The Christmas Ornament

Chapter 1 - A New Home

          Some people believe in miracles...many do not. Holly Spencer believed in miracles once but ever since the deadly car accident that took her parents from her, Holly hadn't believed in much of anything.

          It was Christmas Eve five years ago when twelve year old Holly and her parents were driving on M28, coincidentally near the town named Christmas, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on their way to Marquette when a deer jumped out in front of their car.

Holly's dad, Daniel Spencer, slammed on the brakes and swerved to avoid hitting the deer and in doing so, slid off the road and hit a tree causing a snow laden tree branch to fall onto the roof of their car, collapsing the roof and killing her parents. Holly had survived because she had been laying down in the back seat trying to take a nap. Ever since then, Holly lost her faith in the belief of miracles and the spirit of Christmas.

          Holly had no other close relatives that could take her in so, after two days of observation in the hospital, she was placed in an all girl orphanage located on the outskirts of the very town she and her parents had been traveling to of Marquette, Michigan.

          Five years later, she was still living at the orphanage. Holly had turned into a beautiful 5' 7" blonde haired, blue eyed stunning young woman but, over the years, it became apparent that prospective parents were interested in adopting much younger children.

          Life at the orphanage was a poor substitute for living in a real home with real parents, even if they were adoptive parents. Holly was well liked by the other children and she liked them. They looked up to her as they would an older sister.

          Unfortunately, such was not the case with the orphanage administrator, Mrs. Bella Pembroke, a mid-fifties plain looking woman who always wore her hair pulled back into a tight bun.

          Mrs. Pembroke didn't have any children of her own and she didn't seem to like them very much. In fact, the only time Holly can remember seeing Mrs. Pembroke smile was when she was handing out disciplining action to the children. Why she worked at a children's orphanage and why anyone would hire her to work at a children's orphanage, considering her disposition, always baffled Holly.

          As Holly got older, Mrs. Pembroke pushed more and more responsibilities onto to her, finally making her work in the kitchen with the paid help without any compensation for herself.

"If you want a roof over your head and food to eat, you need to earn your keep!" Mrs.Pembroke scowled at her on more than one occasion.

          Christmas was three weeks away and Holly was starting to feel depressed as she always did when this time of year rolled around. The loss of her parents on Christmas Eve five years earlier had taken all the joy out of the holiday season ever since then. In the years following the accident when Christmas was approaching, Holly would tend to become reclusive and avoid people who were getting into the holiday spirit. This year was turning out to be no exception.

          Holly was heading back to her second floor dorm room that she shared with one other girl after she had finished helping prepare lunch for the sixty four children plus the other half dozen staff members of North Winds Orphanage when Penny Thompson, her roommate, came running up to her in the hallway. Penny was a ten year old brunette girl and three year resident of the orphanage.

"Oh Holly, I'm so glad I found you!" Penny said while trying to catch her breath.

"Hi Penny, What can I do for you young lady?" Holly responded inquisitively.

"Mrs. Pembroke told me to find you and tell you she wants to see you in her office."

"Did she say why she wanted to see me?" Holly said in a despondent tone.