Christmas Renewal, Scene 1: Cat Nap

A Brief Introduction

My award-winning short story, Christmas Renewal, is not a Christmas Story. It’s a renewal story intended to inspire my readers as they contemplate the possibilities that accompany a new year. So, it really is a New Year’s story. It just happens to be set during Christmas week in Dickens Station.

And, speaking of the New Year and its resolutions, one of my goals for 2024 is to enhance the free content on my blog for my readers who prefer audiobooks and narrated stories. Since it has been several years since I published Christmas Renewal, I’m kicking off the new year by reintroducing it on my blog and podcast. That way, readers can read, listen to, or read along while listening to the story of George Gandy’s inspirational evening of renewal. The plan is to record and publish My Best Friend’s Valentine and maybe even Sugarbush Easter later this year.

Listen to the Podcast (Read Along Below)

Christmas Renewal, Scene 1: Cat Nap – Donald Jay Author Podcast

My award-winning short story, Christmas Renewal, is not a Christmas tale. It’s a story of renewal offered to inspire anyone who finds themselves at a crossroads in life. So, in a sense, it’s a New Year’s story, or a “new life” story, empathizing with those of us confronted with change and reminding us of the boundless possibilities of life. May you find a sense of renewal within you as you reflect on George Gandy’s evening of rediscovery and renewal. This is the first in a four-part series featuring Christmas Renewal. Today's scene is entitled "Cat Nap."

Welcome to this episode of the Donald Jay Author Podcast titled Christmas Renewal, Scene 1: Cat Nap. I’m Donald Jay.

I wrote and published Christmas Renewal early in 2021 as a reflection on the sense of renewal and rebirth many of us feel as we begin a fresh new year. In October of 2021, Christmas Renewal won a silver Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writer’s Association.

In this short story, it’s Christmas week at Dickens Station when recently retired railroad conductor George Gandy finds himself alone and covered in snow on a bench at the railroad station with a cat asleep on his lap. A lot happens to him during one mysterious and event-filled evening at Dickens Station. With the help of some of the Christmas-themed village’s more colorful characters, George finds renewed strength to manage his pain. He realizes he is at the crossroads of the future where he must choose not only his path forward but to boldly move forward into retirement. And, while visiting a relic from his past, he rediscovers his life’s passion, which propels him into his new life.

I hope you will find a sense of renewal within you as you reflect on this story and as you move forward into whatever awaits you in the future.

Christmas Renewal – Scene 1: Cat Nap

CHRISTMAS RENEWAL

By Donald Jay

Scene 1 – Cat Nap

“Mr. Gandy? Are you okay?”

I took in a long, slow breath and opened my eyes, surprised to be peering through snowflake-lined eyelashes. A mitten-covered hand rubbed my shoulder to rouse me. I straightened on the unyielding wooden bench only to have something warm nestled on my lap restrict me. Peering down without moving my head, I noticed a cat had joined me during my nap and now slept, unaffected by the angel’s attempt to awaken me.

“Mr. Gandy? It’s me, Lissa Dodson. Are you okay?”

The deep fog in my brain lifted a degree. “Oh, yes. I’m fine.” I narrowed my eyes to glimpse her face within the amber halo of the gas streetlamp behind her. “Dodson? Emily Dodson? From the Daily Telegraph?”

“No, sir. I’m Lissa, her daughter. We met when my mother wrote a newspaper article about you a while back.”

“And you remember my name from an article?”

“No, sir. Your name is on your jacket there.” The young woman’s inflection betrayed a grin.

Why do I still have my name tag on my jacket? No one cares about my name anymore.

I slid upright on the bench seat to better support my aching back. Minuscule avalanches of snow cascaded from every crease in my jacket. “What’s this blasted cat doing in my lap? What time is it?” I blurted like an angry steam whistle.

“It’s almost seven-thirty.” The young lady set her basket on the deck and perched on the other end of the bench.

“Seven-thirty?” I snapped. Gazing around, I saw no one else on the platform and that dusk had fallen.

“I’m afraid you’ve missed the evening train to Rutland, if that’s what you were waiting for. It left a half-hour ago,” Lissa explained. “Were you supposed to be on that train?”

“Seven-thirty?” How long have I been sitting here? Wait, I recognize this platform, 1800s gas lamps. This is Dickens Station. How did I get here? “Oh.” The pang of remorse that swelled in my heart turned to contempt as I remembered. “No, nobody wanted me to get on that train.” I wished I could just go back to sleep.

