A Christmas Miracle
He had been dreaming about a long line of whiney kids when a faint noise tickled his ear. He felt himself draw away from the child sitting on his knee. There it was again, getting stronger and he finally realized it was the phone on the table beside him. Pushing the last bits of sleep from his tired brain, he grabbed it on the last ring.
"Hello?"
"Uh, is this Chris? Chris Norman?"
"Yeah, who's this?"
"Daddy? It's Amy...your daughter."
He wondered if it was possible to have the air sucked out of your lungs in a flash and still be alive? He felt like time had stopped and all he could see was a little girl's face in the rear view mirror as he drove away from his old life. Even now, as a mall Santa, he looked into the eyes of every little girl and wondered what kind of woman his own had become.
"Daddy?"
"I'm...I'm here."
"I'm so glad I finally found you. I was hoping we could meet somewhere for coffee."
Time sped up again and the pain felt so fresh. Later he couldn't even remember the conversation. He quickly got off the phone saying it was almost Christmas and he had to get back to work. Now, listening to the line of whiney kids waiting to sit on his knee, he wondered how he would make it through another night.
"Santa? Are you for real?"
Misty eyes looked down to see bright green ones staring back at him. He was wondering what to say when he looked over the child's head into another pair of green eyes. Eyes as green as Amy's had been.
***Now it's your turn. What does Chris tell the little girl? Does he see his daughter for Christmas? Join in the fun with a sentence or a paragraph. You don't have to run with my flash fiction...if someone else comments and you want to add to their story, then go for it. Let's see where this picture prompt takes us!***
