The Christmas House
A verified Amazon review-The Christmas House is the embodiment of the Christmas Spirit. Magical, wondrous, full of the warmth generated by the company of family and friends during good times and hard. This book hits you with a healthy dose of reality, but it also takes you on a fantastical journey filled with hope and joy, grace and forgiveness. If you don't examine it too closely, but just let the words transport you on a trip that will engage your emotions and give you cause to ponder what can be real, what may be true - if "close your eyes" and open your heart, this book will bring it all to life and make you believe. I found this book engaging from the first chapter, it kept drawing me in, pulling me into the world of the house and those who live there, as well as those individuals who visit once every year at Christmas. This story is not without tragedy, but it is also infused with the glorious strength and bright light that the human spirit is capable of producing, with a little divine help and the steadfast support of the people who love you. I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, wanting to see what happened next, anxious to find out what happened to the characters in the book I had grown to care about. The story surrounds your senses and brings the sights and smells, the many textures of Christmas to your heart, as it lifts your spirit up and makes you wonder...This podcast offers the first four chapters of the novel. The entire audio book will not be available on Amazon until Thanksgiving 2022. More episodes (chapters) will be added in the future.
The Christmas House
CHAPTER FOURTEEN - TIME TO DEPART
6:00 pm Christmas Day
As the church bells rang out, the guests at the house on Festive Lane began to gather their belongings and bid their hosts a good evening until next Christmas. Harry, Susan, and the kids stood by the front door and wished each guest a Merry Christmas and safe travels to their place on the other side. Guests would leave in the reverse order that they arrived; thus, Harry and Susan’s parents, who arrived first, would depart last. The guests walked out the front door and into the night, disappearing into a blizzard one by one. Carrying only the trays that they brought with them, now void of all cakes, cookies, and waffles, the guests filed out in quick order. Now it was Ernest who was preparing to leave.
“Ernest, what do you have there?” asked Martha.
“My phone that Santa gave me,” he replied.
“Oh dear, you are not allowed to take anything back with you that you didn’t bring with you when you arrived,” Martha said.
“But I have to keep it with me so I can talk to daddy,” Ernest said desperately.
“Martha, Santa did give it to him. It wouldn’t be right not to let him keep it,” said Susan, unaware that the phone was actually Victor’s old phone.
“What’s the worst that can happen if he takes the phone back with him?” asked Harry.
“He won’t be allowed to return to this house ever again,” said Martha.