hero when he was a child. already playing agent. and now he is there with sue.....to great.

just caught up, a wonderful start, love jack fighting for the little guys, just how i imagined him as a child


cath

Haha! I could just imagine Sue sitting there like this! Her nose pressed again the window! Hahaha Little Sue is so cute!



If only he (the conductor) knew.. but then again.. He probably does know!

Kav, you've got me hooked! You always do! lol.

I can't wait for more!

This is me when I saw you'd started a Christmas story.

This is me when I saw it was Polar Express.

This is me feeling quite violent towards those girls at Sue's party.

And this is me just thinking about who else might be on the train. After all, Santa goes all the way around the world, right?

yep this is the best christmas-in-november gift yet...

now im confident santa exists because he read my mind perfectly!

You'll make believers out of lots of people !!!

This is going to be fun......

Oh, what fun...

I can't wait to see how you tie this in with the adult Jack and Sue in DC

I love the Polar Express, and I can already feel your magic weaving in and out of it, Kav!!!

Joy

I dont know who to quote so

i saw that you were posting, and my heart literally leapt into my throat
(which i might add was quite painful)

please hurry, i dont think i can take it!

I'm so excited you started a story!! I'm already hooked!

True confession: I've never seen The Polar Express -- but I love the book by Chris Van Allsburg so my muse is taking it from there. Not sure if I should watch the movie or not before I finish this story. In a side note: My dog keeps sitting in the corner of my bedroom yipping and wagging her tail...I have a nasty feeling that the mouse in my house has taken up residence with me in my boudoir. I thought I'd be done with wildlife until the Spring, but apparently the little critters are moving in to entertain me over the winter months! Oh -- and I won't be able to post until late afternoon or early evening tomorrow. I'm leaving the house at 6:30 to go book shopping.


Hi, I'm Jack," he told the hunched little back, frowning when she didn't respond. "You okay?" Her bottom wriggled as she hitched herself back on her heels, but she gave no indication that she was going to turn around anytime soon. Jack sighed and cast a wayward glance around the rest of the carriage. The noise level had escalated again and he was relieved to find that no one was paying any attention to him anymore...except for a rather sullen boy midway up the aisle, lounging indolently half out of his seat. He looked bored, though how that could be, Jack couldn't begin to fathom -- not with the endless supply of candy canes that whizzed by in the air seemingly of their own accord. And the conductor's strident laugh as he patrolled the carriage, his eyes constantly roaming over the heads of the crowded car. He met Jack's curious stare with a steady gaze of his own and then he winked before turning away.

Jack smiled at the antics of young girl decked out in Winnie the Pooh jammies -- obviously rooted from her bed. Her hair was caught up in bunches that stood straight up on either side of her head and she bounced out her excitement in a series of cartwheels and somersaults down the aisle until the conductor put a stop to that.

"Here," he plunked the squiggling little girl down next to a lanky youth with a cowlick. "She's in your charge now."

Jack tensed unconsciously as he watched the interaction, for the scruffy youth looked rough but the boy merely laughed and bent over the excited girl, flashing her a smile that transformed his tough demeanor into something warm and inviting. He was a good sort after all.

Turning his attention back to his seatmate, Jack marveled at how absorbed she could remain in the blurry scenery barely visible in the dark. She didn't react in anyway to the hubbub around them and Jack found himself envying her ability to concentrate.

"Interesting view?" he tried again but she was having nothing of it...or him for that matter as she serenely watched the passing countryside. At least that's what he assumed she was watching. He couldn't see very well with the glare of the light from within bouncing back from the darkened window. Moving in closer and peering over her shoulder he tried one more time. "I said, anything interesting out there?"

