Lucy - Now Completed!

Part 1 -15th December 1968

Paul sat staring into space. The TV was on but he was not really paying any attention to it. He felt like crap, wondering just how much more could go wrong in his life! First John and Cyn splitting up then Jane leaving him and problems within the band. He sighed and wondered once  more whether he was in the right frame of mind to head up to Liverpool for Christmas to play happy families.

"RRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!"

"Fuck off!" He muttered assuming it was the usual gate birds ringing his bell.

 "RRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!"  

He tried to ignore it.

  "RRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!"  

 "RRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!"  

He'd had enough. He got up and stamped into the hall then stopped in his tracks. He heard music...soft choral music. He listened again as the strands of 'O little town of Bethlehem' came floating through the closed door. As memories of singing the carol with his parents and Mike as a child came flooding back, he opened the door. A group of twenty or so carol singers stood on his driveway. He listened, enchanted, until the final verse where he was unable to hold back, and joined in with the choir.

"That was beautiful." He told them as the song came to an end, "Really beautiful."

"Thank you Sir." A young woman stepped forward holding a collection tin. She shook it gently. "Would you like to make a donation sir?" She asked politely.

Paul turned to her. "Depends on what you're collecting for love."

"We're raising money for the church Christmas party for local children." She explained politely, "St John's. We hold a party every year and make sure all the children get a gift."

"Sounds good." smiled Paul as he began to rummage in his pocket. He pulled out a £20 note and handed it to the woman. She stared at the money is shock. "What's up?"

"It's a very generous donation sir...are you sure?"

"Yeah. Take it. The kids will enjoy it more than I will."

"Thank you...erm...would you like us to sing you another song before we go?"

"Will you do 'O little town' again for me? It reminds me of when I was a kid."

Within minutes the choir was giving him another full rendition. He watched the people as they sang. They were a variety of ages and seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Finally their performance ended. Paul applauded them and thanked them once more.

"Excuse me?"

He turned to the young woman, "Since you seem to enjoy the carols so much maybe you'd like to join us on Christmas Eve? Our crib service?" She handed Paul a leaflet then lead the choir out of the driveway. 

Closing the front door, Paul found he was in a much better mood suddenly. The carols had been lovely! He walked back into the living room and sat down. After giving the leaflet a quick glance, he tossed it onto the table before going back to the TV, still whistling 'O little town of Bethlehem' under his breath.