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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: WOUND (11/26/20)
"Oh no!" cried eight-year-old Alma. "It's snowing hard and they'll cancel the Christmas Eve program!"

In 1908, everyone in this tiny mountain hamlet brought their Christmas presents for family and friends to the small Baptist Church to open for all to see.

Alma's mother turned from the kitchen sink and cautioned, "I don't know why you want to go to that church program anyway. You never get any presents and heaven knows we can't afford to get you any!"

It was true that Alma and her five older sisters had never received Christmas presents. They understood that with their father's meager income from cutting wood and collecting mountain ginseng, gifts were not an option.

Sighing, Alma went outside to check the skies. Her mother had often repeated the adage, "If you can see enough blue in the cloudy sky to make a pair of leggings for a sparrow, the rain or snow will soon end." Scrutinizing the sky for several minutes, Alma finally spotted a sliver of blue sky prompting her to run back into the house to share the good news.

After supper, with the snow nearly stopping, the girls began the two-mile hike down the snow-covered dirt road to the church, throwing snowballs at each others' backs and laughing all the way.

Arriving early, they found choice benches near the tall Christmas tree decorated by the children's Sunday School class. Soon the benches were full, with many standing along the sidewalls. Alma had prayed for the same thing every year: a beautiful, blonde-hair doll in a pink satin dress that she had seen in the Sears, Roebuck catalog kept in the outhouse.

After the pastor's short sermon about the birth of Christ, Blanche Teeter began playing the old upright piano to signal the singing of the Christmas carols. While singing, Alma's eyes were fixed on the tall pile of wrapped Christmas presents under the tree, as she wondered which package contained her doll.

Finally, Pastor Pardue announced, "Now for the Christmas presents. Will those whose names I call out, please come forward to open your gift. Hold it high for everyone to see."

"Jimmy Wilcox, will you please come to receive the first present." Fifteen-year-old Jimmy let out a whoop and ran to the front where he ripped off the Christmas wrapping. With a broad smile, he held up a rifle. "This is from my mom and dad. Thank you," Jimmy said proudly.

One after another, names were called out while Alma sat on the edge of her bench, sure that hers would be the next name called.

At last, the pastor announced, "Now we're down to the last gift." Alma was half-standing, ready to rush to the tree to claim the doll she'd prayed for so long.

"Pearl Jackson, please come forward," the pastor called out. Pearl hurried to the tree, opened the long, narrow box, and removed a beautiful blonde doll dressed in pink satin. Then, thanking her parents, she wrapped her arms tightly around her new doll.

Alma was too wounded and disappointed to cry. She followed her sisters down the aisle to the door and saw that heavy snow had been falling, obscuring her view. Trying to locate her sisters in the blinding snowfall, Alma ran full-force into an iron hitching post, knocking her down into the deep snow. The egg-size wound on her forehead nearly rendered her unconscious.

Finally, with help from her sisters, she silently made her way home. Her mother dutifully applied cold snow to Alma's painful, swollen wound and sarcastically suggested that the next time, she should watch where she was going.

In the morning, Anna told her mother that at the church's Christmas program, the pastor had invited those who wanted to follow Jesus to come forward. Anna had been one of those who were born again at the altar.

Her mother was unimpressed. "Oh, you'll still be the same miserable girl you've always been. If you think God will care about you, you're mistaken." Wounded again, Alma fled to her bedroom and, crying hard, lay across her bed.

Finally, she fell asleep but woke thinking about her mother's words. She knew she had been born again but needed some confirmation.

God's Word won her over when, opening her Bible (a gift from the pastor), her fingers rested on a verse that assured her of God's love: "Isaiah 43:1) "…fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine."

______________________
TRUE STORY

"But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine." (Isaiah 43:1) KJV
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Corinne Smelker 
12/03/20
Oh my heart! This is so poignant and so well-written. I could feel Alma's disappointment as my parents barely celebrated Christmas and my heart was broken a million times because they just did not think giving a gift was important. And I clearly remember in 2005 money was very tight for us, and my 6 year old son was left in a flood of tears because he saw a box that he thought contained a toy, but instead contained sneakers, because being practical was more important that year. My heart still skips a beat when I see the photo of him breaking down in my photo memories. But how wonderful that Alma discovered the one who heals all wounds.
Lorie Coffin
12/04/20
I absolutely loved your story. Wonderful descriptions, beautifully written. I didn’t want it to end. I felt such love and empathy for your main character. You ended your story in a very pleasing and satisfactory way, in the personal assurance of Christ’ love that heals our wounds. Well done!
Laurie Glass 
12/08/20
How sad for such a little girl. Love the ending, though. I like that you brought in the topic in a couple of different ways, and you held my attention all the way through. Well done.
Barbara Culler 
12/08/20
Such a poignant story. I wonder about the child's attitude once she grew up.
Linda Lawrence 
12/10/20
A small critique: The paragraph about being born again is confusing. I assumed Anna was a sister of Alma.
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
12/10/20
This is outstanding. You pulled me in right away. I chuckled at the blue sky theory. When I was little we said enough to make a Dutchman's overalls (which would need more blue than for a sparrow!) Every line pulled me farther into the story, it reminded me of The Walton's Homecoming where Elizabeth wished for a doll only to get one whose face was broken. Your story was probably more accurate and I bet your little MC wasn't the only one disappointed during that Era. Now we tend to overdo (at least I do) and I need to remember the true gift of Christmas. This is an exquisite story. Congratulations on your EC!
Mariane Holbrook
12/10/20
Linda,Thanks for pointing that out. It was a typo. I don't know any Annas. The MC was my mother and her name is Alma. She was born in 1900 and lived to be 96 years old. I appreciate your letting me know.

Mariane Holbrook
12/10/20
Barb,this story about my mother, Alma, was her response when people asked about the bump on her forehead. She would have had it removed later on but it did shrink some over the years. Her insurance wouldn't pay to have it removed because they considered it a cosmetic issue rather than a health issue. Grandma was saved several years before she died and we all loved her very much. Mother laughed when she told the story and said the bump was her badge of honor. :-)
Anne Warden 
12/10/20
Mariane, congratulations on your well-deserved second place. What a powerful story.
And the fact that your grandmother eventually accepted Jesus as her Savior deserves a 'Hallelu Yah!'
Holly Westefeld
12/10/20
What a treasured family story, told with outstanding atmosphere. Congratulations on your second place EC!
Mariane Holbrook
12/11/20
I didn't have room to mention that when Mother was about 90 years old, her nephew, Bill (a doctor from Virginia) went to visit Mother in the retirement home/nursing center where my mother was living. Bill's young daughter commented on the bump on Mother's forehead so Mother told her the story (omitting the remarks that Grandma had made). Bill's daughter was so moved that Bill stopped at a store on the way home, bought a beautiful doll with blonde hair and dressed in pink satin, and asked them to mail it to Mother at the nursing home. Mother loved that doll and showed it to everyone who came to visit her until she died six years later.
Mariane Holbrook
12/11/20
I didn't have room to mention that when Mother was about 90 years old, her nephew, Bill (a doctor from Virginia) went to visit Mother in the retirement home/nursing center where my mother was living. Bill's young daughter commented on the bump on Mother's forehead so Mother told her the story (omitting the remarks that Grandma had made). Bill's daughter was so moved that Bill stopped at a store on the way home, bought a beautiful doll with blonde hair and dressed in pink satin, and asked them to mail it to Mother at the nursing home. Mother loved that doll and showed it to everyone who came to visit her until she died six years later.