He wasn’t sure what their reaction would be when he’d get home. He knew he was done for. It was already late, close to midnight, and he was still out in the streets, fighting the near-to-sub-zero temperature, tugging his leather jacket tighter and tighter to warm himself. But, he knew he could smooth his way out of this. He thought of coffee, how it would give his body the hot and soothing feel he needed at the moment. Nobody had had a hard time finding coffee shops or a cup of coffee in winter. ‘’It’s Christmas for Pete’s sake, these drinks are everywhere.’’ he thought, strengthening his conviction. As he continued walking, he saw a vacant table outside a store. So, he went there. When he reached for the chair, he couldn’t help but notice the garish neon sign above the glass door of the shop. It read Snack n Bites. “Cool.” he uttered under his breath. Then he finally sat down, leaned his back on the chair and stared at the Christmas lights of the buildings across the street as it switched from green to blue, then red to yellow, then back to green again. He watched the cars pass by, most of them going to the direction where he was going, the road gradually elevates there and ends up along the canyon, to the direction of his house. A sudden ache ran through his thighs and legs as he stretches them, the pain singes in his muscles. Then it hit him, it all came back to him. He completely forgot about it, the thought faded with the howling wind, then he knew it was getting worse.
Earlier in the afternoon that same day, people crowded at Pine Square, as they always do during this season of the year. Of course, he was also there. It’s the most visited place, the landmark of the town, winter’s central shopping area and festivity venue. Novelty stores, mini restaurants, dress shops, arcades and karaokes are all over the place. “Jacob!” someone called him. Before he could fully turn his head, his friend was already in front of his face. “Everyone’s watching the Christmas Eve concert at the center of the square later, you should come. The show I told you about yesterday, remember?” his friend added. Jacob forgets things, it was something that annoyed his friends and disturbed his parents. He was aware of this and it always left his mind puzzled at many occasions, this was one of them. But of course, he would immediately cover it up, faking his recollection every time. He pulled his beanie to his ears, covering his blonde curls and said, “Yeah. Of course I remember, Ricky. Who wouldn’t? It’s the concert!” smoothing his way out like he always do. He saw his friend Ricky’s eyes start to light up, the way his brown eyes glistened and pale face formed a smile gave him the assurance that his lie worked, but he wouldn’t want to be rude, so he said, “Tell you what, I’ll watch the show if I can but if Mom calls me to go home then—“
“Yeah, sure. No problem, bud. There’ll be lots of us there, anyway.” Ricky told him with a smile, Jacob smiled, too, and then, they both parted ways. Jacob roamed around, listened to the jolly jingles that played—not even knowing where it came from and didn’t care to look for the location—and bought food as he strolled about. It was getting late, the committee responsible for tonight’s concert was already working on the stage and it gave Jacob the idea to go home for dinner. He was already going out of the busy square when he heard a kid crying. He saw the girl sitting on a bench, sobbing, her palms covering her eyes. No one paid attention to the sad child, but Jacob did, someone had to. He listened to her cries that seemed to blend with the sweet night music and cold whiff of the breeze. The blonde teen sat beside her and asked what the problem was. “Mommy told me to stay here but she hadn’t come back yet and it’s been hours since she left me.” 619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQai67mJh7
After explaining what had happened the little girl cried even more. Then, he heard the music of the concert flooding his ears—he was too focused with the girl that he didn’t hear the sound playing all over the place. He suddenly carried the little girl in his back and ran to the direction of the concert. “Where are you taking me?” the girl exclaimed. “To your mother.” he heard himself say. People were crowded en masse in front of the stage but it didn’t stop Jacob to cut through them and reach the stage. The performers stopped singing, people were puzzled with the presence of this young and bold man. Jacob grabbed the microphone and said, “I’m sorry to ruin the fun. But, this kid here,” he let her down but the girl’s hands still clings to his shirt, “Lost her mother in this square, she hadn’t returned to get her back. Can anyone help us? I, I had the urge to help, you know. This poor thing here—“a lady was shouting over the back, heading towards the stage. It was her mother. 619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSR4UZv1N7w
When the lady stepped on the stage, the kid ran to her and hugged her like she never would have seen her again. The crowd began to cheer, hail and shout. Then, the lead singer took the stage once again and said, “Right before you, is a Christmas miracle, indeed. We should cheer for the young hero. It’s time to rock!” and the crowd went wild, their voices echoed through the chilly night, and it overwhelmed the mind of Jacob. He looked at his right to see her mother uttering a speech, even though he couldn’t hear it over the shouting of the people, he knew she said thanks. The lights around the stage started to gleam, its brightness mysteriously increasing and he couldn’t hear a thing. All went black.
“Wake up, hero. You passed out earlier on stage” a voice of a grown lady said. Then, she added,” I still can’t thank you enough for earlier. I had an emergency with the doctor earlier. That’s why I took too long. It was all my fault. I was getting worried every passing minute. So, this is how I’ll repay you.” Most of the things in the room where white and had this certain scent, then, he realized he was in a clinic and the nurse was none other than the mother of the child he helped. Jacob looked at the clock and saw it was quarter to eleven. He talked with the mother for a while and head out after.
Now, he remembered everything. Jacob stopped staring at the Christmas lights across the street, stood up, pushed the chair aside and continued marching uphill—the cheers of people still resonating in his head.
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