Sue had been staring unseeingly out the window for what seemed like hours. She was too shy to turn around and face the crowded train. Coping with a multitude of people was frightening for her... especially when they were all screaming, yelling, laughing and jumping up and down. It was absolutely terrifying and she didn't dare turn around and confront the bedlam behind her. Then suddenly the reflection of a distorted face loomed over her right shoulder, the grotesque mouth wagging miserably as the face seemed to fade in and out with the play of light. Unable to stifle her surprised squeal she started back, bumping into the solid form of a boy who had mysteriously appeared beside her. Heart hammering she turned to look into the kindest eyes she had ever seen.

"Hey there," he said and smiled.

She stared at him, tongue-tied while an embarrassed flush crept into her cheeks. "You scared me. Go away."

"Sorry.”

The boy smiled, a slow and lazy grin and helped Sue settle into a proper sit, her feet now dangling demurely in front of her.

"I talked to you twice," he chided gently. " You didn't seem to notice." He was a little affronted. Girls always noticed him -- even little pipsqueaks like this one and they never told him to go away like this one just did.

"I didn't hear you."

"I'm sitting right next to you," Jack objected, a little annoyed by the defiance he saw in her eyes. This one would be a royal pain in the butt as sister material. He pitied her poor brother...if she had one.

"I said, I didn't hear you." Her speech was slightly stilted and he detected a hint of a lisp in her s's.

"What's the matter -- you deaf?" he complained, the way his oldest sister always did when he neglected to respond to one of her demands. Selective hearing is what his mother called it when he deliberately tried to tune one of them out.

"Actually I am," she declared somberly, her arms folded across her chest, her foot tapping impatiently against the seat. Every time her shoe hit the vinyl cover the seat would shake and the springs would make an annoying grinding sound.

Jack winced as squeak grew more high pitched with every passing second. "Can you stop that?" She glared at him. "Please."

"Stop what?"

"Banging your foot against the seat. It's annoying."

Her foot stopped in mid swing. "Oh." She looked crestfallen.

"Hey -- I didn't mean to snap at you," he quickly set about reassuring her. "This is all so strange and that noise was hurting my ears. Don't you feel it right up to about here?" He leveled his hands to the top of his ears and made a goofy face, which involved crossing his eyes and sticking his tongue inside his cheek so that it bulged out.

Sue giggled. "I couldn't hear a thing. I told you -- I'm deaf."

"Deaf as in no sound...your ears don't work...everything is quiet?" Jack asked, visibly shaken. She nodded. "Hey -- wait a minute -- how do you know what I'm saying then?"

"I read lips," she told him as matter-of-factly as if she was stating that she wore red ribbons in her hair. Her attention strayed back to the window and she watched outside quietly for some time.

He knew he should leave it alone. It wasn't any of his business and she obviously wasn't interested in talking to him. Besides she was just a kid, what did he care? But he did.

"So, how'd you learn to read lips?" he asked and then sighed in frustration when she continued to present him with the back of her head. She had pretty hair, he thought -- even all tangled the way it was it shimmered like spun gold...not that he knew what that looked like, but it sounded nice -- as nice as the colour of her hair. Tapping her on the shoulder he watched in amusement as she tried to shrug his hand off. He clamped on tight until she turned to scowl at him. "How'd you learn to read lips?" he repeated.

"My mother makes me. I have to go to speech class three times a week after school. I can't take ballet because there isn't any time. They make me say the same thing over and over and over again and I detest it." She hissed this last venomously, her eyes stormy.

"My mom makes me take piano lessons. That's gotta be just as bad," Jack sympathized.

"I take piano too."

"You can't!" Jack objected.

"I can too." Sue insisted stubbornly.

"But you can't hear the music."

"I can feel it."

"But you won't know when you hit a wrong note."

"Then it won't bother me."

She turned her head back to the window and muttering under his breath, Jack clamped down on her shoulder again. "Will you cut that out? I'm trying to talk to you!"

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Nobody wants to talk to me. I'm a freak." She sniffed woefully.

"No you're not. Who says that?" Jack objected.

"All the other kids at school. I used to go to Deaf school but now that I can lip-read well enough I hafta go to regular school with my brothers. They don't like me there."

