Erick watched longingly as Diana made her way down the walk toward the trash can by the road, her golden hair shining in the December moonlight, her lips chapped from the cold, as snow drifted from the heavens to land gracefully upon her. She lifted the lid from the trash can and into the vessel inserted a large black garbage bag. Then she spotted him.2
"Hey, Erick!" she called to him.3
The young Mr. Taylor jogged through the snow toward his neighbor. "Hi."4
"So," Diana Maxwell enquired, smiling, "what do you want for Christmas?"5
"You," Erick wanted to say, but instead, he shook his head and replied, "Nothing in particular." What he wanted, he thought, was to tell her how much he loved her. "What about you?"6
"Hey, if you don’t have to say, I don’t have to say," she responded, grinning. In silence, they gazed into the depths of each other’s pupils. "God, I love him," Diana thought to herself.7
"Well," Erick said at last, "good night."8
"Good night," Diana echoed.9
And then, Erick watched the young woman move back to her front door and step inside. Slowly, then, he retraced his steps back to the place he had been standing before being called over to the side of the street, where he watched Diana’s shadow through the window on the other side of the short, wooden fence. When the lights went out and her shadow was gone, Erick fell gracefully onto his back in the snow. He moved his arms and legs in and out a few times, and then he stood up to admire his angel in the snow. "Perfect," he thought. "No," he said aloud to himself, "not quite. . . . " With his index finger, he wrote the name Diana above the snow-angel. "Now," he thought, "now, it’s perfect."10
He smiled at the form on the ground for a moment, and then he walked over it, erasing Diana’s name with his foot, and trudging through the snow to the side door of the little house he was sharing for the school year, with his college buddy, Ryan Douglass.11
As he entered the yellow-papered kitchen, he flipped the light switch. Pools instantly formed under his feet on the yellow linoleum.12
He made his way across the kitchen, into the breakfast nook, and then into the living room. He crossed the room and opened the door nearest the far wall. This was his bedroom.13
The walls were papered navy blue, the same color as the carpet. There was a mattress and box-springs on the floor in the corner, and the bedclothes were maroon. His and Ryan’s rooms were connected by the closet, the space of which was divided equally among the two of them.14
Erick hung his blue Carhartt coat on the back of the closet door; then, he changed out of his faded blue jeans and striped polo shirt, into a pair of blue boxers and a Bass Pro Shop t-shirt. Then, he pulled back the quilt on his mattress and lay down for sleep.15
Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. Ryan had gone home to visit his family a few days ago. Erick and Diana seemed to be the only two left in the whole little college town. Erick’s parents had gone to Florida for Christmas, and Diana had no family worth the drive home to see.16
Erick closed his eyes, exhausted after a long week of schoolwork, and feel asleep.17
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Diana gazed out through the attic window at the one-story house next door. Somewhere in that house, Erick Taylor was completely oblivious to her feelings for him. If only she could tell him how she felt. If only he knew. Only in her dreams could she reveal her love for that man, and only in her dreams could he love her back. He was all she wanted – all she had ever wanted – all she had ever dreamed of. . . . Physically and emotionally drained, she lay down on the old, wobbly iron bed in the small, one-room attic of this tiny house, and transported herself into the only place where she could be with Erick forever: Dreamland.20
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The snow lay thick upon the ground when Erick awoke at 7:00 the next morning. Rubbing his eyes, he wandered into the living room. The lights on Ryan’s big fake Christmas tree sparkled at him as he made his way to the bathroom, where he showered, brushed his teeth, and combed his chestnut-colored hair.23
The sun was bright, and the wind was harsh when Erick stepped out the side door onto the blanket of white that was the backyard. He traipsed to his 1985 Scottsdale and climbed in. It was a big blue truck with blue interior, cloth seats, and manual windows that had been given to Erick by his maternal grandfather on his sixteenth birthday. Erick had admired the old truck as a young boy, but now he saw the creature for what it was: a gas hog, with a capital H.24
