Janice Howard's and Sarah Shepherd's Christmas Wish

Ernie faithfully stood in the fire lane in front of town hall, waiting patiently for Clementine. He couldn't wait to hear what she had learned on her journey. He, of course, believed in Christmas wishes since the one and only one he'd ever made had come true, but he also understood it was important to learn these things for oneself.

And those crazy crows, he thought, could use a Christmas wish right now to get them out of what they'd gotten into. The story they had told him as to why they wrecked the Christmas display . . . craziness . . . he stared through the glass doors at the reassembled decorations and for just a moment thought he saw something moving beneath the fluffy fake snow under one of the trees . . . could it be? Impossible . . . but there it was . . . it moved again . . .

Ernie looked up into the tree hoping the boys were still there . . .

Clementine walked down the hall towards the lobby. She had to wait until someone came by to open the door for her, and just moments later the town librarian, Sarah Shepherd, came out of the town clerk's office and walked towards her.

"Hey Clementine," Sarah said. "What are you doing out this way?"

"I don't know anymore," Clementine said. "I'm confused. Can you help me with the door, please? Uncle Ernie's waiting for me outside."

"Sure," Sarah said. "What are you confused about?"

"I came here to ask all the important people in town if Christmas wishes come true," Clementine said, "and I think they all said yes, they do come true, but when I asked them if they could tell me for absolute positive yes, they all sent me to someone else. I don't understand," Clementine sighed. "Either you know something or you don't know something. At least that's what I think . . . or thought . . ."

"Ahhh," Sarah said. "I see. Well, I can tell you something I know for sure."

"What's that?"

"I know that every year my Christmas wish will come true," Sarah said.

"How do you know that?" Clementine asked.

"Because every year I wish to be surrounded by family and friends at the holiday," Sarah said. "Sometimes I have to go to them, like last year when we took a trip to Texas where my father lives and I got to be with 23 relatives that gathered from all over the country."

"Other years," Sarah said, "we gather here in Bethany at the homes of family and friends."

"And we always go to church on Christmas Eve," Sarah said, "where we know all the parishioners and we feel like we belong.  Singing the Christmas carols in church is lovely."

"You see," Sarah said, "if I seek out friends to be with on Christmas Day then I am always welcomed right into their homes or I can welcome them into mine."

Clementine stared at her.

"So, what you're saying," Clementine said, "is that you actually make your Christmas wish come true all by yourself. You just have to pick the right wish."

"I never looked at it that way," Sarah said, "but I think you're right. If one opens their hearts to good will then one finds what one is looking for."

Clementine sighed. They walked through the lobby, past the Christmas trees with their fluffy fake snow, all looking somewhat bedraggled after being torn to pieces and reassembled, and walked out the front door to where Ernie stood waiting.

"Well, good luck, Clementine," Sarah said. "I have to get back to the library."

"Thanks," Clementine replied.

"Did you find out what you were after, Little Girl?" Ernie asked.

"I'm not sure," Clementine replied.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ernie said.

"I guess," Clementine replied.

"What is it you want for Christmas?"

"If I tell you, it won't come true," Clementine said.

"What if I tell you about my wish that came true," Ernie said, "then maybe you can tell me yours."

Clementine thought about it for a moment, then said, "OK."

"It was eight years ago, and I was in North Dakota," Ernie said. "I was just a little colt, then."

Clementine giggled at the thought of Ernie ever being little.

The gigantic horse smiled and continued. "I knew I was in trouble," he said. "All the other horses in my paddock had been rescued already, but I had something wrong with me, an umbilical hernia, that was going to cost a lot of money to fix. I wanted to stay alive more than anything, so one night I wished on the moon with all my heart and I asked for a home where I would be loved every day for the rest of my life and have friends and family around me all the time. And I heard a little voice telling me it would somehow be OK, that there was a place like that in Connecticut if I could just find my way here."

"And you did!" Clementine said.

"And I did," Ernie said. "Now, can you tell me your wish? Sometimes you just have to ask out loud, like I did."

"But Uncle Ernie, I want this sooooo badly . . ."

"Do you trust me, Little Girl?"

"Yes," Clementine answered.

"Then just whisper it in my ear," Ernie said.

"OK," Clementine replied, and Ernie put his huge head close to the ground so Clementine could lean in close in to his fuzzy ear and whisper.

When she was done, Ernie picked his head up and looked confused.

"What's the matter?" Clementine asked.

"Nothing," Ernie said.

Janice Howard, the director of the Bethany Recreation Department, was getting out of her car and heading towards the building.

"I have an idea," Ernie said. "Janice is on her way in. Why don't you ask just one more person and see what she has to say."

"I don't know, Uncle Ernie," Clementine said. "I know she's just going to send me to someone more important, or smarter . . ."

"Trust me, Little Girl," Ernie said. "I think she will help you."

Clementine sighed yet again. "OK, I'll ask," she said, and walked over to Janice.

Ernie looked up at the tree where the crows were crouched and gestured with his huge head for them to come down to where he could talk to them. They cautiously dropped to one of the lower branches.

"Hey big Dude," Carl said, "we're gonna follow you guys home, then we're gonna make like a tree and leave for a few weeks until things settle down."

"No, you're not going anywhere," Ernie said.

