The First Noel
written by:
Dynamite Jack
The First... Noel by Dynamite Jack ©CHRISTMAS EVE, PRESENT DAY
Little Harry Bailey was quiet, and sneaky, and patient. He had turned four the previous July and he had a plan. The other kids were in the family room watching a Christmas special. He was too, sorta. He was wedged in between the end of the sofa and the wall. This gave him a good vantage point - he could watch the rest of the kids, he could look at the special and he could see the adults sitting around the dinner table. They were all drinking hot chocolate or eggnog. The ones with the eggnog kept passing around a bottle and they seemed really happy.
Deciding he was ready he crawled backwards, a little at a time. Was anyone watching? A little more, and then he was in the hallway. Getting up to a crouch he quietly, and slowly, went into the living room. Yes, there it was... a tall tree decorated in a fantasy of colors, lights blinking, hung all over with neat things to play with! But that was not his objective! Underneath the tree was a jumble of boxes, packages, big ones small ones - all wrapped in glorious colored papers.
Dropping down to his belly, a snake stalking its prey, he slithered into the room. The only light was from the tree and two candles on the mantle. He could hear the stereo gently playing:
The First Noel, the Angels did say Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they layHe neared his goal: his presents under the tree! He started reaching for the first box to look at the tag and he heard a soft sound coming from the other side of the tree, a snuffling, sniffling sort of sound. Curiosity won out over his greed, at least for a minute, and he crawled around the tree. There on the sofa was granny Gin Gin. He stood up and walked over to her. There was a sparkle in her eyes, in later years he would understand this was the Christmas lights reflecting on unshed tears.
Seeing Little Harry when he stood up she put out her arms and he ran into them. "Harry, what are you doing in here; no, never mind I think I know."
"Gin Gin", he asked, "are you crying?"
Taking a handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbing at her eyes, she answered, "No, honey, I just have a few magic raindrops in my eyes."
Standing on his tiptoes, his eyes suddenly large, he stared into her damp eyes.
Laughing a little she kidded her grandson, "You know what magic raindrops are, don't you?"
As he shook his head no she continued, "Every year at Christmas time Santa Claus sends one of his elves around with a bottle of magic raindrops and they put a few drops in every grandmother's eyes. Then when she looks at all of her grandchildren, she can tell if they have been good or not! Only the good ones get presents."
Looking at him a little sternly, she asked "Harry, have you been a good boy this year?"
Looking a little worried, he first nodded yes, then, after a bit, shook his head no.
Giving him a huge hug as only grandmothers can, she pulled him down under the tree. "I know you've been good because look at all these presents for you! Go ahead and see what you can find."
Leaving him to his task, she sat back on the sofa, dabbing her eyes again. Her eyes were on Little Harry but her thoughts drifted back to earlier, her sadness triggered by the song she played over and over every Christmas:
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel Born is the King Of IsraelCHRISTMAS SEASON, MANY YEARS EARLIER
Ginny had just got out of the shower and was looking in the mirror, seeing what she always saw: a short pixie-like girl with dirty blond hair, always appearing as it did now, a couple inches long, scraggly and sticking up everywhere. She was somewhat angular from the years of competitive running, but she saw enough curves to draw a slight smile.
She finished drying herself, took the silly plastic bag from around her foot and ankle and got dressed, grabbed her hairbrush and stared angrily at the mirror. This was a daily battle she fought, her against her hair. Going into attack mode she furiously brushed. Surrendering, she threw the brush in a drawer and vigorously ran her fingers through the mess on top of her head.
Snorting, she thought "I might as well shave it off; it could only look better! At least this is better than when it was long." Since she rarely wore makeup, she gave up, put a dab of the latest cologne that promised to make her "alluring" and left the guest bedroom using her crutches. She had sprained her ankle somewhat severely, slipping while running in the snow, and was sleeping in the guest bedroom downstairs so she wouldn't have to negotiate the stairs. It was working out okay, especially since it had its own bathroom.
Virginia Davis had graduated from high school the previous spring, and had turned eighteen just before Thanksgiving. She was currently going to the local community college but had no idea what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. As a result she was taking General Ed classes, trying to get some of the required courses out of the way while she waited for an inspiration for her future.
