Behind Glory

 Merry Christmas!

Okay, Christmas Eve, but it's close enough. Besides, my brother and his family are coming over today to do Christmas with us, so it'll be Christmas. Of course the weather is not going to feel anything like Christmas is supposed to feel like as it's supposed to be 77º today. What kind of Christmas weather is that?

It's been a busy first part of the week.

Saturday– I had play practice in the morning and because two people from one group of singers were sick, they'd had to pull a singer from the other group as well as the pastor's son from KC to fill in. And then when my group of singers was singing we realized we were going to need someone else so my sister was recruited.

Sunday– Music practice before Sunday School. Bell practice with the kids after church, and then practice with my sister and two little girls (I played piano for them). I worked on caroling stuff some in the afternoon and then we were off for the Christmas program. It wasn't nearly as stressful and crazy as when I'm directing the play, which was nice. The play went well, and then we had a fellowship meal afterwards and got to visit with different ones.

Monday– Worked on caroling stuff, my grandpa came down for a short visit, saw the house and ate lunch with us before he went to my brother's to see his place. The caroling group met at 4:30 instead of 5 which was wonderful because it meant we could leave at 5 since it took us 3 hours to go to 8 places. Yes, they were scattered all over! Twice we had to drive 20 minutes to the next place.

Tuesday– I put things away and relaxed! Read.

Wednesday– I made a graham cracker house and worked on a blog post and even wrote. I finished today's story

Thursday– My mom and I decided we wanted to do some paper craft things for decorating the table for today, so we tried one thing. Didn't work. Tried another, too small. So my mom created something and it worked! It's so cute! Sorry, I don't have a picture to show you.

 Today's story is one I've wanted to write since Angie Thompson wrote her "Glory" story for her Advent collection. It takes place the same day as "Glory" only in a different place and gives a little glimpse into some other people who were going to be affected by the decisions the characters in "Glory" made. Totally confused yet? :D I hope you enjoy it.

 

Behind Glory

 

    Georgie woke with the pain of his broken leg chasing the pain from his bruised hip up and down his whole body. It wasn’t a pleasant sensation. Trying to fight back the tears, he opened his eyes. As he sniffed back the sobs, his nose wrinkled. Why did hospitals have to smell so . . . so clean? He longed for the smell of burnt bacon and dirt.
    “Good morning, Georgie,” a cheerful voice greeted him. “How do you feel today?”
    Georgie turned his head. Nurse Maddie was standing beside his bed.
    “I don’t like being here at Christmas.”
    “I know. And I wish you could be at home right now.” She brushed his dark hair off his face. “But tonight we’re going to have some special visitors. Some carolers are going to come and sing Christmas songs to all the children here at the hospital. Won’t that be nice?”
    Staring at the light beginning to come in through the curtained windows, Georgie nodded slightly. He remembered a time when his dad used to sing Christmas carols all December. Mom had said he couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, whatever that meant, but she had always laughed when she said it and smiled bigger. Dad hadn’t sung this year. Georgie wished he would. Maybe the carolers would be nice.

