The Christmas Lights

It was a cold night yet was filled with the laughter of people.Street lights were not the only bright thing on the road.In fact,the whole town of Pillsbury was decked with fairy lights,wreaths,Christmas trees and ribbons.People went around buying cakes or doing the last minute shopping of gifts.During this hustle-bustle,nobody noticed a young girl of about twelve walking all alone on the road.She was not lost,neither did anybody care.She was dressed in dirty rags and her face was covered with soot.Her hair were all tangled up and wore no shoes.Even in the bitter,biting cold, she bore only a thin jacket and a single glove on her right hand.Her other hand was bare while her tattered jeans possessed a large hole on her right knee.Somebody had stolen her only pair of shoes leaving her to mourn over that alone.Now,seeing the happy,cheerful faces in the crowd made her even sadder.Oh!Why didn't she have no family?Why did she have to spend every Christmas with the stars and moon for company?Couldn't she,an orphan,enjoy a merry Christmas like everyone said?Maybe she was destined to be poor and then she would become as rich as any film star.Nevertheless,she just kept walking down the street.She kept walking until she reached an aged woman sitting all alone on the pavement.She wore nothing apart from a shirt and skirt.A small kindled in front of her but it supplied her with very little heat.She was shivering from head to toe.Her face was pale and wrinkled.The sight of the poor old lady made the little girl feel as if she had no problems in life.Instinctively,the little girl removed her jacket and offered it to the old lady.The lady looked at her in surprise but took the jacket anyway and wrapped it around herself.The old lady muttered a few words of gratitude and curled up on the spot.A few moments later,she was happily snoring away.The little girl sat in front of the fire wrapping her arms around herself.She sat there until little snowflakes of ice fell on the fire extinguishing it.The little girl got up and scrounged about the place for a shed.She found one and walked in.The shed made her feel a little better but not much.After she was settled on an upturned box,she noticed a young boy of about her own age walk into the shed.His face looked red and the girl got a feeling as if he was sick.She went up to him and asked,"You look sick.What happened?"The boy replied,"I am sick.I don't have anything apart from this blanket to keep me warm."He held up a frayed blanket.The little girl removed her glove and handed it over to the boy.The boy looked amazed at such kindness.He held the glove in his hand and quickly wore it."I'm so sorry that I couldn't be of much help,"said the young girl."But the fuel of humanity,kindness,love and compassion will keep me forever warm.Come,share my blanket with me,"the boy answered back.The to children sat in the blanket absorbing whatever heat they could get.When the boy was at ease,the girl got up and crept outside.Outside was cold enough to even freeze ice-cream.The girl walked on to reach a posh area of the town.By now the girl was almost frozen.Her body temperature had dropped a thousand degrees.She took a step forward and suddenly,collapsed.But a strong man caught her.He lifted the child in his arms and took her to his house.He laid her on a couch and whispered."I am doctor Billsworth and I will try to heal you.""There is no cure.My time has come.But I do wish to receive a gift because I never have.You see,god is my guardian.Also,I have always been poor until now.But helping an old lady and a sick boy has made me richer with their blessings and gratitude,"replied the girl.Hearing this,the doctor thrust a bar of chocolate in her hand.She opened the packaging.took a bite and lay back in satisfaction.The doctor then said,"Christmas lights mean to enlighten the lives of others.You have made me cherish all these small events in life which make other people happy.These,are the real Christmas lights."The girl nodded with a smile on her face and her eyes closed.She then froze,not with the cold.That was the last thing that happened to a girl of about twelve,dressed in rags with a soot covered face and a thin jacket with a single glove to cover her right hand.