Ginny ... she never allowed anyone to call her Virginia ... was a lot of things. She was smart, cute, funny, short, a runner, a daughter, a sister, a student, a pretty good cook, and... well, you get the idea. If you could get inside Ginny's head and see what she thought she was, it wouldn't be any of those things. When she really thought about it, when she looked in a mirror, when she woke up late at night, when she gossiped with her friends, she always came back to one thing: she was a virgin
This wasn't any particular plan or belief of hers, nor a concerted effort to stay that way, that's just how it had worked out. She had had the regular supply of boyfriends, though none for more that a few months. Few of her friends had made it to the senior prom as a virgin - none of them past the prom. Of course they talked about it all the time, sometimes giggling, sometimes whispering, once in a while blushing.
But not Ginny. She had no stories to titillate her friends with. She sometimes felt left out, and in general had very mixed feelings. Some days she was embarrassed, other days proud. Some nights she felt a longing, a stirring in her loins that confused her. She wasn't in a rush to lose it but sometimes it seemed like a burden to bear. Her life was great but it seemed to lack definition to her; some days everything seemed a little fuzzy.
She was waiting for her brother Marty. He was a junior at the state university and was coming home for a little over two weeks. The last time she had talked to him, he said "Ginny, I'm bringing home a boyfriend for you," but he wouldn't say anything else.
Now she was waiting for them to get back from the train station. Her parents had gone down to pick them up. She was alternately curious, nervous, and shy. She awaited their arrival with some trepidation and finally decided to go into the kitchen and futz around rather than appear to be too interested. She tripped a little on the hallway rug and banged into the wall. Boring.
Finally the garage door made that awful grinding, rumbling noise. She heard them come into the house, waited a minute and then nonchalantly sauntered (hard to do on crutches!) in to meet them. Marty grabbed her and gave her a hard time about her ankle. He introduced her to his dorm roommate: "Ginny, this is TD Bailey. TD, this is Ginny."
As he put his hand out she automatically put hers out, forgetting the crutches, and fell right at him. With an athletes reflexes he grabbed her under each arm and steadied her.
"I told you she has the hots for you, TD," Marty laughed, teasing Ginny.
Blushing scarlet, Ginny mumbled something like "pleasedtomeetcha" and stumbled back to the kitchen on her crutches. The boys went upstairs to get settled in. Marty was staying in his room, but since it only had one bed, TD was going to stay in Ginny's room. She had a sudden flash of intimate apparel strewn all over the room and her diary lying open on the dresser. A quick check with her mom settled her mind on this.
At first she really liked TD (what kind of name was that?), what wasn't there to like? He was just less than six feet, maybe 170 pounds (she wasn't very good at this.), with dark curly hair and long ropy muscles. He was well dressed in nice slacks and a sport shirt. "He's actually pretty cute." mused Ginny. He was unfailingly polite to her and her parents.
That night at dinner, her dad, George Davis, asked TD about his name. Marty answered for him: "At the homecoming game the week before Thanksgiving last year, he intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown as time expired, giving us the game! We were twenty point underdogs. Anyway, as he was running off the field the head cheerleader came flying through the air into his arms screaming ‘TD. TD. TD.' as she hugged him and smeared lipstick all over his face. The name just stuck. His real name is Noel Bailey."
Marty started regaling them with stories of how all the girls would chase him after that. Noel would laugh a little at some of this, but didn't say much. Ginny started having second thoughts about how desirable he was. Unbidden, her mind whispered to her, "Hey, girl! You aren't jealous, are you?"
Things went along for two more days with everyone seeming to have fun... anyway there were lots of laughs. She noticed that Noel (she just couldn't think of him as TD) seemed to be around her more and more. A bit surprised at herself, she didn't seem to mind, even started looking forward to spending time with him. He was very solicitous of her ankle, running around getting things for her. One afternoon when he brought her some cookies and milk, she thought, "I could get used to this," as she kissed his cheek quite naturally.
Two days before Christmas Ginny was in the kitchen cutting out cookies in several different Christmassy shapes. Her mom had made the dough ahead of time so she could sit at the table, do the cutouts and sprinkle different colors of crystal sugar on them. This had always been her job to do, and it was something she could do sitting down. Suddenly there were two large hands covering her eyes, and a falsetto voice rang out, "Guess who?"
