Merry Mess
Regan plopped down on a desk to take inventory. Her feet hurt, her head was swimming and whatever she had eaten at the party tickled her stomach in a most disagreeable way. Paper, ribbons and crumbled cookies decorated the floor. The tree was a shambles — ornaments ripped from its branches in the mad rush out the door. How could such chaos reign at an alcohol-free party? Regan resolved to find a new job in the new year.
Regan flipped the music from holiday favorites to calming jazz. Gathering her last shred of energy, she began to clean-up. Many willing hands helped decorate but not one remained. She didn’t blame them. Dismantling is less compelling than creating.
The trash can and recycling bin soon filled. Now for the tree. It was a small one and Regan started to drop it back into its box lights and all. As she picked it up, something fell from its branches — an envelope, covered in glitter.
“To Ms. Cranmer.” Opening it, Regan found a hand-drawn card. The cover showed a boy with wild hair, huge eyes, and a smile as bright as the star on the tree.
Inside she read,
“You make me happy. Love, Doug.”
Doug. How he tried Regan’s patience!
A dreamer.
A forgetter of gloves.
A waster of paper, a dropper of markers, a dripper of glue.
He doodled, he hummed, and he never remembered to raise his hand.
His smile and the smiles of his classmates were worth all the trouble and mess.
Regan glanced at her screensaver, a quote from Shirley Jackson: “Am I walking toward something I should be running away from?”
Tucking the card into her bag full of heartfelt first-grader gifts, she knew the answer.
LMC
12/22/17
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