| Gloria leaned back, her hands folded as if in prayer. She rested her chin on the tips of her knuckles and stared at Jack with subdued wonder. “So after all these years, I finally discover the missing page in the story of Charlie and Alice,” she said. “When your sister Loretta had met my mother in the school library and told her the secret news about Charlie and Alice, it must have been you, Jack, who first told Loretta.” Gloria closed her eyes for a moment, smiling contentedly. “Everything fell into place because you looked up at a shooting star on Christmas night in 1966. And because of that, I exist. So I thank you.” © Copyright 2008 Thomas J. Prestopnik Jack eyed Gloria, squinting in a billowing cloud of confusion. “I still don’t believe I’m on the right track, Gloria. You’re speculating faster than I can process.” “Then I’ll walk you through it, Jack. But I think the story should be fairly obvious by now,” she said, raising a finger in the air. “You told me earlier, after all, that a shooting star had led you to Charlie and Alice.” Jack nodded as his mind dipped into a well of distant memories. “It did lead me to them,” he said, suddenly overwhelmed by the sweet scent of snow-covered pine. He eyed the popcorn garland while sorting through a handful of competing thoughts. “And after I overheard what they said…” “…you then told your sister Loretta all about it,” Gloria gently replied, touching his sleeve. “When my mother, Jenny Campbell, finally heard those words repeated to her, it changed her life forever. She and my father would never have met each other at college otherwise, and I wouldn’t have been born. Now do you understand?” Jack tilted his head, a mental fog beginning to dissipate. He smiled like a boy at a carnival as the wondrous dots of the past began to connect. “Yes, Gloria, I think I do,” he said with a glint in his eyes, delightfully amused at this particular strand in life’s intricate tapestry. “I think I do understand now.” © Copyright 2008 Thomas J. Prestopnik |
| ~ CHAPTER 11 ~ |
| A CHRISTMAS CASTLE |
| by Thomas J. Prestopnik © Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved. |
