Grace and her mother get an unexpected Christmas surprise.
Grace is glad that she is off school now for winter (Christmas) break. She has had enough of the daily teasing that she has had to endure ever since she first started attending Eastview Elementary School. The only person who has shown an interest in her is Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux, and that is only because like Grace, Ronee' uses forearm crutches and leg braces for walking, and she knows what Grace is going through. But Ronee' is off with her family, and Grace won't see her until they return to school on January 6, in the new year.
At the thought of her friend not being there, she wonders if she is having a hard time with the kids as she is; and tears of shame prick at her eyes as she recalls the terrible taunts they have flung at her. Oh, if only they knew how she felt when they teased her; and oh, if they only knew what it was like to have to struggle about on braces and crutches while most kids had two good legs to stand or run on!!
But Grace is determined not to cry. She shoves the thoughts of the bullies from her mind, and she soon concentrates on helping her mother put out the first of the Christmas decorations while listening to the radio. They have on a station that is playing holiday music, and they are enjoying the festive melodies. Suddenly the disc jockey interrupts in the middle of Reba McEntire's version of "I'll Be Home For Christmas", saying that he wants to read a very special letter that came to the station the other day, and he was so touched by it he wanted to share it with other listeners.
He then proceeds to read the letter. It is while he is in the middle of the letter when Grace's mother audibly gasps, as she recognizes it as her letter. The disc jockey carefully reads each and every word, and after he is done, he says, "Grace, if you are out there, I hope Santa grants you what you so dearly wish. I pray that those who are teasing you stop and realize just what they are doing. What they are doing is not nice, and they should know better. But I WILL say this: you sound like a very sweet little girl with a good heart, and I pray and hope that the kids learn to see you for how you really are on the inside. I hope you have the best day ever, and I hope that you get everything you wish for this Christmas! Merry Christmas, Grace, and thank you for your courageous spirit!"
Grace and her mother both stand there, mouths agape, their eyes wide with wonder, as they look at one another. Grace then starts to cry, and she and her mother embrace as the mother says, "Honey, I think this is going to be the start of wonderful times ahead for you, and I think that you have opened a lot of people's minds today. I hope they realize that you are as much as a person as they are, and I pray that they learn to accept you, even though you ARE disabled, and see that you are just a normal kid who only wants to fit in and have friends!"
Grace, too stunned to speak, can only nod in agreement. But in her subconscious, she hopes that the bad kids who have been teasing her all these years have heard the radio and what the d.j. had to say, and that they learn to apologize to her for their hurtful teasing and learn to accept her as a new friend.
For the past two years (2006-2008) The Bridge of Silver Wings has earned a name for itself both as a series of poems published in different e-zines and as a book first published in 2007.
What makes this 2009 edition a special one is th
A short story of mine was included in an anthology of short fiction by fourteen of Port Town Publishing Company's authors. It is out of print and no longer available except as a download. Contact me at charlenetess@yahoo.com if you want it.
Grace is glad that she is off school now for winter (Christmas) break. She has had enough of the daily teasing that she has had to endure ever since she first started attending Eastview Elementary School. The only person who has shown an interest in her is Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux, and that is only because like Grace, Ronee' uses forearm crutches and leg braces for walking, and she knows what Grace is going through. But Ronee' is off with her family, and Grace won't see her until they return to school on January 6, in the new year.
