Frosty Wind Made Moan

12

12

They were in the same place, only much later in the day and had emerged from the passage of time to find a very different looking rooftop. Toby almost stepped away from the old man, but worried that the people on the roof would see him. And he didn't want them to. The three boys, older boys, had ruined the girl's home.

Laughing, they kicked the girl's belongings across the rooftop, breaking down her lean-to. One, at the other side of the chimney, had found the bucket of waste, almost choking as he returned to his friends before tossing the disgusting contents over the girl's sleeping bag. When the bag of money landed on the sleeping bag, all their laughter stopped.

"Money!" The only word spoken as one of the boys picked up the girl's pillow, wiping the muck from the bag with it.

The bag became ripped open, the money spilling onto the roof and the boys jostled each other to snatch at the coins and notes. Toby looked around, but he couldn't see the girl anywhere. For that, at least, he felt thankful. Then he watched as the boys grabbed the girl's makeshift football and headed away, to climb back down from the rooftop, taking the football and all the girl's savings with them.

"Why do you keep showing me things like this?" Toby had told Leopold, before, that he cried sometimes. He didn't cry often, but he felt tears pricking his eyes now. "It's Christmas! Why can't you show me happy things? Why does it all have to be horrible?"

"Because mid-Winter is between darkness and light." The old man whispered those words, but he showed no emotion at the chaos those bots had wrought. "In darkness, we turn towards the light with hope. Hope is very human, but so is this. Look! She returns."

"That poor girl." Toby wiped his eyes. "She's lost everything."

Toby followed the pointing finger to see the girl poking her head above the wall. She took a while to check that all the boys had gone before she clambered over the wall, carrying her box of shoe shining materials. She didn't seem as upset as Toby thought he would have been in the same situation. Instead, she sighed, pulling her ruined sleeping bag out from under the broken lean-to, and then the pillow.

She found the big bottle of water, overturned, but still containing some water, and used it to wash what she could of the sleeping bag and the pillow. Then she returned to the lean-to, searching through the tossed around belongings until she found the doll, Graça. She didn't even look at the empty bucket. She knew she had lost all her savings.

"A little longer, eh, Graça?" The girl kissed the doll, moving away from the mess of her home. "We'll do it. I know we will."

The girl hugged the doll for long moments, squatting a distance away from the demolished lean-to. Then, the sound of bells began to ring out and the girl's head shot up. All around, fireworks flew into the air, sending flashes and explosions of colour shining down on the girl. She jumped to her feet and began searching through the pile of belongings again, pulling out a dark, long, but pretty dress and a shawl.

"We have seen enough here." Before Toby could say anything, the old man set time moving faster again as he guided Toby towards the edge of the roof.

Almost in an instant, Toby found himself stood on a street, facing a church. A steady stream of people passed by him and the old man, heading towards the open doors, where an old, balding man in long, black robes stood, his hands held before him, a large cross hanging upon his chest. The priest nodded and smiled as each of the worshippers filed past.

The bells, above, continued to ring, even as the crowd began to diminish, but the priest stood by the doors for some time after the last worshipper entered the church. He lifted his wrist, checking a watch, and scowled out into the night before taking one glance up to the streaks of fireworks shooting into the sky and then one more look, back into the street. Again he looked at his watch before appearing reluctant to turn and enter the church, closing the doors after him.