Another Twelve Days Of Christmas - Chapter 9

Another Twelve Days Of Christmas 

A novel

By Paul McCann

Chapter 9

Never Give Up

 

Life was going well for Sean and wife and four kids .
They managed to get by ok and survive in difficult times .
Sean was always in a job and he always managed to pay the rent and put food on the table for his wife and kids .

They had two cars in the driveway and some comforts in the home .
Sean and his wife were reasonably happy with life and were starting to get on their feet .
About six months before Christmas Sean and his wife always put money aside for a holiday and gifts for the children but then it happened .

A downturn in the economy and then came the lays offs in the factory .
Sean was one of the first to receive the dreaded letter from his supervisor .

When he brought home the bad news to his wife at first there was friction between them which got worse . Under financial pressure and strain arguments started in the normally quiet family home .
The kids were worried and frightened .

Sean tried to pretend it was going to be ok but reality hit hard and the dark gloom over the home wouldn’t go away .

He started to go to the pub and for a while cut his feelings with alcohol but that only lasted a brief while and then reality returned .
He had no job , no joy , no hope .
The Christmas spirit had been made redundant and Sean was drowned between the depths of despair and the bottom of bottle .

Trapped like a morsel in the beak of a stork , he held tightly around the birds neck and wouldn’t let go . He was being eaten alive but kept squeezing the bird’s neck . Like a fight between the flightless and the righteous Sean was tossed and turned around but not yet swallowed up .

Coming home drunk didn’t help the situation at home and he was not made welcome nor was he loved by his wife or kids .

Things went from bad to worse .

Upset and angry about losing everything he did a smash and grab at a local jewellers . With his car he drove through the front of the shop and grabbed everything he could from the display . The alarm was echoing all over the city streets and he seemed to disregard the noise and the CCT cameras that no doubt had captured the entire operation .
During the next few days Sean went on a Ram Raid Christmas shopping spree . He made excuses for his crimes and pretended it was a pay back or
An evening up the score for losing his job and standing with his family .

He was collecting speeding fines in the post and blatantly ran red lights .
Eventually his wife and kids left the marital family home leaving Sean lost and at the point of despair and destruction 
His grip around the storks neck began to loosen and the stork took bigger and longer chews of Sean . Like a slow death Sean started to give up and hit the skids .

He left the home and became a beggar .

With his grip failing the storks was gaining strength .
He had seen the same grip applied to the stork buy many of the homeless poor on the street .
Like him they had nowhere to go , no one who cared and nothing to live for .

He felt the hardness of the park bench at night and rarely wanted the dawn to come , but he never let go of the storks neck .

He slipped his hands further up the neck and times , especially when there was somebody who stopped and gave him some money or shared a few kind words with him .

Sean liked to slip away into the centre of the city where he was a different person to those on the pavement . He was no dressed in a suit and did not have agendas or lunch appointments .

Sean was trying to forget why he had become who he was in this situation .

It was Christmas Eve .
He stood with others asking for handouts on the corner at the Good Shepherd Church in town .

He was given a large garbage bag full of clothes and from that he pulled out
Garments of hope and change .

Inside the Burberry jacket was a wallet with a bundle of money and no address or contact of who owned the wallet .
He thought to himself that God had given this as a gift .
Now Sean really started to squeeze the neck so hard that the stork opened up its mouth and let him go . Sean was breathing once more and after a shower in the local swimming pool and a change of clothes he stood there dressed like a king . He had now been given something not many get in life .

A reason to carry on and hope to make it all work out .
He thanked God for this chance and asked God’s to forgive him for all the wrongs he had done before . In that instant Sean was forgiven and something stirr3ed within him . The spirit of goodness had now a hand on his shoulder .
Sean had a grip on his life again .