Knowing who it was and deciding to make it her game not his, she said in a tentative voice. "Fumble?" She continued, "No, his voice is much nicer! I know. It's Interception! No, it can't be him; he's too polite to bother me when I'm making cookies. Let's see... Gosh it can't be TD, he was supposed to help me make cookies - if it is him, I'm calling delay of game."
With a laugh, she pulled his hands off her eyes and turned her head towards him... only to be met by his lips brushing hers! Blushing she turned her head back and picked up the cookie cutter again, and mumbled, "Delay of game. No cookies for you buster."
Noel smiled and as he sat down he couldn't resist rubbing her hair with one of his hands, causing her face to turn even redder.
"I'll make you a bargain," he told her, "If you give me some cookies I'll make hot chocolate! Deal?"
"Okay," she said with a grin.
That night Ginny had a plan on how to get back at him. None of the other boys she had dated would sit still for a movie unless it was a "bang-bang, shoot 'em up." Marty had gone out on a date and her parents were going to a neighbor's house to play cards.
While they were sitting with her parents having eggnog after dinner, she said "Noel, would you like to watch a movie with me tonight. They are showing one of my favorites." Expecting him to hem and haw a little she was surprised with his answer.
"Sure, that sounds like fun! Since you are a cripple I'll make popcorn."
Thinking, "Wait ‘til he sees what it is. He'll be stuck."
The movie was on at eight. She had been watching "It's a Wonderful Life" every Christmas since she was ten.
They got settled in on the sofa in the living room, popcorn ready as promised, in a bowl between them on the cushion. She was surprised again when he seemed interested in the movie. He said he had only seen it once, about five years ago.
During a commercial about half way through the movie, Noel took the popcorn bowl back to the kitchen and brought them a soda. Acting like it was the most natural thing in the world, he sat next to her where the bowl had been. A few minutes later she felt his hand lay on hers, not holding it, just resting there. She started to pull her hand out, but decided to leave it there for a minute. After a while she forgot about it and eventually noticed they were holding each other's hands tightly.
When the movie was over, Noel turned to her and said, "Ginny, I really enjoyed that. I could see it was a special movie for you and I appreciate you asking me to share it with you." He put his hand on her cheek for a minute, looking in her eyes. After a minute he got up and turned off the television.
Coming back to the sofa he leaned over and picked her up. "Come on girl, It's time to get you in bed."
Aghast at what he said she tried to wiggle out of his hands but he ignored her. Carrying her down the hall to her temporary bedroom, he laid her on the bed.
"Noel. Wh ... what are you doing?"
Grinning at her, he turned around and threw over his shoulder, "I'm going to get your crutches. What did you think?"
She could hear his laughter rumbling down the hall. She smiled to herself, remembering her thoughts and wondering if she was less panicked than she had acted.
Noel came back with the crutches and put them across the foot of the bed where she could reach them easily. Sitting down next to her on the bed he took both of her hands in one of his he put the other on top of her head and rubbed it through her hair.
"Noel. What are you doing to my hair?"
"I'm just doing what you do all day long."
"I don't!"
"Yup, you do," Noel countered. "During dinner I counted, seventeen times."
Leaning over her kissed her gently. When she didn't move away he put his arms around her and kissed her more energetically.
Pulling her head back to catch her breath, she chattered, "Wow. I've never been kissed like that."
Teasing her, he said with a smile, "Well Ginny, you've never been kissed by a man before."
Kissing her again he started rubbing her back with his hands. Lost in the moment he pulled his hand around and put it on her breast.
Putting both of her hands on his hand on her breast, holding it there, she whispered, "Noel, what do you want?"
Cupping her face in his hands he looked at her for a longish minute, not saying anything, looking into her eyes. "Ginny, I want ... I need ... Damn. I'm sorry Ginny. I'd better go to bed."
With a quick kiss on her forehead, he left her alone, prisoner to her thoughts.
The next morning, the day before Christmas, when she went in for breakfast, Noel was already there. Pausing at his chair she ran her hand vigorously through his neatly combed hair, laughing at him. Laying her crutches on the floor she slipped into the chair next to him.
