A Red Rider Christmas

 It was a snowy winter's night, the flakes gently falling from the sky. All was quiet as he walked through the small town, remembering his youth there, with many memories staying with him as he grew up, reminders of the good things and sometimes of things he'd just as soon leave behind,he stopped to look in the storefront windows  remembering how they were decorated for the holidays each competing for the grand prize for the best display. He recalled walking with his Mom when darkness set in, stopping to look at every window, their feet and hands frozen, but they didn't care as the magical displays lit up the night, each a contender for the prize.

As he snapped back to reality, all he saw were darkened windows, no displays of lights or sounds of holiday music, just empty storefronts whose time had passed, leaving behind for-sale signs in another small town in America. Halfway down the street, a glow coming from a store captured his attention as he picked up the pace, leaving footprints behind him that went from a stroll to an all-out run. He smiled as he looked in the window, seeing a magical display of Christmas like the ones he saw all those years ago.

Would you look at that, Mom? he said out loud, hoping she would hear him up there. It was a small display with all the same toys and decorations he remembered from his youth. He grinned, seeing the exact toys he had wished for, like a red bicycle and a quick silver sled. A GI Joe action figure and the one thing he wanted but never received, a Red Rider BB gun.

As he looked at all the memories, the shopkeeper came to the door, pointing to his watch, signaling it was time for him to close for the last time. He looked sad as he went from one display to another, turning off the lights and filling boxes he would store somewhere. He stood outside watching as the last boxes were packed and the for-sale sign hung, as the sorrow in the pit of his stomach turned to tears.

He began to walk away when the door opened, and the old man came out, handing him a wrapped present. No words were spoken as he went back inside his store, now just a memory of smiling faces pressed against the glass, looking at the toys they hoped would be under the tree come Christmas morning. He stood there gazing into the darkness and slowly opened the gift. A Red Rider BB gun, he said out loud. But how was it possible, he wondered. He knocked on the door, but the old man was gone along with the magical display.

Some things defy imagination, while others come to you if you just believe. He continued his walk, the red rider slung around his shoulder, and the sounds of sleigh bells coming from the store roof.No way he said out loud, just as the sleigh flew past him, the one person in the whole wide world who always wanted to believe. The old man waved to him as he vanished into the darkness, and he stood there, wondering how to explain this, but decided he would put the BB gun under the tree for his son, wondering if his Mom finally gave in and said it was okay after all these years, but with one exception that her grandson wouldn't shoot an eye out.

Mike 2025