Christmas came and Sean spent it alone but happy .
He still missed his family but he had been saved from the jaws of despair .
Sean had a peaceful and sobering Christmas . He even went to Church , which for him had been a long time between drinks . He donated some money to charity and felt good about himself and life in general .
With his small fortune he rented a furnished flat and quit the drink .
He had a new attitude and a purpose to life .
In the new year Sean began to look for work .
He checked the positions vacant every day and applied for anything that he was capable of doing .

At first every attempt he made to find work failed but he knew he was being tested and continued relentlessly until finally it happened .

He walked into a pub .
He went over to the bar and asked the man there ,
“I see you’re having renovations done .”

“That’s right . How do you like it so far ?”
Came the reply .

“Well to be honest I think I could do a lot better that them you have working for you . I am a painter and carpenter by trade and I know a shoddy job when I see one .”

The bartender called over the foreman .

“Hey Trevor . Can I have a word for a second ?”

A man in spotless overalls approached and after being introduced to Sean they shared a few thoughts .
Sean pointed out some imperfections to the overhead and partitions on the wall .
Then he added some new thoughts design and colour for the place that had the foreman very interested .

“I’ll tell you what I’ll work for half of what you’re paying these boofheads you have in your crew and I’ll guarantee you a better job done .“

The foreman smiled and said .

“I like you . Can you start in the morning ?”

“I’m there. What time ?”
Sean said

“Seven sharp . Now if you excuse me, I have some people to fire “

Sean walked out of the pub on to the street . He wanted to scream and shout to the world that had a new job . He wanted to dance , if only but no there was no one to dance with .
There was only himself that could hear and feel what he did .

He had a job .
He had hope .
The stork had flown away forever .

That night as he went to sleep he felt good about things .

Next morning he was up early and shaved then had a light breakfast before going to work . As he walked along the pavement he saw a homeless man at the corner and Seam stopped and said hello and even gave him some money .

The beggar looked into Sean’s eyes and smiled .

Sean said ,

“Never give up .“
Then he walked away .

As he walked along the street the homeless man called out after him .
Sean looked back .
The beggar gave him a wave .
Sean returned it and continued on his way .

It was a busy day and he worked hard . The foreman made it a lot easier when he said ,

“You can borrow my tools until you get some of your own . “

Yes, indeed everything was going to be all right .

“I’ll pay you back some day. Thanks for giving me a go . “
Sean said .

“Yes, I know but don’t worry . I’ll get it out of you , there’s a lot more work after this one if you want to stay with me . “
The foreman replied .

Sean nodded ‘
“You’re on “

All that week Sean measured and cut and fixed panels before painting and staining all the oak timber around the bar . It looked a treat and everyone was delighted with the work Sean had done .

Within two weeks the job was finished .

Trevor had not said anything yet but a lady who had come in one day seemed very pleased with Sean and even mentioned the quality of his work .
She passed a card on to Trevor for him to give to Sean .
As yet Sean never gave the card to Sean in case he would lose his best worker but after a lot of though he did .

Sean looked at the card and was proud to see his wife’s name and phone number on it .

Just when he had given all hope of ever seeing his wife and kids again just by some chance she had found him .

A very rare event had occurred and once again Sean thanked God for this miracle in his life .

Trevor wasn’t happy about Sean asking for two weeks off but said he would keep his job open until his return .

Sean promised not to let him down and was completely over the moon with what had happened .
He contacted his wife and yes immediately a reunion was set up .

Sean was soon back with his family .

That Christmas a new spirit was in their marital family home .
It is hard to say why certain things go wrong and why others work out all right but when miracles happen it’s not just an accident .
Somehow God sees the heart and looks beyond the badness we find in others and between head and heart , the spirit of goodness dwells .

Sean had been accepted back again into life and everything was brand new.

Christmas came and it was only going to get better from here on in .

End Chapter 9

 

Link to chapter 10

https://www.abctales.com/story/mcscraic/another-twelve-days-christmas-ch...

 

Another Twelve Days Of Christmas 

A novel

By Paul McCann