Mary Orleans has dreamt of a white Christmas since she was a child. Every Christmas they spend at home in Australia, between sheep and heat. Just one Christmas in New York, that's all she wants.
Lenny Darwin hates Christmas. The cold, the family, th...
I hadn't thought about Australia in days. Not really. Only to Lenny, who had to think that I had chosen Josh. But I had no idea. I myself didn't want to face him until I understood what feelings I had for whom. But Josh was, I was sure, long dead to me. "Maryyyy!" I heard Sina's voice shout through my headphones. I looked up and looked to my room door, where my host sister was standing. "You and I, we're going to buy Christmas presents!" she decided, pulling me out of bed by one arm. In her somewhat wild hair she wore a Christmas hat that blinked brightly in front of her. Lenny was truly the only one in the family who wasn't interested in Christmas.
Sina actually made me go out into the cold. I just managed to call Edith to ask her to come with us. And in fact, we met her a few minutes later. There was still snow and Christmas spirit in the air. We passed a Christmas market where Sina begged until I bought her roasted almonds. We mingled with the people and strolled a little along the market. Edith and Sina got along very well, which made me happy. Maybe Edith would actually be a good friend. As I looked around, I realized why I could never be happy at Christmas. I've never seen anything like that before. I'd never been able to build snowmen and wear Christmas sweaters. It was far too hot in Australia for that. I had never been able to experience the magic of Christmas as the season seemed like any other. I was trapped among sheep and never knew what was behind the horizon. Although I had ridden a few times further and we had also visited the city when I was a child, but I had always been alone.
My parents had been involved with the farm and hardly had time for me. That's why I always wanted out. I needed freedom. Room to breathe. And in that family, in that noisy and crowded place, I had found her. Kind of crazy. We took some pictures and ate candied apples. Sina and Edith pulled me out of the hustle and bustle and into glittering and luminous shops. We made the whole area unsafe and listened to a choir singing. It was Christmas. Christmas, really.
When we got back to the apartment, packed with bags, my feet hurt. I had gotten a Christmas present for every person I could think of and Sina had done the same. Edith had just accompanied us and was more pleased to see the apartment. I was particularly excited about the find I had made for Lenny. It was a book called "100 Reasons Why Christmas is the Best Time of the Year". It was perfect. Just like Carol, who greeted us with a big smile and a hot chocolate. I introduced her to Edith, and two minutes later she also had a hot chocolate in her hand. If only she were my birth mother. Then I would have grown up a lot more protected. Beloved. True love that I didn't get when I was sixteen from the first boy I saw. It's about friendship, acceptance and an open ear. A hug full of love. I could've used all this. New York healed this trauma in me that I never knew existed.
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