They were having a big dinner on Christmas Day, so they didn't have anything particular planned for Christmas Eve. Ginny's mom and dad went to his brother's for dinner but she stayed home because of her ankle. Marty and TD went out with some of Marty's old high school friends to deliver toys to kids that needed a smile that holiday season. Both of them dressed up in Santa costumes and they had a lot of fun taking Polaroid pictures of each other in various combinations. They left and Ginny was left alone, smiling at some of the photos.
Christmas Eve wasn't a fun time to be by herself and Ginny was feeling melancholy. Putting a nightgown and robe on, Ginny turned the radio to a station playing Christmas carols. She wanted some hot chocolate, but thought it would be too hard to carry back with her crutches, so she sat on the sofa between the tree and the fireplace. It was a little warm on the sofa so she took her robe off, knowing she would be in bed well before anyone came home. Sleepily listening to the music, she heard
The First Noel, the Angels did say Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay In fields where they lay keeping their sheep On a cold winter's night that was so deep. Noel, Noel, Noel, Noelas she dozed off, incongruously musing of her virginity and Noel.About nine, Marty and Noel came back from delivering their packages. Marty went on upstairs while Noel decided he wanted a beer first. He had seen the firelight flickering, and considered sitting there in the quiet family room sipping the beer and thinking of Ginny. He hadn't said anything even to Marty but he was falling for Ginny fast. She was cute, mostly sweet, with a biting humor at times.
Walking into the family room where the Christmas tree was located, he was startled to see Ginny asleep on the sofa ... wearing only her nightgown. He started to cover her with her robe, but he didn't want to wake her up. He sat on the floor, his back to the fireplace and watched her. He couldn't help but see her body, the slim legs, and the gown almost see-through. But mostly he just looked at her face, somewhat surprising himself. He memorized each feature: small button nose, oval face, her eyebrows natural, not plucked. The phrase "girl next door" came to his mind. Ever after that whenever Noel heard that phrase, he saw her there in his mind, face in repose, tranquil.
Deciding on another beer, he went into the kitchen. As he was opening it, he heard Marty's parents coming in through the garage. They chatted for a moment, asking about the caroling and delivery of presents. Marty's grade school class started that tradition many years before when they used to drive the kids from house to house. Yawning, they bade him good night.
Going back into the family room he sat as before, back to the fireplace watching Ginny. Finishing the can, he put it on the floor and dozed off. A little later his head fell down and he awoke as he jerked it back up. Looking at Ginny he saw that she was watching him with doe eyes. They stared at each other for a time, and then startled she grabbed her robe and covered herself with it.
Turning his head away, he mumbled, "I'm sorry, I was going to cover you up but I didn't want to wake you."
Now that she had the robe over her she was more comfortable, "That's okay. I thought I would be in bed before anyone came home, but I fell asleep. I'm dying for some hot chocolate, but I didn't want to try it on my crutches. Noel, could you please fix me some?"
With a quick "sure!" Noel left with some alacrity to fix the chocolate. He returned a couple minutes later with cups for each of them and a thermos of hot chocolate. He noticed she had put the robe on and had it tightly belted.
They talked for another hour, until almost midnight, getting to know each other better. It was cozy; the fire was down to coals, but still radiating heat.
Ginny felt somewhat outside of her body, as if she were watching herself. She was having very confusing and conflicting emotions - at times having warm feelings for Noel, at others feeling very nervous, almost jittery. The chocolate gone, the fire burned down, it was time to go to bed.
Not looking at him, Ginny asked, "Noel, I hate to ask you this, but my ankle is really bothering me tonight, it hurts. Could you ... you carry me in to my room?"
Without responding, Noel leaned over and seemingly with no effort picked her up and carried her down the hall to the guest bedroom. Being careful to leave the door open, he laid her on the bed.
Putting his hand on her ankle with surprising tenderness, he asked, "Ginny? Does it hurt that much? I can ice it for you if you want."
Not facing him, she quietly agreed, "Yes, please."
Noel went to get the ice and when he got back he saw that she had taken her robe off and crawled under the covers. As he came in she flipped the blanket off her leg so he could put the ice on it. He gently unwrapped the tape and put a hand towel under her ankle. With a light touch he slowly rubbed the ice around the inflamed area, red from trying to move around too much.
The ice eased the pain for Ginny and she slowly relaxed and fell asleep.
