The Magic of the Seasons

By Marfa House

The holidays are upon us. Dive into this collection of short stories and poems that will get you into the holiday spirit. Enjoy these tales of Christmas and memorable family times. Let the spirit move you and swell within you as you are filled with the Magic of the Seasons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crimson Sparrow
• Release date: Dec 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781946072122

Book preview

Dedication:

To anyone who has ever picked up a book and gotten lost in the words, and to anyone who has ever had the dream of putting pen to paper and creating something that someone could get lost in, this one's for you.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Find Meaning by Chasity Tarantino

Christmas Season by Alicja Kuberska

Post Christmas by Janice Canerdy

Think of It by Unknown

The Snowflake on 57th by Joan McNemey

Winter Haiku by P.J. Reed

Lord, Protector and Provider by Melissa Meeks

Christmas Eve by Divya Bhavana Didla

The Wee Sad Christmas Elf by Gino and Maria Zani

The Titanic Gift by Stacy Savage

Revenge Can Be So Sweet by Janice Canerdy

I Love Christmastime by Janice Canerdy

Electric Fence by Mary Charest

A Christmas Memory by Doreen Coleman

Sparkles of Christmas Joy by Norbert Gora

December by Joan McNerney

Jingle Bell Rock by Krystal George

Truces by Mary Langer Thompson

Remembering Christmas by AJ Huffman

Sleepy Time Christmas by Wayne Rapp

The Santa by Stacy Savage

More Portions than Chairs by Laura Widener

Johnny Doll and the Manger by Mary Langer Thompson

Expectation by Alicja Kuberska

Mary’s Song by Allison Bruning

Wave of Light by A.J. Huffman

Sharing Christmas by Evelyn Hal

Father of Love by Melissa Meeks

Oh God... My God by Divya Bhavana Didla

Eve by Alicja Kuberska

Mystical Oak by Justin Blakeslee

Christmas in a Cul-de-Sac by Matthew Wilson

Dreams by Melissa Meeks

Twelve Steps to Winter by Joan McNerney

Operation Ho Ho Ho XLII by Myles Wren

The Gift by Marcia

Christmas All Year Long by Sally Clark

Christmas by Alicja Kuberska

The Wars by Kimberly M. Heindorf

Photos and Images:

Frozen Pond by G.J. Mintz

Snowy Bush by G.J. Mintz

Dove by Evelyn Hal

Through by G.J. Mintz

Girl in the Woods by Evelyn Hall

Snowy Trees by G.J. Mintz

Night Sky Tree by Evelyn Hal

Nativity by Evelyn Hal

The Camel and the Moon by Evelyn Hal

Tree of Words by Evelyn Hal

Birdhouse by Evelyn Hal

Wolf on Cliff by Evelyn Hal

Find Meaning Again

By Chasity Tarantino

Alina was running late. The traffic was heavy on the street this time of year. Everyone was out buying last minute presents or decorations, but shopping was the furthest thing from her mind right now. Sure it was her first Christmas being back together with Kane, but the idea made her so nervous she just couldn’t think about that right now. Not when she had such a huge meeting to get to at work. She worked at a small law firm, and even though it was the season of hope, love, and cheer; lawsuits were still filed and carried out.

Carrington, Carrington, and Mysdon always had a steady fill of clients. They specialized in divorce law, but they handled all kinds of cases. Alina was handling a particularly ugly divorce case at the moment, and she was late to meet with her client, the client’s soon-to-be ex-husband, and his lawyer. She just didn’t understand how people who had once said such intimate vows to each other could end up with such hate in their heart.

Kane was the love of her life. She had lost him once in college, but she had never felt the kind of ill feelings that these people felt towards their ex-spouses. It made Alina question love, and it hurt her heart.

She rushed forward. Her black high-heeled leather boots slammed through the slush on the Chicago sidewalks. The crowds seemed to get even busier as she neared her job. She hiked up the straps on her purse and briefcase and pulled her black winter coat closer around her, as the wind blew a chill right through her.

Finally reaching her building, she had to push through people to get to the door. Once inside she rushed to the elevator and pressed the button. While she waited for the elevator, she unzipped her coat and smoothed down her emerald green dress and tried to fix her copper red hair. She had curled it that morning, but she was cursed with pin straight hair that never wanted to hold a curl. The windy walk had not done her any favors either. When the elevator arrived, she took it up to the eleventh floor. As she arrived on the floor, her boss was there to greet her.

So nice of you to show up Miss Parker, Mr. Carrington said.

Dale was the younger of the Carrington brothers. He had pale blonde hair and blue eyes and was dressed in an extremely well-tailored and expensive-looking black suit. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was standing stiffly.

Mrs. Cooper is very unhappy; she wants me to assign someone else to her case. He frowned.