*

    It was late morning, the curtains were wide open and the children’s ward was bright with the winter sunshine. In the bed beside Georgie, a little fellow, only about six, lay with flushed face and red eyes. He’d been crying for some time and had only just calmed down enough for the nurse to slip away.
    “I want my mama . . . to sing . . . to me,” little Bobby hiccuped to no one in particular.
    “Bobby,” Georgie said, turning his head so he could see the little boy, “we’re going to have carolers come and sing to us tonight. Won’t that be nice?”
    Bobby hiccuped again. “Really?”
    “Uh huh. Nurse Maddie said so.”
    “Will they come tonight?” Kit lifted her head from her white pillow across the room.
    “Yes, tonight.”
    “Will they sing ‘Way in a Manger?” Lilly asked from a few beds down.
    “I don’t know. Maybe.”
    All around the room the children perked up.
    “I wish dey’d thing the thong ‘bout my brover.”
    “Your brother, Nanny?” Georgie shifted in his bed and bit his lip to keep back the cry of pain the movement had caused. He wanted to cheer up the other kids.
    “Uh huh. Harry.”
    “I don’t know that song,” Lilly said. “Can you sing it, Nanny?”
    “I don’t know it all.” Nanny half sat up in bed. “But I can thing thome.” With that Nanny began to sing. It wasn’t a very clear tune, but it was a joyful noise. “Hark, the Harry, angel thing, gory to the newborn King. Peathe on earth an’ merthy mine, God an’ thinnerth recognized. Joyful all ye naithonth withe, join the twiumph of the thkies, with Aunt Jelly hosth pwoclaim, Chwist ith born in Bethlehem. Hark, the Harry, angel thing, gory to the newborn King.”
    A patter of small hands clapping covered a muffled laugh at the nurse’s station near the door.
    “Georgie,” Teddy asked from over near the window, “Will they sing two songs?”
    “I think so.” Georgie thought of all the songs his Dad had sung and wondered how many Christmas songs there were. “Maybe they’ll even sing three songs.”
    A delighted “Oh!” echoed around the room.
    “Do you think they will wear red?” Lilly asked.
    “Maybe they’ll wear green,” Bobby said quite cheerfully having forgotten his own troubles in the promise of something special later on.
    The talk in the ward that morning and after visiting hours was all about the coming carolers. What colors would they wear? How many were coming? What would they sing? Would they come into the room? Would they have candles? Will they be wearing scarves? Do the nurses know them? What were their names?
    Georgie didn’t know the answers to the questions and neither did Nurse Elizabeth who had taken Nurse Maddie’s place.
    As dusk began to settle outside, Georgie felt himself growing restless. This was almost like waiting for Christmas morning to arrive. But unlike other Christmas Eve nights, this time Georgie couldn’t toss and turn in bed.
    “Georgie,” Bobby asked in a stage whisper, “they are coming, aren’t they?”
    “Sure they are, Bobby, why, they’re probably getting their coats on right now.”
    Lilly lifted her head. “You think so, Georgie?”
    “Sure.”
    There was a moment of silence in the dim ward. Supper was over and Nurse Elizabeth had left only a few small lights on.
    “What do you think they’re doing now, Georgie?” Kit’s voice was close to tears and Georgie guessed her back was hurting her a great deal.
    “Well, let’s see. One of the boys has to pick up one of the girls so he’s going over there. And--”
    “Do they know how to drive?” demanded Stevie.
    “I guess they might. If not someone else has to drive them.” He paused a moment and then went on. “But anyway, they’re driving down Main street and warming up their voices.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know.” Georgie wasn’t sure if real singers did warm their voices up, but his dad used to say--back when he sang--that he had to warm his voice up. Turning his head toward the door he wished the singers would come. They would come, wouldn’t they? If they didn’t come-- A lump the size of baseball seemed to rise in his throat. They had to come. They just had to!
    “What’re they doin’ now, Georgie?” Nellie asked. “Are they comin’ thoon?”
    “Pretty soon, I ‘spect. They have to get out of the car and walk inside now. Oops, one of them left his music in the car and had to run back out and get it maybe.” A few giggles sounded in the dim room. “Now they have to find out how to get to this part of the hospital. And they might get turned around a bit ‘cause it’s pretty big.” As Georgie wondered how much longer he could keep his story going, he thought he heard voices outside their room.
    Others heard them too and when the door opened, sixteen heads were turned and sixteen pairs of eyes fastened on the four visitors. The guys wore dark suits over white shirts and the girls wore red dresses.
    Not a sound could be heard as they stepped into the ward and began to sing. Their voices rich and full yet tender and soft reached to the most distant beds.
    Georgie felt like a warm blanket had been spread over him as he lay listening too the familiar strains of “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful.” He would have gone to Bethlehem to see the Baby if he’d been a shepherd. “Even if I had a broken leg,” he decided but bit his lip at a sudden stab of pain.
    After the first song, the carolers moved among the beds and spoke a few words to each child.
    One of the young men came over to Georgie and smiled down at him. “Hello there, I’m Greg.”
    “My name’s Georgie.”
    “It’s nice to meet you, Georgie. What are you doing in the hospital on Christmas Eve?”
    “Broke my leg.”
    “You did? Well, I did too when I was a little chap. Had to spend Christmas in the hospital too.”
    Georgie stared up at the smiling face of the singer. For a moment he didn’t know what to say. “I . . . I’m glad you came to sing to us. I miss my dad’s singing.” He swallowed hard.
    Greg squeezed his hand lightly. “I’m sure you do. We’ll sing again in just a minute, all right?”
    Georgie nodded, and Greg moved to another bed.
    When the carolers started singing again, Georgie lay quiet and listened, his eyes closed. They were songs he knew and their familiar words and tunes wrapped his heart like a hug and he drifted off to sleep with the soft strains of “Away in a Manger” taking away the sadness of being stuck in a hospital bed over Christmas.

Have you read "Glory"?

Did you have a good week?

What are your plans for Christmas?