When Noel finished, he threw the leftover ice in the bathroom sink and with a cautious touch dried her ankle and re-wrapped the bandage. Pulling the covers back over her leg, he quietly walked to the door and paused to look back at her with his hand on the light switch. He went back to her, carefully ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead. Returning to the door, he flipped the switch off and ... shrugged his shoulders, closed the door and went back and lay beside her on top of the covers.
Noel thought, "I'll just lay here for a few minutes, to see if her ankle bothers her." He smiled at his mendacity, knowing he just wanted to be with her for a while. He listened to the wind picking up, brushing the tree limbs almost tenderly against the house. Looking forward to the snow the wind portended, he slipped down through the layers of awareness into a deep sleep.
'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house Only one creature was stirring, certainly not a mouse!Slowly Ginny struggled awake, trying to turn in her sleep to ease the discomfort of her ankle. Pulling on the blanket it wouldn't budge. Coming awake enough to sit up she looked over to try to fix the covers; she was so startled seeing someone there she almost screamed. The dim reddish light from her clock radio allowed her to see it was Noel lying there, fast asleep.Gasping a little she fought to come fully awake and understand what was happening, why was he in her bed? With her first clear thought she giggled a little, she was finally sleeping with a man! Blushing with the thought she gazed at his features - his face faintly seen, faintly reddish in profile from the light of the clock.
Studying him, curious, she put out her hand and lightly caressed the planes of his face. With little reluctance she yielded to her instinctive wishes and kissed him lightly on the cheek, eliciting a slight movement: Noel brushing an imaginary fly away. Grinning a little she leaned down again, pressing her lips lightly to his, a kiss more hinted at than felt.
Lying back down she wrestled with her thoughts. Emotions, feelings long dormant washed over her, her skin flushing hot, her body tingling with an unexpected anticipation. In sudden awareness she knew what she wanted. Shocked at her audacity, but thrilled with anticipation she leaned back over Noel.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;Noel delighted in the sensual pleasure his sub-conscious gifted him with in his dream, luxuriated in the tactile pleasure of warm skin as his finger tips gently moving on her back ... he could feel the warm soft lips, he could feel her weight resting lightly... he could feel. Damn this wasn't a dream. Opening his eyes he could dimly see a face pressed against his. As he tried to sit up Ginny pressed him back down with her hand.
"Ginny. What ...?"
"Sh! Don't say anything." Ginny whispered, pressing her lips back to his, her tongue slipping between his lips, sweetly probing.
Noel gave himself in to the moment. Kissing her back, slowly at first, then more forcefully. He put his arms around her, underneath her gown, rubbing the softness. Sliding down to cup her buttocks, holding the slim firmness to pull her tighter to him. He could feel her hand reaching down, grasping him.
Wanting more, he rolled her over, hitting her ankle with his leg as he turned.
"Ouch" Ginny exclaimed. "Oh, that hurts."
"Ginny, I'm Sorry!" Noel cried as he leaned over to turn on the lamp.
In the sudden bright glow of the lamp, Ginny turned her face into the pillow, blushing now that he could see her.
"I shouldn't have laid down, Ginny. I was going to lie down for a few minutes and then get up. I must have fallen asleep.
Turning to face him, she shyly told him "That's okay, Noel, I'm glad you did! Except for hitting my ankle, that wasn't so good."
"Jeez, I'm sorry, Ginny."
Smiling now, Ginny said, "Would you quit saying you're sorry and ice my ankle again?"
Noel went to the kitchen to get the ice, and came back for his icing routine again. There were a couple of differences this time. Ginny didn't cover up this time, but she did turn red and avert her head whenever he looked up at her, frankly admiring her body. This time, before and after the icing, he gently kissed her ankle.
When he finished the wrapping, he stood and walked up to kiss her goodnight. The kiss became somewhat lingering, but gathering himself he stood up. "Goodnight, Ginny. I'm afraid I'm falling for you and if I stay, I ..."
"Noel, I want you to stay! Put that towel over the lamp and hold me."
"Ginny, are you sure? Do you know what will happen?"
"Yes, Noel," she said with a trace of asperity, "my mother told me all about the birds and the bees. Well, maybe not all of it!" she finished with a giggle. In a more sober mien, she looked him in the eye, searching for something. As she saw what she was looking for, she took his hands and continued, "Noel, Noel. You are my first. There hasn't been anyone that I wanted to love before you, but ... somehow you have touched my heart!