“Then are you staying in town? Did your wife and granddaughter come with you this time?”

I winced at the dark-complected young woman sitting across from me through weary, moist eyes. “The women in my family are a bunch of … ungrateful, self-centered, busybodies who have no consideration for what a man like me goes through when … ugh!” I was doing it again. “I don’t need them, and they certainly don’t need me.”

She recoiled.

I dropped my head into my hand and turned away. Her expression hurt me more than any words she might choose to put me in my place. I expected her to leave me, just like Sophia did earlier that morning.

Lissa touched my hand. “Are you traveling alone, Mr. Gandy?”

I noticed her for the first time. She dressed all in white. Her raven hair lay in stark contrast to the snow-dusted faux fur collar of her tailored coat. She had the same vibrant smile, sparkle in her eyes, and confident lilt in her voice of another high-school senior I knew. Tears tried to surface. I wonder if that high-school senior will ever visit me again.

“I believe I am alone, Ms. Dodson.” The words weighed heavy in my voice, as if speaking them was admitting their reality. “My wife and Sophia, my granddaughter, and I had a fight this morning. Sophia left. I stormed out to go for a walk. I often ride the rails when I want to be alone and think. When the train stopped here, I just felt like I needed to get off, like there was something I should do or someone I should meet. I’ve been gone all day. So, no, they don’t know that I’m here, and I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t care.”

“Did you come in on the morning train?”

I bowed my head and nodded.

“So you’ve been sitting here on this platform all day?”

I nodded once more. “Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I thought if I just stayed put, whoever I was supposed to meet would find me, and then it got late, so I waited to catch the return train to Rutland. I guess I fell asleep. The next thing I know, I’m sitting on this bench covered with snow with a cat in my lap. Pretty pathetic, huh?”

My angel smirked and settled back onto the bench. “So, if you didn’t know you were coming, then you haven’t reserved a room at the Inn.”

The lights inside the train station extinguished.

“Chuck is locking up,” Lissa observed in a worried tone. “You can’t stay on this bench all night.”

“Just leave me here,” I snapped and waved her off. “I deserve to stay out here. Maybe I’ll just freeze to death. Then they won’t have to put up with me anymore.”

“Mr. Gandy, you can’t mean that.”

I marveled at the young woman’s tenacity as she stood and picked up her basket. “I’m pretty sure Mom would say I should bring you home to stay in the guest room. Besides, we can’t have Vermont Southern Railroad’s Most Decorated Conductor freezing to death on a bench at a whistle-stop, now can we?”

“VSR’s retired most decorated conductor, if you don’t mind,” I quipped. I yanked off my railroad cap and beat it against my leg a few times to dust off the snow. The Vermont Southern Railroad logo stared back at me like an old friend, an old friend who deserted me. Even the medal pinned next to the logo patch had tarnished to the color of dirt. I flung my friend to the deck at Lissa’s feet.

She set her basket down, picked up my cap, straightened it, and returned it to my balding head. Then she stared down at me with her hands on her hips.

I could not return her gaze.

“Why don’t you come with me?”

I grasped the arm of the bench to haul myself to my feet, anticipating pain. I had been sitting for so long. I stalled, looking up at Lissa as she fetched her basket once more. “Shouldn’t you call your parents first?”

“I won’t have to.” She offered a hand to help me up. “They’re right over there.”

Pivoting in my seat, I spotted where Lissa pointed. A crowd of people had gathered across the field, between the Community Church and Back Street.

“What are they doing?” I growled.

“It’s Dickens Station’s annual Christmas Eve caroling,” she announced with the proud tone of a tour guide. “As the leeries make their way down Market Street ceremoniously lighting the original gas lampposts, the carolers follow, serenading the village with traditional Christmas carols. It’s a ton of fun.” She beckoned for me to join her.

“I would get up, but …” I pointed to the furball, eyeing her from my lap. “Would you please get this d—, I mean darn cat out of my lap?”

“Come on, DC. Come on, sweet cat.” My angel scooped up the cat and ushered it into her basket. “Why don’t you ride in here with my Christmas presents?”

“What does DC stand for?” I grunted, summoning every ounce of strength to stand and straighten without wincing, or worse, groaning.

“Sounded to me like you already knew.” Lissa smiled that smile, Sophie’s smile.

I blinked back a tear.

***