Jack noted the slight tremor in her lower lip and his familiar protective streak rose to the surface. "Who doesn't want you there?" But he knew the answer. The world was full of the likes of Lorne and Walter and Jerry.

"Everybody. Nobody wants to sit with me."

"I do -- look I'm here right now." He fixed his most dazzling smile upon her and she blinked up at him in stunned silence. "What's it like to be deaf?" he asked curiously.

"I dunno. I can't remember anything else. What's it like being hearing?"

Jack grinned. "I dunno, I can't remember anything else." Sue grinned back. The ice had been broken and they chatted companionably for a time until at length Jack's inquisitive mind went back to her amazing abilities.

"You can read anyone here in this train car?" he asked, pleased when Sue nodded her head in agreement.

"Pretty much." She started swinging her legs again but stopped herself just in time earning an appreciative smile from Jack.

"So like that pair over there -- can you see what they are saying?" Jack pointed to the tall lanky youth and the girl with the sticky up hair.

Sue nodded. "Um he says he's from...Australia...and he has a pet kangaroo and a koala bear. I don't believe him. He's just making up stories."

"What did the girl just say?" Jack prodded.

Sue's forehead wrinkled in concentration. "I'm not sure. It's hard because she's moving around too much." Sue giggled. "I think she said tiddley pom."

They spent an entertaining half-hour eavesdropping on excited conversations. “It’s okay because they’re in a public place. Anything you say in public is fair game. I know because I’m going into law enforcement,” he told her importantly. Sue didn’t mind, she liked having the undivided attention of the handsomest boy on the train and he was much nicer to her than even Luke was when they were making up after a fight. She began to feel more and more at ease in these unusual surroundings and she began to enjoy herself – spending more time looking around the interior of the train rather than the bleak darkness without.

“That boy isn’t happy,” she told Jack sadly, pointing the sullen boy who still looked bored. His entire demeanor shouted his discontent. Jack didn’t need to lip read to know that. But then Sue gasped and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he absorbed the horror in her tremulous voice. “He’s saying he doesn’t believe over and over again. Look his eyes are closed and he’s saying I do not believe. I do not believe…”

“Doesn’t believe in what?” Jack asked, confused.

“In anything!” Sue exclaimed. “And especially not Christmas.”

“Oh…” Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Well, that’s not so bad, is it? Not everyone believes all the time.”

“I believe,” Sue told him with such conviction that a shiver ran down his spine. When she said it he almost believed too.

“Yeah well, when you get…older…and you’re a guy, well, you discover things that…are true. Kind of like new beliefs and you put away the old ones,” Jack explained wisely.

“But you would never stop believing in Christmas, would you?” Sue asked him earnestly.

Jack found it hard to meet her eyes with a leveled look of his own. This was as hard as evading the Santa debate with his little sister at home.

“The…feelings surrounding Christmas will always be around, no matter if we forget about… things,” Jack assured her lamely.

Sue studied the older boy midway down the carriage. He was pale and thin, a shock of blond hair hanging over his eyes. “I don’t think he’s forgotten. I don’t think he ever knew. C’mon.” Compassion had her on her feet and trotting down the aisles before Jack registered that she had gone.

Sue is already spreading joy at such a young age. I wish I had a friend like her...Jack too...

Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!! I am just on with this story!! I loved seeing Tara and Bobby and Myles and Jack and Sue as kids.

You are just absolutely amazing at this...

This is so much fun

(Sidenote: I think this is one of my favorite smilies)

*looks around* Where are Lucy and D?

*whines* We have to wait all day and into the night before you post again? I don't know it I'll make it or not.

I can't seem to stop repeating myself......but I can't wait to see where this goes. It's very frustrating to read a wonderful story one section at a time. I want to sit down and lose myself in this story and mull it over at my leisure. But as much as I want to do that I can't make myself wait until you're done to read it.....I don't have nearly that much self control!

This is such a fun story to read! Perfect to get in the mood for Christmas!!