A Christmas Tale in Liverpool

by Luis Valencia Cabrera

It had been raining all day. James had been waiting for hours to go fishing with his younger sister Lily. As any other 8-year-old child of fishermen from Albert Dock, he loved fishing. Unfortunately, their father had not been going through a good time since he lost her wife the previous winter, and stormy days only made things worse. It was 5 p.m. and there was nothing to suggest that something special would bring them out of boredom and sadness.

Suddenly the brightest lightning they had ever seen startled them, and they ran to the garret. It did not look like the best place for two small kids to flee from danger, but it was safety that they felt there, it was love that they breathed there. Their mother had been preparing that room for them before Lily was born, and they always went there when they felt frightened. It seemed that her spirit was somehow there protecting them.

Had not they reached the attic window on time, they would not have witnessed the greatest scene any child could imagine. The light was even shinier than before, a colorful rainbow remained suspended before their eyes, but it was not that what impressed them the most. It was a great winged ship that left them perplexed.

The boat flew next to their window and the captain, John, kissed James and Lily on the cheeks, and whispered a few words of wisdom: let it be. Then he turned from the window and talked to a wonderful woman: ‘Get back, Emily, you are at home’.

…A year had passed since the sea snatched Emily from her family, but John imagined a winged ship getting out of the rainbow, he made it come true, and Emily was given a second chance to see her children grow.