My Christmas Eve Adventure, Finale

Footsteps. I jerked awake. What was that? Did I just hear footsteps or was I dreaming?? I froze and listened intently. I heard another soft padding sound, then silence. My ears strained, listening with all their might. Another quiet footstep. Then another. "Click clack." "Click clack." OH. MY. GOSH. Somebody was OUT THERE! I was terrified.

Willing myself to move, I grabbed my bat and rolled over onto the floor, hiding behind the bed. I heard more footsteps, coming closer. "OH GOD OH GOD OH DEAR GOD PLEASE HELP ME," I prayed. What was it?? Who could be coming?? My imagination raced. Was it a ghost, like Jacob Marley in “A Christmas Carol” that I’d just seen on tv?? No, it couldn’t be. I was old enough to know that ghosts weren’t real.

Was it an Ax- Murderer, like from one of those horror movies that I wasn’t allowed to watch?? The footsteps came closer, along with a circular light. My heart pounded and I felt like I would vomit. It was probably an Ax-Murderer! Now I would die here in Marshall Fields! And with a stolen bat that would land me in Purgatory!!

This Great Adventure of mine was going wrong. So very wrong! I did not want to die! I had too much to live for and too many unfulfilled dreams! Now I would never get to marry David Cassidy or own a horse or become an Oscar-winning actress! Now I would die a horrible, bloody death at age ten, my body dismembered and spread out all around the store. This would probably make the newspapers and my fifth grade class would find out, and even from the grave I’d be incredibly embarrassed!

“Kelly? Is there a Kelly in here?” called a voice. OH DEAR GOD he knows my name!! The Ax-Murderer knows my name!! Has he been stalking me??!! Closer came the footsteps and light, threatening to expose my hiding place. I peeked under the bed and saw big black shoes slowly walking toward me.

My mind raced in a panic. WHAT TO DO?? WHAT TO DO???? Think fast! Think fast! By this point, my brain was so full of terror that there was no room for any thought processes. So I reacted purely by instinct, my adrenaline soaring. I jumped up, and viciously waving my bat, let out an ear-piercing, blood-curdling scream that would have made Nancy Drew proud! I yelled my lungs out to the Ax-Murderer!!

Only it wasn’t an Ax-Murderer. It was a kindly old security guard named Mickey, who had worked for Marshall Fields for 32 years, and I had nearly given him a heart attack. He told that I made this the most eventful Christmas Eve he had ever worked, as we sat in his office drinking hot chocolate and waiting for my parents to come and pick me up.

Apparently, a few hours before, my mother had called Kerry when I didn’t come home at the time expected. Kerry covered for me, saying that I probably went to visit another friend. My mother called all my friends that she knew. Becoming alarmed, my father called Kerry, who broke down and told him the truth. Then the local police were called….who notified the Chicago police…..who spoke to Marshall Fields security….which sent Mickey on the hunt to find me. I guessed I would be in big trouble, considering all the fuss made and the involvement of two different police departments. But in the meantime, I enjoyed my visit with Mickey, who seemed very amused and kept saying he couldn’t wait to tell his grandchildren all about his evening.

So that was the story of Christmas Eve when I was ten, when I had My Great Adventure. It didn’t turn out anything like I’d dreamed it would. By the time I arrived back in Palatine with my parents, it was nearly dawn. They were not as impressed with my resourcefulness as I’d hoped. I was grounded for the rest of the entire Winter Break. Christmas Day was very tense, to say the least. And my best friend was also punished for her role in my scheme.

Now nearly thirty years have gone by. I have since become an adult, married with children of my own. Marshall Fields has since become Macy’s. My Christmas Eves have since been more tranquil.

I had lunch in the Walnut Room a few weeks ago with some friends, enjoying a cup of cocoa in close view of The Tree. My mind drifted back to that memorable night when I was ten, as I looked up into its branches. I remembered. The Tree seemed to twinkle down at me as if we shared a secret ….and I felt like it remembered, too.