For the last several years, Joe Law has produced a short piece to share during the Christmas holiday. Here is this year’s edition…
Elle MacFadden was one of the most popular women in the school. She gained her popularity by being a 4.0 student, she was athletic, she volunteered for nearly every extracurricular even after school. You get the picture…
Now, one day she had left school and gone home. It was just like any other day, for Elle anyway. When she reached her home there were several messages waiting in her voicemail box. She listened intently to them, one by one. All were for various events happening at the school. One of them, a bake sale to be held the next day sounded interesting to her, and she proceeded to return the call and let the party know she would be there to volunteer her time as well as bring in some home baked goodies. It was near Christmas break, and was the last big event before school break.
She went shopping for her baking goods and returned home to get started. She had planned to bake cookies and a several cakes. As she prepared to bake her goods, there was a phone call. A close friend had taken ill, and the girl’s parents were out of town. Her friend asked if Elle could come over to help take care of her. As the girl was such a close friend, Elle could not turn her down.
She placed her baking goods back in the pantry, thinking she would still have time to bake when she returned. The visit to her friend’s home lasted several hours, and upon her return there was no time to bake. After all, she did have homework to do as well.
The next day arrived, and Elle went to school as usual, after placing a call to her sick friend to be sure she was all right. She was not, and Elle promised to drop by again after school was over.
The bake sale began, and there was a large crowd of people ready to purchase the goods at hand. Well, everyone showed except you know who, and people were beginning to worry.
What could the organizer say but there was no Elle…
Merry Christmas!
Joe