Putting the towel over the lamp he laid on the bed, holding her tight. Whispering... nothings into her ear he could feel her gently weeping. Leaning his head back, with a gentle touch of the tips of his fingers, he wiped under her eyes, and then kissed each one.
"Don't cry, Ginny? Are you sad?"
"No, I'm just emotional. If I smile, will you make love to me?" Ginny responded with a big smile.
Noel slowly removed her gown, planting kisses as more of her body showed. He marveled over her breasts, not large but with nipples already erect. He gently made love to her, then with more urgency later in the night. They slept deeply, sated, bodies intertwined.
Somehow knowing he needed to get up before everyone else, Noel awoke in the darkness, looking at Ginny in the dim light. "God she's pretty," he thought. I really do love her. Putting his arms around her, holding her tightly, he quietly said, "Ginny, I need to get back to my room."
"I love you Noel," she whispered in his ear.
"I know Ginny. I know. Are you okay?"
Giggling into his ear she said at a low whisper, "I'm fine. I'm just glad it was TD that showed up and not Fumble."
Tickling her with his hand he kissed her on her button nose and slipped from her bed.
Ginny rose with the dawn, the room cold, and frost on the windows. Looking through the center of the window she could see a sparkling wonderland, gleaming white in the brilliant sunshine of winter. Taking as quick a shower as she could with the plastic bag wrapped around her foot and ankle, she again looked in the mirror as she dried herself off. Amazingly she looked the same. How could she feel so different but not look it. She left the bathroom with a smile on her face thinking of last night.
Dressing she hobbled in to breakfast. Only her mother was in the kitchen when she entered. Looking at her daughter, she came closer. Putting her hands on Ginny's shoulders, a couple of tears came to her eyes, but she didn't say anything. Putting her arms around her she gave her a big hug and said "Merry Christmas, baby." and turned quickly away.
Limping towards her mom she stood behind her, giving her mother a hug. Softly, she said, "It's okay mom. I love him. I'm glad you are my mom."
Her mom turned around and holding each other they gently cried for a moment, then looked at each other with a smile.
After breakfast everyone gathered around the Christmas tree for their traditional exchange of gifts. Noel was standing beside or behind her while everyone opened his or her presents. There were a couple of boxes for Noel, including a pen set from Ginny. She felt funny giving something so impersonal to him after last night. She kept looking for one for her from him, but didn't see anything. With just a couple gifts left she looked around and noticed that Noel was gone! She couldn't get up - she was sunken in the chair and the crutches were against the wall.
A few minutes later she looked up and saw that everyone was staring at her. Confused for a minute, she finally looked around. Noel was standing there with his Santa Claus suit on! Coming around beside her he handed her the gift and gave her a hug. Watching her he had a smile on his face as she looked at the tag on the box:
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
CHRISTMAS EVE, PRESENT DAY
A smile on her face Ginny reflected back on that Christmas Day so many years and so many wonderful memories ago.
Noel became a frequent visitor at the Davis household, but they didn't share a bed again that Christmas holiday. They talked it over and felt they should slow down and give their love more time to grow.
Ginny's mom shared her concerns about birth control, mumbling something about "God protects the innocent and the dumb."
Noel and Ginny got married eighteen months later, the day after he and Marty graduated! Ginny was now a sophomore at the same school having discovered a passion for writing.
The years went by and blessed them with two boys and a girl, and later five grandchildren.
Then two years ago her beloved Noel was taken from her, in the dark of the night, a brain aneurism. Christmas was now a bittersweet time for her: missing Noel, but gathering with her family each year.
One of her grandchildren, Little Harry, having gotten bored looking at boxes, was climbing back on her lap. Giving his granny Gin Gin a big hug he asked/demanded "I want a story."
Smiling, she asked, "Will a fairy tale be okay?" At his nod, she started "A long time ago a little girl found out that Santa Claus was real ... and hers!" and told him the story in little boy words as he drifted off to sleep and her tape played on the stereo:
On a cold winter's night that was so deep. Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel"Noel, she whispered, "It was a wonderful life!" as her eyes misted over again.
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The author of this story: Dynamite Jack