A Christmas Carol by Clara Schilling (classic novels .TXT) 📕

It was the 24th of December and the people rushed through the shopping streets to get the last forgotten presents. It had snowed the night before and sparkling snow covered the roofs of the houses.

The café was jam-full. Those who had already succeeded in hunting the fitting gifts, were nipping relaxedly their tea, and those who still were in search chatted hectically about the left opportunities. The shops would soon close but not the café, which stayed open until evening even on this special day.

The waiters scurried around the tables to fulfill all the customers’ wishes as fast as possible.

But the man who sat quietly in the corner and looked through the window, wasn’t in a hurry. He barely noticed the waiter when he came to his table.

“What can I bring you, Sir?”

He winced as if he didn’t expect to be addressed at this place.

“Two cups of coffee, please” he said silently. “One of them with milk and sugar.”

The waiter hesitated.

“Excuse me, two cups? I could bring you a pot or …”

“Two cups. One of them with milk and sugar” he repeated urgently but stayed completely calm.

He turned to the window again and the waiter left the table. It took some time until he returned with the order, but unlike the other customers the man didn’t notice how time went by. To be more precisely, he didn’t care. He had entered the café meticulously at three o’clock but now, sitting at his table, he forgot that time in fact existed. His empty view captured the passing people outside but he didn’t notice them.

“So, you’re expecting someone?”

“Excuse me?”

The waiter had returned. He placed one cup in front of the man and the other one on the opposite side of the table.

“You’re expecting someone?”

“No, I wouldn’t say that. Thank you.”

Again he ended the conversation by looking out of the window and didn’t mind the nosey waiter anymore.

The waiter didn’t have the time to think about the strange man since he had to serve the other tables. He even forgot his presence. Only when the café turned empty and it had already grown dark outside, he noticed him again.

Although he had been sitting for hours in the warm café he hadn’t removed his coat. His hands were clinched around the cup and his absent view still pointed outside.

“He really is a strange guy” the waiter said to his colleague. “Looks like his date didn’t show up.”

“Oh no. He comes every year at Christmas Eve at three o’clock and then he sits there until we close.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And he always orders two cups of coffee, one of them with milk and sugar. Perish the thought you forget the milk. He once tore strips off me though he never touches it!”

“Did you ever ask him why he ordered it?”

“Of course not. I have better to do than to deal with the lunacy of an old man.”

The first waiter scrutinized the man.

“You can go home”, he sighed. “Except for him everybody else left.”

“Don’t forget to lock the door. There shall be more burglary on holiday.”

“Yes, sure.”

When the waiter was alone with the man, he returned to his table.

“Don’t you want to leave?”

The man deeply breathed in as if he awoke from sleep. He looked up to the waiter.

“Whereto?”

“Home?” the waiter suggested hesitatingly.

“Home.” The man repeated the word as if he had never heard it before. “I don’t have a home anymore.”

“You’re homeless?” the waiter asked confused.

“No, I do have a house. A quite beautiful one, actually. With a garden which is pretty useless in winter, of course.”

The thoughts of the man seemed to drift away again to another time, a memory, something that was inside of his head and not outside the window, where he seemed to search for it. The waiter hurried to pose the next question before he would lose the attention of the man.

“Why did you order the second coffee? You did’t drink it.”

“She always drinks it with milk and sugar. She can’t bear it otherwise. Because it is too bitter.”

“She? Your date? But you said you wouldn’t expect anyone, didn’t you?”

“I don’t expect her. She won’t come.”

“So why do you order something for her?”

“Well, I …” He struggled for words and didn’t find them.

The waiter took a seat where she should have sat and inspected the man attentively.

“Tell me.”

“Don’t you have a family that is waiting for you?”

“I do, but they are many. They are not alone if I’m not there.”

The man glanced at him thoughtfully, then he started to tell his story.

“This woman was my wife. We met in this café when we were students. It was Christmas Eve and I didn’t care, but she loved Christmas and couldn’t be with her family … We sat here the whole evening and talked until the waiter kicked us out because it was so late. We fell in love the same evening and one year later I proposed to her in this café. This might appear early, but we were soulmates and I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. And so did she and we got married. Every Christmas Eve we spent at this café. For twenty-five years we came here and I couldn’t think of anything more beautiful. I thought I would do that for the rest of my life.” The man’s eyes were filled with tears of anguish. “But she passed away nine years ago. And I still come on Christmas Eve.”

“But why do you do that?” the waiter asked quietly. “If you don’t let her go, you will suffer forever. She wouldn’t have wanted that.”

“But where else should I go? Our house is so empty without her. I was always happy at this place. Sometimes I think I might be happy again. And while I sit here and think about all those past Christmas Eves, I sometimes forget everything. And when the door opens, I have the feeling she might enter in that second and everything was just a bad dream …” His voice got lost in his thoughts and his eyes drifted to the door. But the door stayed closed and silence overwhelmed them.

“Don’t you have a family that misses you?” asked the waiter after some time had passed. He was shocked by the mournful destiny of the man.

He shook his head.

“We never had children and my parents died early. I’m alone.”

At that moment the waiter made a decision. He straightened up and said determinedly: “Well, this year you won’t be alone.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come with me. You will celebrate with us.”

“That is … very kind but I don’t want to disturb your family.”

“You won’t. You don’t need to be afraid, all of them are open-minded and there are so many of us, one more doesn’t make a difference.”

The man sat there speechless.

“And in fact, on Christmas we all should be a big family. That’s what it is all about, isn’t it? Tonight we sell nobody down the river.”

“You must be an angel” said the man after a moment.

The waiter smiled and shook his head.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

When they stepped out on the street, snowflakes were falling and in the golden light of the street lamp the whole shopping street looked like a winter wonderland. The man and the waiter strolled down the street and with every step the man’s heart grew lighter.

That night a Christmas wonder happened. And even though not everyone would be able to fall asleep happily there was one nightmare that wouldn’t be dreamed that special night.

~ The End ~

*I hope you liked it and leave a comment! I'm not a native speaker, please excuse my mistakes. This book is also available in German "A Christmas Carol". News about my books as always in my group "Bücher von Clara S."

Publication Date: 12-20-2015

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