"DUDE!" Carl said. "People hate us! We gotta get outta here!"

"No," Ernie said. "I believe you and I believe your story."

"What?!" Wilson replied. "I don't think I even believe us!"

"It doesn't matter," Ernie said. "I do. And now you have to do one more thing so that everyone else will."

"What, man?" Wilson said.

"You have to go right back into town hall and finish what you started," Ernie said.

"You're outta your mind, Dude!!!" Carl said. "We can't go back in there! We'll get shot! Trooper Merriam is onto us!"

"Well, you could spend the rest of your lives on the run, with an entire community thinking you're black-hearted hooligans with no souls, or you could do the greatest deed ever done in this little town in the name of love."

"In the name of love?" Wilson asked.
"You're going to have to trust me on this, boys," Ernie replied.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Dave Foreman, the tax collector, getting out of his car with his bag from Steven's Deli and a cup of coffee.

"Now's your chance," Ernie said, and he reached down with his massive teeth, grabbed a piece of his brand-new plaid blanket, and ripped a big chunk of fabric off. "Use this," he said, and flung it up into the tree where Carl caught it.

"Are you gonna explain this to my mother?" Carl said.

"You pull this off and I'll explain it to the whole world," Ernie said.

"Ready?"

Dave Foreman was walking up the steps, where he stopped to juggle his packages before opening the door, when two black crows zipped past him like gunshots, causing him to drop his bag with the egg sandwich.

What happened next would go down in Bethany history, depending on whom you spoke with. One story told the tale of two crazy crows, possibly rabid or suffering from some other kind of brain disease, who decided to terrorize town hall one day just before Christmas; the other told of two mischievous but good-hearted birds who succeeded in pulling off one of the most daring, heroic feats ever attempted in recent town memory. Perhaps both versions are correct . . .

When Clementine finished with Janice and walked back to Ernie, he quickly steered her  towards the exit of the parking lot so she wouldn't see the chaos happening in the lobby. Moments later, out of the corner of his eye, Ernie watched as the boys shot back out through the door, followed by Trooper Merriam and Dave Foreman who were both yelling and waving their arms. Wilson carried a package in his mouth and looked much like a stunted black stork winging his way back in the direction of the farm.

"So, what did Janice Howard have to say?" Ernie asked as they walked down the street, Ernie on the edge of the road and Clementine in the frozen grass.

"Uncle Ernie," she said, "you were right. She's very smart."

And she told her uncle what happened:

"Clementine!" Janice said. "What are you doing off of Locket's Meadow?"

"I was on a mission," Clementine said. "But now I just don't know . . ."

"A mission!" Janice replied. "That sounds exciting!"

"I guess," Clementine said. "But I think I'm ready to go home now."

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"I'm not sure," Clementine said. "I wanted to know if Christmas wishes come true, but nobody could tell me if the answer was yes or no."

"You know," Janice said, "As far back as I can remember, there's never been one specific toy or possession that I wished for at Christmas. I've always loved the holiday season, for far more than the gifts that were beautifully wrapped beneath the twinkling lights of our tree.  Even as a child, what I enjoyed the most during the holidays were the visits to and from family and friends."

"That's what Sarah Shepherd said, too," Clementine said.

"Well, Sarah is a wise women," Janice said. "I grew up in Bethany with a very close-knit and big family, many of whom still live here today.  Some of us are neighbors, others live across town … and we are very lucky to see one another often throughout the year."

"But there's something magical about spending time together during the holiday season," Janice said, "a house filled with people after Mass to enjoy dinner on Christmas Eve . . . the ability to set my watch by the arrival of my sister, Karen, and her family early each Christmas morning, though we left them just hours earlier . . . my cousin Louis' annual visit to exchange gifts with my dad … though he arrives a bit later than he used to, he's never missed a Christmas!  And then there's the morning bustle to prepare the house and dinner for more company."

"Over the years," Janice added, "we've had the joy of babies being born and added to our family celebration. We've also experienced the sadness of losing loved ones, knowing that their chairs are left vacant. Therefore," Janice said, "what my Christmas wish is each year is for the health and happiness of my family and friends."

"Your wish sounds a lot like a wish my Uncle Ernie once made," Clementine said, "when he asked if he could always be surrounded by his friends and family."

"Well, your Uncle Ernie is a very wise horse," Janice said to Clementine. "Now I have to go get some work done. You have a wonderful holiday, Clementine! And tell Kathleen I will call her soon so we can arrange summer camp on the farm for the rec kids!"

"And that's what Janice Howard said," Clementine finished telling Ernie. "And you know what? Maybe she's right. Maybe the most important thing is having lots of friends and family who love you. Maybe asking for anything more than that is silly. Because I already know I'm one of the luckiest fillies in the whole world. Everybody loves me!"

"It's true, Little Girl," he said. "You are one lucky filly."

Ernie silently hoped Clementine never had to learn the story of how lucky she had actually been.

"But," Ernie added, "that doesn't mean you have to give up on your other Christmas wish. Do you know what tonight is?"

"What?"

"It's full moon," Ernie said. "And whenever anyone makes a wish on a perfect, full Locket's Meadow moon, it always comes true."

"Really, Uncle Ernie?"

"Honest and truly, Little Girl," Ernie said. "Try it and see what happens!"

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