Danny was going to a
Christmas Concert at Abbottsford Cathedral which was well attended as usual and
when he when inside he saw the wonder of a manger scene, it looked so very life
like and real, and there was a good reason for that, because it was.
In fact it was a wonderful scene and captured the mood perfectly as “Ave Maria”
played softly in the background.
Part of the wonder of
the stable of Bethlehem were the live animals, who seemed perfectly at peace
away from his Uncle Jacks farm
Then he saw his younger
brother dressed as Joseph, and his sister as the Virgin Mary, not exactly type
casting he thought to himself rather uncharitably.
There were also three
of his cousins playing shepherds, two Uncles and a maiden Aunt representing the
Magi and his father was the angel Gabriel.
In fact the only one
of the tableaux that was not a living member of the family was the Christ child
which was actually one of those robotic dolls that pregnant women, with more
money than sense get to practice motherhood on, supplied by one such woman,
Aunty Evelyn.
His mother would also have been in it but for the fact that she was the Vicar
and was part of the clergy taking the service.
Whereas his
contribution to proceedings was as soloist in the choir in which he was performing
“o holy night”.
He waved to his many
kith and kin as he walked towards the vestry and as he did so his mind was
preoccupied with two things, the first was a wish, to give a faultless
performance in front of such a large congregation and the second was his hope
of getting Heather Jones under the mistletoe at the party afterwards.
Heather was two years
younger than him and was new to the choir and he was besotted with her, and had
been from the first moment he saw her.
She was a bit of a
tomboy but he quite liked that she wasn’t a girlie girl and didn’t present with
all the girly paraphernalia.
Such as the fact that
she never carried a hand bag, instead she had a back pack with her at all times,
she also wasn’t fashion conscious, which was another plus for him, she always
wore a loose fitting black dress, black tights and coloured baseball shoes and
wore her long Brunette hair in plaits.
He really liked
everything about Heather, her prominent chin which she thrust out proudly, her green
thoughtful eyes behind thick framed specs and her broad smile that made her
nose wrinkle.
In short he thought
she was perfect, he just needed to work up the courage to ask her out, which is
where he hoped the mistletoe would come to his aid.
So after the service
the clergy, verger, altar boys and choir members all made their way at some
point to the vestry to change into their street clothes, he made sure he stayed
close to Heather as he still held out a hope that he might suddenly grow a back
bone and ask her out.
He kept her in view at
all times while he spoke with various members of his family, who were
congratulating him on his solo performance, until most of the people who had
gone in the vestry had come out when Heather looked over to where he was
standing and went into the vestry herself, so he followed and as he went inside,
the Verger went out leaving just him and Heather who was just hanging her
surplice in the cupboard.
“Hello” he said
nervously
“Hi Danny” she
retorted as she slipped off her shoes and replaced them with her baseball shoes
“great solo”
“Thanks” he said and
started to panic as he couldn’t think of anything else to say, because as he
watched her change her footwear his mind went blank, until he caught sight of
the Christmas lights through the vestry window and he asked.
“Are you looking
forward to the party?”
“I was” she replied
“Why aren’t you now?”
“Because I’m not going”
Heather replied and he sat down heavily on a chair as his heart sank and she
smiled when she saw his reaction then she said
“My mums ill”
“Oh I’m sorry” he said
sympathetically and bent down to tie his shoe lace and when he sat up again
Heather was holding a sprig of mistletoe above his head.
“I was going to use
this at the party” she said and leant forward and kissed him, but not just a
peck, it was a proper kiss, his first proper kiss, and it was everything he’d
hoped it would be and more.
“Wow that’s good
mistletoe” she said
“Definitely” he agreed
and then added
“I’ve got some
mistletoe for the party as well”
“That’s good to know”
Heather said as she slipped her coat on
“So I think we should
check if it’s as good as yours” he asked
“Fab idea” she grinned
and they kissed again.
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