[Dark Saint Alaick]

Now, the bartender in this bar had been working there longer than anyone could remember. He believed in nothing except his bar and his cash register. He had never married, never took a vacation and as a matter of fact, had never been seen out from behind his counter by most of his patrons. He was there when they arrived and was there when they left. He gave no credit and for seventy five cents, served shots of un-watered whiskey to people who used their drinks like a moat around their lives. For them, he provided a safe, unchanging world.

Suddenly the door opened wide and into this world walked a small child. The bartender could not remember the last time that a child had been in this place, but before he could ask the child what he was doing there, the child asked him if he knew that there was a girl outside their door who could not get home. Glancing out the window, he saw the girl standing across the street. Turning back to the child, the bartender asked him how he knew this. The child replied, “That on this night of all nights, if one could be home, they’d be already there.”

The bartender looked back toward the young woman as he reflected on what the child had said. After several seconds of thought, he slowly went over to the cash register and removing most of the money, came out from behind the bar and followed the child across the street.

Everyone in the bar watched as he spoke with the girl. After a few moments, he called over a cab, put the girl inside and told the driver : ”J.F.K. Airport.” As the cab pulled away, he looked around for the child, but the child was gone. And what was even stranger still, even though his own tracks leading from the bar were still clearly marked in the snow, the child’s were nowhere to be found.

Returning back inside, he asked if anyone had seen where the child had gone, but like himself, no one had, for they also had been watching the departing cab. And then, some would say later that the most miraculous thing of all happened, when for the rest of the night, no one paid for a drink.
Later that night, the Angel returned back to heaven and placed in the Lord’s hand, the wish of a soul for the happiness of another. And as the heavenly host looked on, the Lord smiled.

Merry Christmas to all of my wonderful friends, may God Bless each and everyone of you, and my wish for happiness to all of you come true.