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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Love stories / Romance
- Subject: Love / Romance / Dating
- Published: 12/29/2024
A Christmas Wish
Born 1968, F, from Hertfordshire, United KingdomA CHRISTMAS WISH
Milly pulled up outside the cottage and took a deep breath. It was the week before Christmas and Milly had wanted to get away by herself. She had been working continuously for the last 3 months on a complicated client project and needed a break. She had initially thought about going abroad, in search of the sun, but had left it too late to book so decided to go to the cottage for a couple of weeks. It had belonged to her Aunt Jean, and it had been left to Milly in her aunt’s will. Technically it was now hers, but she would always think of it as Aunt Jean’s home.
She walked up the path to the door, avoiding the abundance of weeds and wild flowers that had shot up since her aunt had moved out into the Care Home, where she had peacefully passed away 3 months ago. Milly had meant to visit sooner, but life had got very busy. She took out her key and opened the familiar blue door with the paint peeling on the panels, and walked into the hallway. She hadn’t thought about the state of the cottage, her aunt had always kept it so clean, and was taken aback by the dust and cobwebs. The cottage was what would be referred to these days as shabby chic and had always been cosy and welcoming. Oh well, a good scrub would take care of that.
Milly went through to the kitchen and put down the couple of bags of groceries she had bought with her. She found some cloths under the sink and quickly wiped down the work top to make a longed-for cup of tea after what had been a really long and quite stressful drive. After a short rest and the reviving tea, Milly decided to give the place a quick clean, unpack and make up her bed before dinner and relaxing. She spent the next couple of hours cleaning the worst of the dust and cobwebs and made up the bed in the spare room that had always been hers when she had stayed there. Pleased with her efforts for now, she went back to the kitchen to pop her ready meal pasta dinner in the oven and open a bottle of wine.
By now night-time was falling and Milly went out onto the patio with her glass of wine, wrapped up warmly in her fur lined coat. It was extremely dark outside, there were no lamp lights where the cottage was, and she felt darkness closing in. As she looked up she saw one bright, twinkling star, which stood out from the rest. She stood gazing at it and gave a little shiver, it felt like that could that be Aunt Jean watching over her and the cottage. She didn’t usually believe in such things but tonight felt different and she liked to think it was. She had always been able to confide in Aunt Jean, and she had a lot on her mind at the moment, which is why she wanted to get away. Maybe Aunt Jean was listening.
The last year had been very challenging at work but also, she now admitted to herself, she had been moving though the grieving process for her aunt. Having lost her parents at age 13, Aunt Jean had been both mother and father to Milly. As she looked up to the sky she thought the star was blinking at her, listening maybe?
Her thoughts then turned to Carl, a guy she had been seeing from work. Carl lived in New York and was in the UK on assignment for 2 years, but would be going back to the US in 6 months. They had been together for nearly a year and Milly was sure she was in love with him. She felt her stomach doing what she could only describe as somersaults when she was with him and missed him terribly when he wasn’t there. But that came with complications. Firstly, she wasn’t sure if her feelings were reciprocated. Carl had said that he loved being with her but had never said that he loved her, and Milly had been reluctant to declare her feelings without some indication of how he would react. Also, if their relationship was to continue after he went back to the US, how would that work? What would their future look like if they decided to try and maintain a long-distance relationship? Could she move to New York, would he stay in the UK? Milly felt very unsure of the future. She had not had many relationships really, had been concentrating on her career, but she felt Carl was different. She wished he was with her now. She had asked him to come, but he had said he was planning to go home for Christmas.
Milly sighed, finished her wine and decided to go inside to have her dinner and an early night. She was tired after the drive and the scale of her pemotions with being back in her aunt’s house.
The next day was Christmas Eve and after breakfast Milly decided to go for a walk to get some fresh air. Her aunt’s house was situated on the outskirts of a village, close to some woods where Milly remembered playing as a child with some of the children from the village. She put on her warm clothes and set off. She walked through the woods, remembering the stream where they went fishing, the trees they climbed, the dens they made. Milly had always been a bit of a tomboy really.
As she arrived at the village and looked around at the familiar chocolate box cottages she smiled. She had such happy memories of living here with her aunt. Milly then headed for the village store, which was still owned by Mrs James, who had been in charge there for as long as Milly could remember.
After a long chat with Mrs James, catching up on all the gossip in the village, Milly left and started to walk home. It had started to snow, the flakes large and settling on the countryside around her. She knew that within the hour the road back to the cottage would be blanketed in snow, so she started to hurry home.
Milly got back to the cottage and after changing into some dry clothes and lighting a fire, she decided to try and call Carl. She got out her mobile and then remembered there was very little signal in the village, particularly where the cottage was located. Frustrated, she put the phone away and decided to make herself a good strong coffee to warm up after her walk. She put on the TV but could not concentrate, her mind kept wandering as she thought of Carl and how he might be spending Christmas.
She glanced at the TV and there was a programme about Father Christmas granting Christmas wishes to children. “Well Father Christmas, I wish I knew where I stood with Carl” she muttered to herself, as she wondered whether coming away on her own was a good idea, “I wish he was here with me”. She didn’t realise how much she would miss him while she was away.
She got up to add some more wood to the log burner and turned over the TV to a classic Christmas movie. “May as well try and get in the Christmas spirit” she thought.
About an hour later there was a knock at the door, that made her jump. “Who on earth would be out here in this weather, at this time of night” she thought.
“Who’s there?” she called nervously, through the door.
“It’s me, Carl, open up it’s freezing out here” replied a voice she instantly recognised. She pulled open the door immediately and there stood Carl on the doorstep, she couldn’t believe it. He pulled her into his arms and passionately kissed her”.
“Milly” he said, “I had to come, I was missing you so much, please can I come in”?
“Of course said Milly as she opened the door wider and ushered him in, still unable to believe that he was there.
Carl shook the snow off as he entered the cottage. “I didn’t think I’d find you” he said, “this cottage and village are almost impossible to find in the snow but luckily there was a really bright star in the sky which helped me find my way. I’m so happy to see you Milly, I’ve missed you”.
Milly was shocked by that, was it the same bright star that she had seen in the garden, that had made her feel close to Aunt Jean? Had Aunt Jean helped guide Carl through the snow to find her?
“I’m glad you came, Carl, I really missed you too”
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