Erick pulled slowly out of the driveway and drove down Commercial Street, still half asleep. He took a series of right and left turns until he found his way out of the little town and into a neighboring one. He had no trouble finding the Super Wal-Mart, and, when he did, he parked in the parking lot and ambled up to the front doors, which opened obligingly in order to let him pass, which he did, into the vestibule, and then through another set of automatic doors into the store itself.25
Erick’s first destination was the food section, where he found a turkey, a pumpkin pie, instant mashed potatoes, hot chocolate, and a frozen bag of mixed vegetables – in that order. He was preparing for a Christmas Eve dinner, to which to invite his friend and neighbor, Diana.26
Next, Erick wandered over to the jewelry counter, where he was instantly attracted to a breathtakingly beautiful locked in a glass case.27
The locket was in the shape of a heart. In the upper right-hand corner was a tiny golden red rose. From the upper left to the lower right of the locket were the protruding letters that spelled out the words I love you. Erick was awestricken.28
"Excuse me, sir, may I help you?" the woman on the other side of the counter repeated.29
"Oh," said Erick under his breath. "Um, can I – could I see that, uh, locket? – that one right there? with the rose?"30
"Of course," the woman said. She was a skinny black woman of medium height and had bright hazel eyes. Her hair fell to her shoulders, and her glasses perched on the tip of her nose. "Here you are," she said, handing the locket to Erick.31
Erick gazed at the locket. It was so . . . so. . . . He opened it up, and on the inside, there was a tiny snow-angel and the words Merry Christmas. The locked was so . . . so . . . the word finally came to Erick: perfect.32
"Perfect," he breathed.33
"Excuse me, sir?"34
Erick looked up at the woman, whose name was Becca. "I’d like to buy this," he told her, not looking up from the jewelry he held in his hand.35
"Okay," Becca said, waiting.36
"Oh," said Erick, feeling stupid now, as he handed the locket to the woman behind the counter, who turned her back to him while she found a box, put that box into a small plastic bag, and stapled the receipt to the bag. "Thanks," Erick said, laying a couple of twenties on the counter.37
The woman handed him three dollars and three dimes and said "Thank you."38
Erick payed for the rest of his merchandise, found his truck in the parking lot, and drove back to the house. 39
Just as he was climbing out of the old Scottsdale with his groceries and Diana’s present, he spotted his neighbor out by her mail box.40
"Hi," she called to him. "Good morning!"41
"‘Morning," Erick replied, smiling sweetly at her.42
The girl waved at him and smiled back before taking her mail and returning to the little house on the other side of the fence.43
Erick made his way into the house with his Wal-Mart goods and started to prepare for dinner. He readied the pie to be baked and primed to prepare the mixed vegetables. The mashed potatoes would not take so long. He decided then to pay a visit to his neighbor to invite her to dinner.44
He left the kitchen and stepped out into the snow. Then he made his way to the sidewalk and from there to Diana’s front door. He knocked. Diana was there in a matter of seconds to answer the door.45
"Oh, hi," she said, welcoming him in. She seemed delighted at his visit.46
"Hey," said Erick. Not knowing what else to say, he went straight to the point. "Um, what plans do you have for this evening?"47
"Tonight?" Diana said. "Nothing."48
"Um, would you like to come over for Christmas Eve dinner?" Erick asked her, hoping for a yes.49
"Oh, that’d be great!" Diana exclaimed, smiling widely. "That’d be awesome. What time?"50
"Oh, around six, maybe. . . . Is that good for you?"51
"Good? It’s perfect."52
"Perfect," Erick thought. "Okay, so I’ll see you then. I gotta get back to, uh, get cookin’." He smiled. She smiled back.53
"Okay, see ya then." She smiled as he turned to leave.54
When Erick had stepped out of the house, Diana gave a little leap in her excitedness. "Yay!" she said, gleefully, and she began to sing, "Joy to the world," and then she started laughing.55
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At five till six, there came a knock at Erick’s front door. He went through the living room the door and opened it to see Diana standing there in a long black coat. "Hi," she said.58
"Hi," Erick greeted her. "Come in."59
She did.60
