The Soloist
Dec. 24th, 2004 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
athersgeoHappy Holidays to all my readers. A little later than planned, here is my contribution to this year's holiday season.
Set Christmas 2004 (so a year after Jingle All The Way), it's just a nice little piece of fluff that will eventually go up at the ID'verse website and at fanfiction.net (when I can see straight enough to code it)
The small boy felt a funny feeling in his stomach. It wasn't quite a tummy ache, but it wasn't fun and it seemed to get worse as the appointed moment approached.
"Are you all right?" his best friend, Lana, asked as she found his hiding place, in the little hidey-hole in the back of the Sunday school classroom.
He shook his head. "Feel sick," he mumbled. "Don't wanna."
"But you're so good!" Lana insisted, giving his hand a squeeze. "You'll be great."
He blinked up at her. "Sure?"
Lana nodded her head vigorously, setting her ponytail swaying. "Definitely." She gave him a big, beaming smile. "Come on."
Not giving him a chance to do otherwise, she tugged him to his feet and practically dragged him out of the classroom, straight into the arms of an amused, but faintly disapproving Miss Lear, their Sunday school teacher.
"There you two are," she said. "We're almost ready to start." Then she saw the expression on the small boy's face. "Are you all right?"
"Feel sick," he said.
"That'll just be butterflies," Miss Lear diagnosed. She crouched down in front of him so that she was on the same level as he was and offered him a kindly smile. "If you really don't want to do this, you don't have to."
This would have been the time for him to voice his desire not to take part, but, with his teacher crouching just in front of him, he found himself not wanting to let this kindly lady down. Silently, he shook his head and was rewarded by beaming smiles, not only from Lana, who was still holding his hand, but also from the teacher.
"Good," she said, holding out a hand. "Come on."
Instinctively, he accepted the proffered hand and allowed himself to be led by Lana and Miss Lear from the Sunday school building and into the big church, where all the other Sunday school children and parents were waiting. At the thought of standing in front of all these people, the "butterflies" Miss Lear had mentioned suddenly got worse. He couldn't possibly do this!
But, just as he was considering slipping out of Miss Lear's grasp and running out of the big church again, his eyes fell on someone seated in the front row of the audience: His mom had come to see this performance and… He felt his heart jump a bit. Sitting next to her was his dad!
His dad had been able to come!
Suddenly, the butterflies all vanished and he felt as if he could walk on water. His dad had been able to come as well as his mom.
He gave them both a secret wave as he walked by them to get to his position. They smiled back, their pride in him written on their faces for everyone to see.
A moment after he took his spot, Miss Lear stood up and introduced the first carol and he stepped forward, as befitted the boy chosen to sing the solo. With a glance in the direction of his parents, he began:
Once in Royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for his bed.
Mary was the mother mild
Jesus Christ, her little child
Wes blinked a couple of times as Alice finished the solo and the rest of the children's choir joined in for the second verse. A couple of rows in front, he could see Eric and Kimberly and though he couldn't see their expressions, he could well imagine their expressions. They'd be the same expressions his parents had been wearing at the same point in the carol concert twenty years earlier, all filled with pride and love.
Wes was glad Lana and Miss Lear had managed to talk him into doing it after all. He'd have to tell Eric about it sometime. But not tonight. Tonight was Alice's night to shine, and shine she had.
Set Christmas 2004 (so a year after Jingle All The Way), it's just a nice little piece of fluff that will eventually go up at the ID'verse website and at fanfiction.net (when I can see straight enough to code it)
The small boy felt a funny feeling in his stomach. It wasn't quite a tummy ache, but it wasn't fun and it seemed to get worse as the appointed moment approached.
"Are you all right?" his best friend, Lana, asked as she found his hiding place, in the little hidey-hole in the back of the Sunday school classroom.
He shook his head. "Feel sick," he mumbled. "Don't wanna."
"But you're so good!" Lana insisted, giving his hand a squeeze. "You'll be great."
He blinked up at her. "Sure?"
Lana nodded her head vigorously, setting her ponytail swaying. "Definitely." She gave him a big, beaming smile. "Come on."
Not giving him a chance to do otherwise, she tugged him to his feet and practically dragged him out of the classroom, straight into the arms of an amused, but faintly disapproving Miss Lear, their Sunday school teacher.
"There you two are," she said. "We're almost ready to start." Then she saw the expression on the small boy's face. "Are you all right?"
"Feel sick," he said.
"That'll just be butterflies," Miss Lear diagnosed. She crouched down in front of him so that she was on the same level as he was and offered him a kindly smile. "If you really don't want to do this, you don't have to."
This would have been the time for him to voice his desire not to take part, but, with his teacher crouching just in front of him, he found himself not wanting to let this kindly lady down. Silently, he shook his head and was rewarded by beaming smiles, not only from Lana, who was still holding his hand, but also from the teacher.
"Good," she said, holding out a hand. "Come on."
Instinctively, he accepted the proffered hand and allowed himself to be led by Lana and Miss Lear from the Sunday school building and into the big church, where all the other Sunday school children and parents were waiting. At the thought of standing in front of all these people, the "butterflies" Miss Lear had mentioned suddenly got worse. He couldn't possibly do this!
But, just as he was considering slipping out of Miss Lear's grasp and running out of the big church again, his eyes fell on someone seated in the front row of the audience: His mom had come to see this performance and… He felt his heart jump a bit. Sitting next to her was his dad!
His dad had been able to come!
Suddenly, the butterflies all vanished and he felt as if he could walk on water. His dad had been able to come as well as his mom.
He gave them both a secret wave as he walked by them to get to his position. They smiled back, their pride in him written on their faces for everyone to see.
A moment after he took his spot, Miss Lear stood up and introduced the first carol and he stepped forward, as befitted the boy chosen to sing the solo. With a glance in the direction of his parents, he began:
Stood a lowly cattle shed
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for his bed.
Mary was the mother mild
Jesus Christ, her little child
Wes blinked a couple of times as Alice finished the solo and the rest of the children's choir joined in for the second verse. A couple of rows in front, he could see Eric and Kimberly and though he couldn't see their expressions, he could well imagine their expressions. They'd be the same expressions his parents had been wearing at the same point in the carol concert twenty years earlier, all filled with pride and love.
Wes was glad Lana and Miss Lear had managed to talk him into doing it after all. He'd have to tell Eric about it sometime. But not tonight. Tonight was Alice's night to shine, and shine she had.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-24 10:47 pm (UTC)It's funny the types of things that will jog one's memory.
And the stuff that will keep being recycled at schools too. :)
(*beat* Who's Lana? *ducks*)
Me odd mood? Quite probably.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-25 04:23 am (UTC)Awww.
Date: 2004-12-25 11:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-25 02:12 pm (UTC)