|| From the very moment I walked into the store on Christmas Eve, I knew something was terribly different. And it wasn't the Christmas decor. I slowly walked and looked around to find Dory talking to a man whom seemed to be much taller than her. They seemed to be in a argument...I went to walk over yet Jeremy interrupted me.
"Merry Christmas Eve, are you looking or b--oh hey. Are you feeling better?" I tilted my head and stared at him.
"Yeah...Thanks for asking...Hey um, you know Dory pretty well right?"
"Hmmhm. We've been good friends for about...five years now. In January, six years. Don't worry I got you covered. I collected a entire basket of her favorite bath bombs and soaps from here--"
"Thank you and I will look into that but... I'm more concerned with what's going on over there..." I then pointed to Dory and the man. I was careful to not let them notice us, and lucky for me they didn't.
"Oh yeah..." he then began to chew on his bottom lip. I had never seen Jeremy be concerned for Dory ever. Not to mention I hadn't seen him be concerned for anything ever. He then turned to me and sighed. "That's her dad." my eyes widened a little as I took a step towards him.
"What do you mean? She told me her dad was dead..." Jeremy thought for a few moments. His eyes wandered to the celling before he nodded.
"Oh...right. She didn't clarify. He's dead, to her."
I was baffled. Did Dory really hate her father that much? I looked towards them again. I could see Dory get more and more upset as she started to back away and shout at him. Then, something very unexpected happened.
He put his hand on her collar bone and as she quickly backed away, I could see her necklace break, the necklace and one single charm on it falling to the floor. I watched her from afar as her jaw dropped. I had never realized she was wearing a necklace before but now that it was broken it seemed almost as if a piece of her was gone. She picked up the necklace and quickly walked away. She shoved right past me without noticing me. I gasped and followed her.
"Dory! Are you alright?" I asked as she kept fast walking. She didn't respond. I was horrified to see she looked like she was about to cry. She opened up the door to walk out and as she did so she quickly began to walk down the street. I followed her and continued to try again to get her attention. "Dory stop!" I then walked in front of her and stopped her. "What's wrong, what happened. Just talk to me..." she shook her head and bit her lip.
"I-I-I don't want to talk right now. Please, just let me go home so I can rest so this horrible day can end..." she sniffled. She was moments away from crying and I couldn't stand that.
"Oh Dory...don't cry, please don't cry."
"I'm not crying I'm...sulking." she step by me yet I stepped with her. She tried to go the other way, I caught her again. As she tried to go back and forth I sighed.
"Okay princess just come here." I then wrapped my arms around her as she pressed the top of her head against my shoulder. I slowly began to pet her hair as she spoke.
"That...That was my dad."
"I know. Jeremy told me."
"And he...he broke my necklace..." she pulled away and showed me the necklace in her hand. It was a plan necklace for the most part, mostly held together by a thick string. It only had one charm on it and it stuck out to me. The charm was a goldfish. I couldn't help but smile a little as I looked at it. I looked to her and put her hand on her shoulder.
"Dory just come with me to my place. I grew up with two sisters and I'm pretty sure I can fix this. That and I have plenty other Disney movies to watch AND you can drink all the chocolate milk your little heart desires." she sniffled again and shook her head.
"...You're out of chocolate milk. I had it all the last time I came over, don't give me those lies!" I chuckled and shook my head.
"No Dory. I bought more last night." she stayed silent for a few moments, then spoke again.
"...Do you have the Rudolph movie?"
"I have the entire collection of classic Christmas shorts. They make me happy and they're nice to have...And I have a heating system and I have blankets, unlike this cold street." I laughed as I began to shiver. It was a beautiful day outside but it was too cold to do anything. Snow was pilling up by the block and everywhere you went someone was smiling. This time of year was always bittersweet. Sweet, because December is usually my favorite month. Bitter, because I wasn't a fan of cold weather.
"Oh, and I don't have to visit my family and go out of town until the twenty seventh. I say we celebrate Christmas Eve together..." as a tear rolled down her cheek she wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me tightly.
"Why aren't more people like you?" I chuckled a little and hugged her back.
... forty minutes later
|| I watched her closely and grinned as she laid down and looked up at me. We had made a makeshift bed on the floor, sheets and pillows all together. I had even taken the sheets and pillows from my bed just so she could be more comfortable. I was drinking eggnog and trying to fix her necklace (so far I had been successful) yet she insisted on watching Frosty the snowman and drinking chocolate milk.
"Hey Jesse?" I looked at her and brushed some hair behind her ear.
"Mhm?"
"Are you almost done?" I held up the new string with the charm now attached to it and smiled at her.
"I am. Come here and I'll put it on you." she put down her drink and quickly sat in front of me. I chuckled as she held up her hair. I carefully placed the necklace onto her and tied it carefully, making sure none of her hair would get caught in the knot. As I finished off the knot and as the necklace was fixed, she gasped and looked down at it. She wrapped her fist around the charm and sighed happily.
I looked over at her and watched her reaction. She seemed to have a deep emotional attachment to it, and I wanted to know why. The necklace and charm seemed rusted and barely worth anything. Yet to her it seemed to be the most valuable thing in the entire world... It made me curious.
"My mother gave me this necklace before she left..." my eyes widened in the slightest. I studied her face closely.
"Oh?"
"Mhm. She left after my father got too intolerable. When I was a baby I had only one stuffed animal... It was a goldfish." she chuckled as I smiled. "Apparently it was all I needed. I never wanted any other stuffed animal...just that one. I'm pretty sure I named it Goldy. And one day...My dad tore it up." my eyes widened yet she looked at me and smiled.
"But it's okay. I was afraid that Goldy had died at the time but...My mom always told me that his soul just transferred into this little guy...She's a big fan of keeping dreams alive." I nodded slowly.
"Have you ever considered finding her and reuniting with her? I mean...it's Christmas time. If anything you should go to her." she shook her head and sighed.
"I don't know where she is. Not to mention, I don't know where to look. She does send me a Christmas card every year though...But anyways.." she sighed and laid back down. "More Christmas less sadness!" she exclaimed before pressing play on yet another Christmas special. I smiled and then thought to myself.
If her mother sends her a Christmas card every year, it means she still cares about her.
And, it means that her mother has a address...