Mr. Carrington I am so sorry. I’ve had a terrible morning. My alarm didn’t go off; I couldn’t find my keys; my heel broke in the lobby of my building, but I’m here. I’m here now, and I’m ready to do this. You know I have Mrs. Cooper’s case down inside and out. Please don’t assign it to someone else, she begged, lowering her bags to the floor and shrugging out of her coat while she spoke.

After she had smoothed down her dress and folded her coat over her arm, she picked up her bags again. She looked at Dale; he was still just standing there studying her skeptically. Alina was sure he liked to watch his employee’s squirm under the heat. She believed it was one of the reasons why he was such a good lawyer to begin with.

Please Mr. Carrington, I’ve got this, she repeated.

Fine, prove it then, and Alina, don’t make it a habit of being late. I don’t care if your building is on fire.

Alina just nodded as Dale turned his back on her and proceeded to make his way into the conference room where Mr. and Mrs. Cooper were having their meeting.

Finally. Mrs. Cooper sighed as soon as she saw Alina.

My client does not appreciate being kept waiting. Russell Clerk, Mr. Cooper’s representative spoke up.

He was a very sad looking man, stocky, with thinning brown hair, mousy eyes, and round face. His suits were always very unkempt, but he had a very good reputation for winning divorce cases, maybe because he had been divorced twice himself.

Yeah well, I didn’t appreciate being cheated on for eight years either. Mrs. Cooper fired back.

Abigail, please don’t start that again. Mr. Cooper groaned.

Don’t start that again! Don’t start that again! You know you owe me all of this and more for all that you put me through….

And so it begins. Alina thought to herself.

This was how almost every case went, and it broke her heart every time. Love was so special, and most of these people never even gave their love a real chance. Marriage was something you had to put effort into. All of these couples loved each other at some point in time. They all just forgot why and stopped trying.

All throughout her very stressful day at work, she continued to think about love and Kane. They were having Christmas dinner with his family the next night. It was always a huge dinner for his family, and this year she offered to host it. Kane and Alina had been together now for about six months, and she wanted to make this the perfect dinner. She was incredibly nervous and had been planning everything for weeks. Now the time had come, and she was terrified that his family would hate everything she had picked out. She kept trying to reassure herself that she was just being ridiculous; I mean, she had even picked his mother, Janey’s favorite restaurant as the location. This was an extremely difficult task, as the restaurant was hard to book because it was very popular. It was chic little Italian place in the heart of downtown Chicago that had some amazing cuisine.

Finally five o’clock arrived, and Alina finished with her case files. She loaded all of them up into her briefcase. All she wanted was a bubble bath and a quiet night with Kane. Kane was coming over after his shift at the hospital. Kane Brennan was an ER doctor, and since his schedules were crazy, he stayed at Alina’s apartment a lot. This allowed them to spend time together, even though he had his own apartment. She wanted them to live together. They just hadn’t taken that step yet, and she was scared to bring it up. Six months wasn’t even the longest amount of time that they had been in a relationship. They were together for almost two years in college. They had been so good together while it lasted. It had ended rather ugly though, and Alina regretted it almost instantly and missed him like crazy.

She rushed out on to the busy Chicago sidewalks. She wanted to stop in a few stores on her way home to grab a few more presents. There was a travel mug that she wanted to get for Kane and a bracelet that she had seen that his sister, Melissa, would absolutely adore. These were definitely last minute gifts, but she was hoping they would still have them.

Luckily, she was able to maneuver her way through the crowds at a pretty decent pace, and the stores did, indeed, have what she was looking for. She even paid extra for gift wrapping, so she didn’t have to worry about that later. Then she hurried off on her way home to squeeze in a bubble bath before Kane came over.

When she got to her apartment building, her fingers were numb and her nose was red. Snow was beginning to fall, and she ducked inside of the building and made her way up the stairs. As she got closer to her door, she could smell a delicious aroma coming from inside. When she finally got her keys in the door and was able to open it up, it was clear that Kane was already there. His shoes were lying by the door. She could hear him banging around in the kitchen, and she could smell the delectable scent of whatever he was making.

She smiled, shutting the door behind her. Alina placed her bags down on the bench beside the door and shrugged out of her jacket, placing it on the coat rack. She slipped out of her boots and quietly padded off down the hall to see what Kane was up to.

She found him in the kitchen cooking. From where she was standing, she couldn’t see what, but he had a pan and two pots out. His back was to her, and she took the opportunity to observe him for a moment before announcing her arrival. He looked like absolute perfection standing in the kitchen in some light blue scrubs; his dark chestnut hair was hanging haphazardly in his face.

Alina felt a rush of love flow through her heart as she gazed at Kane. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to call this man hers. Before she could think any further, he turned around and saw her standing there in the hall entrance. When his caramel eyes met her green ones, his face broke out into a brilliant smile that took her breath away.

Hey beautiful, how was your day? he asked her, grabbing some seasoning from the rack on