Holiday Diary

By David DeLucia

Holiday Diary is a collection of 4 short stories on the themes of love and loss. A Little Candle Girl is an updated version of A Little Match Girl, with a modern theme. It concerns a man who discovers his wife having an affair. As he drives away in a rage, he notices a forlorn girl selling candles...Alone For Christmas concerns the annual trek of a man who has lost his family...or has he? Finding Nonny centers around a girl's search for her grandmother, who has Alzheimers' and has wandered away during the holiday season. Lastly, A Walk To The Paradise Garden is the tale of two terminally ill lovers who need to see the Paradise Garden, in all its glory, one last time...

• Language: English
• Publisher: David DeLucia
• Release date: Apr 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301829941

David DeLucia

I'm an amateur author who is new to the world of e books. My material is either inspirational (Holiday Diary)or in the genre of Self Help.(How to Succeed at Life). I'm especially proud of my short story Room 255, based on the closing days of my father's experience with Alzheimers' Disease.

Book preview

Holiday Diary

4 short stories on love and loss.

By David DeLucia

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013, David DeLucia

All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

The Little Candle Girl

Alone For Christmas

Finding Nonny

A Walk to the Paradise Garden

The Little Candle Girl

Scott Hanson's foot pressed down on the accelerator as his blood pressure went through the roof. His car careened madly along the narrow side streets leading to the Mill Street Bridge. Just an hour before, he had arrived home unexpectedly early, and found his wife in bed with another man. Everything happened in a blur, and he only caught a brief glimpse of the surprised stranger as he leapt off the bed and snatched his pants off the floor. Scott ran out of the house in a complete panic, ignoring his wife's shouts from the window to stop. He jumped into the car, shooting out of the driveway like a rocket and sending a shower of pebbles across the mailbox.

At first, Scott chain smoked cigarettes as he drove wildly in no particular direction. He had a wonderful marriage with two lovely children and had no idea his wife had been carrying on behind his back. Their sex life wasn't great, but it was far from awful. Over the last 16 years, Scott had been a faithful husband who lovingly cared for his children. So why was his wife kicking him in the teeth now?

He went through every scenario in his mind as to what had gone wrong, but could come up with nothing definitive. The thought of another man making love to his spouse totally enraged Scott and clouded his judgment. In his nearly deranged state, a plan slowly but surely formed in his mind. He would drive over to the Mill Street Bridge, where the road was being repaired. All he would need to do is move a few sawhorses and then drive over the river at full throttle. The bridge was totally out, but Scott figured if he went fast enough, the car would be propelled over to the other side. And if he missed and the car fell into the water, so what? No one loved him anyway, his wife certainly didn't. The thought of a divorce, prolonged court battles, and angry visitations scared Scott so much he immediately pushed such possibilities out of his mind. He needed to do something daring to prove to himself he was still a man, and he needed to do it now.

The furious thirty-eight year old was smoking cigarettes so quickly and unconsciously, he realized with a start he was down to his last one. Taking a short cut to the heart of the city, Scott decided to quickly stop at his favorite dive, The Horsehead Pub. Here, his best buddy Mel could get