Written by Ifrah Reyal of Richard Montgomery
It had been nearly a month since the Cassidy family had moved into their new home, still mourning the loss of their eldest daughter, Noah. Yet winter had come so soon, the frost settling on their window and the chill settling in the air, flushing everyone’s cheeks and turning the tips of their ears red. The family of five had suddenly turned into a broken family of four; on that fateful day in September when a drunk driver had collided with Noah’s car on her way back from the library, taking her life on impact, and along with her life, the smiles that once graced the Cassidy family’s faces. Noah had always been the cheerful one. She had always radiated that sunshine and butterfly feeling, and she was contagiously happy, like a bubble of safety and joy that made everyone’s day so much better. The moment she was gone, so was that feeling. The family couldn’t stay in their home anymore, not when everything they saw reminded them of their lost daughter. They had eventually decided to move away from the only home they knew, where Noah’s memory was in every crevice, moving to a small town across the country, hoping to stabilize their life and make new memories, yet the winter time only brought back all the memories they tried to keep behind them.
“Hey Mom, where are the stockings? We’re going to hang them on the firepla—oh.”
Seven-year-old Leo stood in front of his mother, who sat on the ground, her blank eyes staring at the Christmas boxes in front of her. At the mere age of seven, Leo had been through all five stages of grief and matured more than any young boy should. As he came into the room, his eyes landed on the Christmas boxes, the stockings lying on top. All five stockings.
“You know what, it’s fine we can go decorate the tree,” Leo said as his eye caught sight of the bright green stocking, with a huge N embroidered on the front, decorated by Noah’s little butterfly stitches. They looked atrocious but made the family laugh when they saw what she had done.
“No, no, it’s fine, you guys go ahead. I’ll be down in a second; I have to use the bathroom,” Leo’s mom said, standing up and smiling softly at the boy who stood in front of her. She ran a hand through his hair as he looked up at her questioningly, causing her to nod and walk off. Leo followed with four stockings in his hand, the contents of the box spread out on the ground beside the box, all the contents except the green stocking laying at the bottom of the box, buried underneath the rest of the decorations.
It was late in the afternoon when the family finished decorating the rest of the house, hanging up wreaths on each door and stringing lights on the stairway and around the lamp. They only had the tree left to decorate, and it seemed as if it sat there, taunting them with its bare branches. Noah had always begged them to decorate the tree first, saying it was the best thing about Christmas decorating, but when they had gone to decorate it that morning, all they could see was her. Her crooked smile and her warm brown eyes looking at them, teasing them and asking them why they didn’t save her. She was everywhere; her laugh, her eyes, her face, it was written all over her stuff, it was all over their hearts and souls. No matter how hard they tried to forget her, Noah would remain in their minds and hearts, a constant reminder of the girl who was no longer there.
“Who wants to put the star on the top?” their dad asked, trying to remain strong for their family, when in reality, he was breaking, remembering how Noah was always the one to put the star on the top, sitting on his shoulders and leaning forward to put the star on. The entire family looked at each other before shrugging and looking at Leo, who shrugged in reply and grabbed the star from the box beside the table.
“How about we all put it on together, for Noah?” Leo said quietly as they all shared glances again, smiling widely as Leo clapped his hands and tugged on his dad’s trousers in excitement.
“Okay buddy,” his dad said. Leo went to grab the star as his father put him on his shoulders. The young boy grabbed the star and placed it on top of the tree, a wide smile gracing his youthful face as the entire family watched happily. As they finished up decorating the tree and sat down on the couch to watch Christmas movies on their recently purchased TV, it felt as if everything was going to be alright.
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