A Special Christmas Story

A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS

STORY

Audrey Cox

Copyright © 2018 by Audrey Phillips Cox

All rights reserved. No part of this book which is covered by the copyright laws may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means whether graphic, electronic, mechanical, or by photocopying, taping or information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author.

APCWriter.Publisher - Dauphin Island, AL

APCWriter.Publisher@gmail.com

www.audrey-phillips-cox.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION

PROLOGUE

CHAPTERS:

INTRODUCING LUCY

MUD MONSTER

THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT

THE ATTIC

LIVING WITH MY GRANDPARENTS

MEAN OLD LADY TANNER

NICE MRS. STAMPS

THE SECRET PRESENT

ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY

FLUFFY WAS KIDNAPPED

THE GIGANTIC RAT

BAD NEWS

OUR WONDERFUL CAR

THE MONSTER ROACH

THE PERFECT TREE

DECORATING THE TREE

BACK OF THE BUS

THE BASKET OF FOOD

CHRISTMAS EVE

ON THE WAY TO THE FARM

TURNING THE HOUSE AROUND

COOKING THE HARD WAY

GRAMMY’S PATH TO HAPPINESS

THE TRAGEDY

WAITING FOR GRAMMY

OPENING THE PRESENTS

CHRISTMAS DAY

MISCELLANEOUS INFO

DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this book to my grandmother:

Harriet Lee Allen

My grandmother on my mother’s side was the kindest- hearted and selfless person that I have ever known, and she had a spine of steel. She dealt with the problems she encountered in life with steadfast dedication to overcome any obstacle that she might encounter. She was not an educated person; God just blessed her with an abundance of common-sense. No matter how many problems or injustices she faced in life, I never saw her act as if she felt sorry for herself.

If I have any good values in me, aside from those I have gained through my faith, she deserves credit for passively passing her philosophical approach to life down to me.

I say passively because she didn’t lecture me or actively teach me any life principles, but I was like a sponge that soaked up the means she used to achieve a successful life. As a grown-up, I have noticed that some people’s heads are like a concrete block; they refuse to change and learn from the consequences of their bad choices or to discover a better way to live by watching the actions of successful people. It is necessary to have an open-mind and a positive attitude toward life to achieve happiness.

She has served as a mentor to me all of my life. Her wise influence has sustained me and guided me through many difficult challenges that I have faced in life.

Every Christmas, I reflect on the wonderful memories that I experienced every year at my grandparent’s house. Everybody needs someone like my Grammy in their life.

PROLOGUE

The story is set in the year 1948 and is based very loosely on events that happened in my childhood. When I was a ten-year-old child, I lived with my parents in a lovely house, in a small town located eight miles from the heart of a major city, so we had many modern conveniences for the times.

I think I would have taken those modern conveniences for granted if I had not spent a lot of time at my grandparent’s farm which was way out in the country. They had no modern conveniences since they had no electricity.

When we went to the grocery store, we could buy all types of meat already cut up and packaged, vegetables in a can, bread in a plastic wrap, and eggs in a carton.

Not so for Grammy and Papaw. They had to raise their food and preserve it by either canning it in jars or storing it in their smokehouse. However, in spite of not having any modern conveniences, my best childhood memories are the times I spent visiting my Grammy and Papaw on their farm.

I have always looked forward to Christmas. Although I have enjoyed many happy occasions in my life, my tenth Christmas was a very special time.

I would like to take the reader of this book on a journey back in time to see how life was in the old days and how to be happy without the aid of the latest electronic device or owning the latest and best possessions.

I have sneaked in a few old-fashioned values, which seems to be disappearing rapidly in our society today, and a couple of historical accounts that have affected and are still affecting our lives today.

This story is told through the eyes of a precocious ten-year-old named Lucy and spans over four days leading up to Christmas Day.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCING LUCY

I want to introduce myself. I am Lucy Louise Britton, the only child of Bernice and Joseph Britton, and born on December 21, 1938. I am usually referred to as Lucy except when my mother calls me Lucy Louise; then I know that I have done something wrong.

Don’t let me give you the wrong impression; I am usually a good kid, but now and then I go bananas and do something that displeases my mother. She gets upset when I sneak Fluffy my dog into bed with me, climb the tallest oak tree in the back of the house, or when I fail to put up the peanut butter and jelly after making myself a sandwich. I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

My mother is a great cook just like her mother Grammy, so I do not eat a lot of sandwiches because she does not feed me well; I eat them because they taste good. I don’t put on weight because I am a little hyperactive, and only so because I find so many interesting things to do. I am 54 inches tall and weigh 70 pounds. I read a book once that stated I am average for my age.

When I am not in school, I play softball, marbles, and fiddle-sticks with my friends. We also frolic in the small creek that runs beside our property and builds forts out of the tall bitter weeds that grow on the land next to our house.

When my friends are not around, I put puzzles together, draw oodles of pictures of all sorts of things, write short stories, and play with my Eskimo Spitz dog Fluffy.

What I love to do most is to read books. My mother declares that when I run out of reading material, that I will read the labels on canned vegetables.

My mom is very attractive, not fat, not skinny, of average height and people frequently tell her that she is pretty. People also say that I look just like her, but I don’t think so; however, we do both have reddish-brown hair. However, my hair is naturally wavy like my father’s hair.

The only other thing I have inherited from my dad is his bright blue eyes. He is 6’2" tall, just the right weight, has light brown wavy hair, broad shoulders, and has skin that looks as if he has a suntan all the time, even in the winter.

I overhear mother and him sometimes arguing about some woman flirting with him. He tries to assure her that he is not interested in any other woman, but my Mom is very jealous of my Dad. Even though they occasionally argue about all sorts of things, including how to raise me, I say all this to say that I am a happy kid.

There is only