That night
the wind was blowing really strong. Everyone was tucked into bed fast asleep.
Unfortunately in one of the allies a little girl was there shivering. She had
no shelter or enough clothes to keep her warm away from the cold. Lena was only 10, she ran away from the orphanage to look
for her parents. Till today there was still no hope at all. The only closest
memory she has left of her parents is her grandmamma whom had taken care of her
till she was 7 and she passed away. All she had left was candles that her
grandmamma left her, to her they were magical candles. Once they were lighted
unimaginable things happen.
In her mind
she was telling herself be strong don’t give up hope don’t give into the cold. It
was so dark and the cold started to get colder and colder she couldn’t take it
anymore. She had only 5 candles left she had to light up one of them so she
would feel warm. When she did the whole alley was lighted up she could see a
rainbow starting to appear. Butterflies flying around, flowers blooming and she
felt so warm filled joy seeing such beauty. The light couldn’t last for long and
went out after a few minutes. Then she felt cold again the wind was getting
stronger. She picked the coat that she had and put it around her but still it
felt really cold.
She
couldn’t help but light another candle but this time something unimaginable
really did happen. She saw her grandmamma in the flames and she just couldn’t
believe her own eyes. And her grandmamma said “Its ok sweetie. It’s just me
everything will be ok I promise”. Lena
couldn’t stop blinking her eyes she reached out to touch her grandmamma.
“Grandmamma
is that really you?” Lena said as tears started
to fill her eyes.
“Yes baby
its me.” Her
grandmamma said smiling
The light
was going off she started to light another hoping that her grandmamma wont
disappear. She hurried and her grandmamma was still there the image was getting
clearer. Lena said “Grandmamma please don’t
leave me again”. “It’s okay Lena. I wont leave
I’m going to be just right here.”
Her eyelids
were starting to feel heavy but she didn’t want to close her eyes. She was
afraid when she did her grandmamma would disappear.
Then, she
lighted more candles because she knew it was because of the cold she was
falling asleep. When the last candle was lighted everything was just so bright
she could see a tree up ahead with a swing right beneath it. Her grandmamma was
calling out to her “Come on Lena. Let’s go
everyone is waiting for us. We don’t want to be late.”
“But where
are we going Grandmamma? What are we late for?”
“Just
follow me Lena. You’ll like it come on.” Her
grandmamma reached out for her.
“Give me
your hand. You don’t have to suffer anymore. I promise you I will never let go
of you again”
“Okay
Grandmamma okay.” She took her Grandmamma hand and everything changed she
didn’t feel cold anymore. She felt hope she felt so lively. She ran towards the
swing with her Grandmamma and sat there swinging. As the wind was rustling
through her hair she was at peace.
When dawn
set in a man was walking by the alley and he saw a body of a little girl and
said “Poor thing she was trying to keep warm with all those candles”. He bent
down to check for a pulse but there was nothing “Dear God and it’s the eve of
Christmas. She should be given a proper burial.” After that the man called for
help and gave Lena the burial she deserved.
The most important thing was that she didn’t have to suffer anymore. She was
away for hunger, away from pain and away from cold. She was now with her
grandmamma in someplace better and happy.