"Sit down," Erick invited her, "make yourself at home." He smiled as she took a seat on the green couch across the room from the television. "I’ll have dinner ready in a minute. Would you like some hot chocolate?"61
"Oh, that would be great," Diana accepted. "I love hot chocolate." "And I love you!" she thought.62
Erick scuttled in and out of the kitchen, bringing first silverware and napkins, then plates, then dishes of potatoes, turkey, and vegetables into the breakfast nook and setting them on the little white wooden table.63
"Dinner," he said professionally, to Diana, "is served."64
She laughed and made her way into the corner where Erick pulled out a chair for her. She sat down, and then so did he.65
Then, he wasn’t sure whether to say a prayer, unknowledgeable of Diana’s religion or absence thereof, but then the woman across the table from him spoke up.66
"May I?" she asked, folding her hands high enough for him to see.67
"Yes," Erick replied. "Yes, yes, you may." He smiled and blushed a little. Diana smiled back.68
Then, they both bowed their heads and closed their eyes, and Diana began to ask the blessing. "Father, thank you for this day, and bless this food, in they name we pray . . . and bless my friend sitting here with me, forever happy may he be."69
Erick smiled at her when they looked up.70
"I made up that last part," Diana admitted, blushing, "that’s why it’s not as good as the first part."71
"I thought it was," Erick said, smiling back, and Diana peered into his warm eyes.72
"Well," she said at last," let’s eat. I’m starved, and if this tastes half as good as it smells, I’m sure I won’t be for long."73
So the two of them filled their plates quickly and emptied them almost as quickly, and Diana complimented Erick saying, "Oh, Erick, this is really good; I believe that you have outdone yourself!"74
"The best is yet to come," Erick said, and he disappeared into the kitchen and came back out with the pie.75
"Oh, I love pumpkin pie," Diana said.76
"I know," Erick replied.77
"You do?"78
"Yeah. You mentioned it around Thanksgiving a time or two."79
Each were able to fit two pieces of pumpkin pie into their stomachs before their bellies were too full to allow any more in except for the marshmallows in their hot chocolate.80
"Erick, that was great," Diana told him. "I have had such a great time. I was so scared be alone all this time we had off for Christmas break."81
"I’m glad you enjoy my company," Erick conveyed.82
"And your cooking," Diana added, laughing, and Erick replied with a chuckle. "Now," Diana said, "let me help you clean this up."83
"No," Erick said, "don’t do that. I can get it by myself."84
"No, Diana insisted, "you sit there, and let me get this. I want to. I really want to." Then she added, "That’s what I want for Christmas, and she smiled at him.85
Erick smiled back and didn’t move, so she gathered the silverware and the dishes and carried them into the kitchen. She put them into the sink and rinsed them off, and then a little black box caught her eye. It had a tag beside it. In pencil, Erick had written on the tag To Diana and Love, Erick. Then, the Love had been erased and replaced by From. Then it had been changed back and the words I love you had been printed on the bottom. Then it all had been scribbled out, but between the scribbles, Diana could see the words.86
She looked around to make sure Erick was not entering; then she removed the lid from the box and saw the locket. Tears gathered in her eyes as she welled up with affection.87
She reentered the living room and took the rest of the dishes of food from the table in the breakfast nook and smiled at her friend.88
She rinsed off the dishes and returned to find Erick sitting on the green couch in the living room, and there were two cups of hot chocolate on the oak coffee table in front of him, each with marshmallows bobbing on the top. He took a sip from one of the cups and invited Diana to come sit beside him. She did.89
She looked into his eyes and smiled at him, a sweet, loving smile, and Erick could feel the warmth of that smile, and she could feel the warmth of that smile, the warmth drawn from her very heart and aimed at the man she loved.90
For a moment nothing was said, and the two simply stared into each others warm, warm, loving eyes, and then Diana said "Merry Christmas." She smiled and could feel tears coming to her eyes. She had said this with such warmth, meaning, and love. . . . "Well, I had better get going, Erick." She said after a couple of seconds, looking away as she brushed a tear from her right eye. "I will see you tomorrow?"91
"Okay," Erick replied. "See you tomorrow."92
