The Christmas Violin by Buffy Andrews Read Free Book Online

since Luke died, and as she boarded the plane her heart raced wildly. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Sitting in business class helped. It gave her more space and she didn’t feel so closed in. She sat back and closed her eyes, silently praying that the flight went well.
    She knew she would have to fly again some time. But she always thought that it would be on her terms, not because of an emergency. Maybe it was better this way, she thought. She didn’t have a choice. She had to get through it.
    She had talked to her mother before boarding and knew her father had been moved to the cardiac unit. Her mother was waiting to speak to the heart specialist so she didn’t have a lot of information. Of course, that only made Willow worry more. She couldn’t get there fast enough.
    Willow, an only child, had always been daddy’s little girl. Her father was her Zeus, her hero and she always felt that she never found Mr. Right in part because she was looking for someone who was as kind and loving and selfless as her dad.
    A two-hour flight leaves plenty of time for reminiscing. Willow closed her eyes and the film rolled. She’s a toddler. Her father’s twirling her around and around. She’s giggling. “Again, Daddy. Again.” And he picks her up again and twirls her, making airplane noises before they both tumble onto the spring grass.
    She’s five and making him look pretty. Combing his thick dark hair with her small pink comb and styling it with her baby barrettes. Her doctor’s kit is out and she’s checking his blood pressure. The plastic dial spins round and round. She puts the plastic stethoscope earpieces in and, laughing, presses the chest piece against his heart. It’s beating. He’s healthy. He’s always healthy.
    Tears filled Willow’s eyes. She’s a teen and talking back. Her dad sends her to her room and tells her not to come out until she can be nice. No one understands her. Not even Zeus. Why doesn’t he understand that all of her friends are dating? She’s the only one not allowed. She’s fourteen, certainly old enough to go out with an eighteen-year-old. He’s ruining her life.
    She’s sixteen and mad that she doesn’t have a car of her own and mad that he rarely allows her to drive her mother’s or his. He tells her it’s not that he doesn’t trust her; it’s that he doesn’t trust other drivers. He wants to keep her safe.
    She’s eighteen and he’s moving her into her dorm room. She’s not expecting her heart to hurt, but it does. It hurts like it does now.
    The Old Woman
    The old woman stirred. The morning sun poured in through the dirty shed window. Usually when she slept in the shed, she covered the window with a piece of cardboard to block the morning sun. But she was so tired when she had finally managed to get inside the shed the night before that she hadn’t bothered.
    For a few seconds, she had forgotten about being robbed, but then she remembered. Her cart was gone. Her favorite fuzzy blanket was gone. And the lucky quarter she had found in the coin return of the soda vending machine in the city parking garage was gone.
    The old woman had made it a habit to check the coin returns of every vending machine she passed. Over the years, the money she found had bought her a warm meal or two. But this quarter, the first she ever found, was special. It reminded her that sometimes life returns unexpected goodness.
    She inched out of the sleeping bag. She rubbed her wrinkled hands together. She spotted a peanut on the concrete floor. She must have dropped it the night before. She bent over and picked it up, pinching the morsel between her thumb and index finger. She rolled the peanut in her mouth, using her tongue to tumble it. She sucked the salt out of it before chewing and swallowing. She looked around to see if there were any more crumbs, but found only dirt.
    She grunted, reaching for the walking stick the caretaker had made for her. Using the stick to steady herself,