Christmas Joy

It was Christmas Eve, Annie's second favorite day of the year. The house was decorated with thousands of twinkling lights. The presents were piled high under the tree. Her one lone Christmas stocking hung from the mantel in anticipation of Santa's arrival. Annie didn't ask for much, she just wanted one gift and that gift was a secret, only Santa knew what it was.

Annie's parents died when she was a young girl, but she was not left totally alone in the world. She had her grandparents and her aunts and uncles who all pitched in to make sure Annie had all the love and encouragement she needed. Money was tight in her family, but there always seemed to be enough for whatever Annie needed. Now Annie was grown, held a good job and life was perfect, almost.

Annie was having Christmas Eve dinner at her home this year. She started planning for it last Christmas Eve when she finally had the nerve to announce it was her turn to be hostess! She was so excited she couldn't contain herself.

She bought the biggest turkey she could find. She got 10 pounds of potatoes and then bought another 10 pounds, just in case! She had enough sweet potatoes to feed an army. She made 4 pies, and then added two cakes just to be safe! No one would go hungry this Christmas Eve!

She finally put the finishing touches on the dining room table and she took a moment to look out the window. Oh no, snow...it couldn't be snowing. The back roads to her home were treacherous enough without snow. The ringing of the phone snapped her back to reality. It was her Aunt Linda calling to say that the roads in town were already covered by almost a foot of snow and it wouldn't be possible to make the drive to the country.

Annie's surely didn't want anyone to get in an accident, but she was still very upset that she would be the only one at her Christmas Eve dinner party. Aunt Linda told her they would see how the roads were the following day and if they could make it, they would all be at Annie's house for Christmas Day.

The room was cooling down. Annie made a quick trip to the wood pile in the back yard. She just started to grab a load of wood when all of a sudden she heard crying. It wasn't crying like a child would make, but it sounded like a puppy crying. She didn't have a puppy, nor did she have any neighbors close by. The old Jackson house, her closest neighbor, had been vacant for a few years.

She followed the noise and behind the old pump house she discovered the source of the crying. It was a beautiful little black lab puppy. The pup looked to be maybe 10 weeks old and she had a big red collar around her neck. Who owned that little bundle of joy? Where did she come from?

Annie scooped up the puppy and headed for the warmth of the house. She forgot about the fireplace and turned the central heat up a few notches instead. After grabbing a blanket from the back of the sofa, she bundled the puppy up and held her for a while. The crying stopped and Annie was rewarded with hundreds of little puppy kisses all over her face. The sadness of being alone on Christmas Eve changed to worry over this little bundle of black hair, big feet and a fast wagging tail!

Once the little visitor was fast asleep Annie tried to call her best friend Sandy to ask what to feed the puppy. No dial tone, the snow knocked out the phone lines again. Darn. She had some dog books and looked up what she needed to know. She would be ready when the dog woke up hungry.

Annie must have fallen asleep, as the sound of someone knocking on her door woke her up. Assuming it was the dog's owner, Annie flung the door open to find the most gorgeous looking man she had ever seen. It must have been more than 6 feet tall and he had jet black hair, the same color as the puppy actually! He had dreamy grey eyes that drew her in. She forgot to speak, she was mesmerized by him!

Finally the stranger introduced himself. His name was Tom and he just bought the old Jackson house. Annie finally found her voice, introduced herself and had the good sense to ask if he lost a dog. It turned out that Tom's friends had just helped him move in that day and as a house warming gift they presented him with the black lab puppy. They thought the dog would help keep him company.

Annie and Tom sat on the couch, with the puppy between them, and they talked for hours. Annie finally realized she was being a poor hostess and invited Tom to stay for Christmas Eve dinner. They chatted and ate and drink and found they had a lot in common!

The puppy escaped from Tom's house through an unlatched door and somehow found her way to Annie. Since Tom had not yet named the dog, they both thought "Joy" would be the perfect name. Before they knew it the mantel clock was indicating midnight.

They wished each other a Merry Christmas and Tom asked Annie what she wanted Santa to bring her. She laughed and said she already had everything she wanted.

A short time later Tom left with the dog. Annie had time to reflect on the events of the day. She had a big smile on her face as she remembered the words she whispered to Santa, "Please Santa bring me a wonderful man for Christmas, if you can't find one, I'll take a black lab puppy instead!"

Source:

A wonderful day dream!