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"‘Merry Christmas’?" Diana asked herself. "‘Merry Christmas’? Is that all I could think of to say? How about ‘I love you’? Huh? How about that?"95
She had lain awake in bed for a long time and had then traveled to the first floor and returned with some hot chocolate. She could not stop thinking of Erick and their Christmas Eve dinner.96
"Merry Christmas," she said to the wind. "Merry Christmas, Erick." And she gazed out her window at the little house next door, hoping, wishing, that somehow, the man in that house was not so oblivious now of that fact that she loved him, but being sure, all the while, that he could have no idea. . . . 97
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Erick had watched Diana through the window as she walked home. The snow had drifted from the heavens to land gracefully upon her hair and upon her shoulders and upon her long black coat. She was his angel in the snow. She was his one and only love. If only he could tell her that. "What do you want for Christmas?" she had asked. The answer was simple, and yet so, so complicated. He wanted her. He wanted to hold her in his arms, kiss her chapped lips, and warm her whole body, right now, here, on Christmas Day.100
It was Christmas Day. It was 1:05 in the morning on Christmas Day. Why was Erick still awake? He didn’t know. So, he trudged into his bedroom and decided to dream himself into her arms, dream up her chapped lips for him to kiss, and warm her body all night long, all through December and into January – if only for a couple of hours, he would have her, and he would love her, and she would love him, and they would make love in the moonlight – he and his angel in the snow. . . . 101
He was awaken from his almost-dreams when he heard the creak of . . . a door? No, he thought, it couldn’t be. He told himself to go to sleep, but something kept him awake. He finally decided to go to the kitchen for some hot chocolate. He was tired, but he could not sleep. Perhaps hot chocolate would help.102
He opened his bedroom door and stepped out into the living room. He started toward the kitchen when something inside of him told him to turn around. He obeyed.103
There, under Ryan’s big fake Christmas tree, Diana Maxwell lay naked, her eyes shy but sure, her face serious. Her perfect breasts shone in the blinking lights of the Christmas tree and her legs were long and sexy, crossed as she lay on her side on the floor, her arm stretched out under her head.104
Erick’s mouth drifted open. He could feel the love pulsing through him. Or was that lust? He couldn’t be sure. He knew he loved her, but he also knew he’d never been this aroused before in his life.105
The digital clock on the end table now said 1:13, but his eyes were far from the clock. He glided slowly toward Diana and knelt beside her. The woman sat up and kissed him, her tongue acting as a vessel of love, a sort of carrier, a transporter sending the contents of her heart into her loved one’s body. He wrapped his arms around her, as she held him tightly in her own. Slowly, shakily, but with an air of urgency, she pulled his shirt from his torso and then continued to make out with him. He laid her upper body back down onto the floor and hovered over her, still kissing her passionately. He then removed his boxers and moved over her body.106
Passion surged between them as their bodies became one, moving with the blinking of the lights on Ryan’s big fake Christmas tree under which they made love at 1:15 in the morning on Christmas day.107
"I love you," Erick confessed, breathing hard.108
"I love you," Diana echoed, gasping for air. And then she kissed him, and he kissed her back, and they lay there kissing for a long time.109
Then, they stood up; Erick put on his boxers, and Diana pulled his shirt over her head. Then, she sat there on the floor by the tree as Erick journeyed to the kitchen and returned with two cups of hot chocolate, each filled with marshmallows.110
When they had finished their hot chocolate, Erick gave Diana the locket. Her eyes filled with tears of joy. 111
"I love you too," she said.112
Then, they made love again, and, after all the seeds of that morning had been sown, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.113
Adding your comment:
, No I respect Your choice. This was really good, and It was so sweet!And it all happened on Christmas day! So sweet, SO loving, so romantic, it's just "perfect"...so are you honey. You done such a great job, I loved this piece, You are so talented, Never ever stop writing, I love you so much!
