Home
for Christmas
It was Christmas Eve, and Leighanne Littrell sat, warm and cozy,
in her living room, a toasty fire crackling in the fireplace next to her. A bright, sparkling, beautiful Christmas tree
stood feet away from her, illuminating the room with its colorful glow. Anyone looking into the room from outside,
where the snow whipped around fiercely with the bitter cold wind, would see a
cozy, happy scene before them. But
inside the house, all was not happy.
Leighanne was not happy. She was
worried. Very worried.
It had been hours since her husband, Brian, had been due home, and
still, there was no sign of him. He had
been on tour with the rest of the Backstreet Boys, and their last concert of
the year had been in New York, the day before.
He was supposed to have caught a flight from New York back home to
Atlanta that morning and be back by late afternoon, safe and sound at home,
ready to spend a quiet Christmas with his lovely new wife. But dark had fallen hours ago, and Brian was
not yet home. Leighanne had called the
airport for the first time hours ago, and they had told her his flight had been
delayed because of snow, but only by an hour.
So, after waiting two more hours, she had called again, and once again,
she was told the flight had been delayed again.
The last time she had called, just an hour before, she had been
told the flight had taken off and would be arriving around nine that
night. It was now after nine, and she
sat anxiously, praying her beloved husband would make it home soon. She could tell by looking out the window that
the snow was falling heavily, and she didn’t want Brian out in that weather. He was supposed to be taking a taxi home from
the airport. She just hoped he would get
a safe driver to bring him home in one piece.
Determined to get her mind off her worries, Leighanne flipped on
the television. She flipped through the
channels, hoping to catch a good movie on, maybe a Christmas one. She passed one of the local stations, then
stopped, and flipped back. Her heart
skipped a beat as she gaped at the scene on the television. The news had come on, and she saw a plane,
surrounded by flames. The picture
changed to a news reporter, who said gravely, “Once again, American Airlines,
Flight 411, New York to Atlanta, crashed not even an hour ago, while on route
to Atlanta. Causes are yet unknown, but
are predicted to be adverse weather conditions.
As of now, reports say there are no survivors. I repeat, there are said to be no
survivors.”
Leighanne began to shake uncontrollably, and her eyes erupted in
tears, as she began to sob. American
Airlines, Flight 411. That was
Brian’s flight, she was positive of it. After all, she had called the airport
inquiring about that very plane just an hour before, right before the flight
had crashed. And now, it had crashed,
leaving no survivors. No
survivors. The reporter’s horrible
words echoed through Leighanne’s mind, which spun with her whirling thoughts
and panic.
She was stricken with panic, not knowing what to do. Should she call someone? Brian’s parents, maybe, or the guys? Had they seen the news cast yet? She shook her head, knowing her hands were
trembling too much to dial a phone number anyway.
Leighanne didn’t know how long she sat there, watching the
horrific scenes of the plane crash on the news, her whole body cold and numb
with fear. But suddenly, there was a
knock at the door. Her heart nearly
leapt out of her chest as she gasped, startled by the sudden noise.
Who could that be, coming to her door on Christmas Eve? Especially after she had just found out her
husband had been killed. Didn’t they
have any respect? Leighanne wanted to
just bury herself under a blanket and sob, ignoring the person at the
door. But she did not. Sighing, she slowly climbed to her feet and
went to the door. She tugged it open
without bothering to peer through the small peephole. A gust of wind and snow blew in, sending
chills through Leighanne’s body. The
front porch was dim, and she could make out a figure, but she couldn’t tell who
it was. She quickly flipped on the porch
light and looked out, through the thick, falling snow, to see who was standing
there. Suddenly, her blue eyes widened
in shock as she recognized him. It was
Brian.
Once again, Leighanne’s heart skipped a beat, and she began to sob
again. But this time, it was out of
utter joy. “Brian!” she shrieked,
throwing her arms around him and knocking his bulky suitcases from his
arms. She pulled him close to her, not
caring how cold and wet from the snow he was.
“Wow, nice to see you too, honey,” Brian said, chuckling, but his
eyes held a happy glow that Leighanne would forever remember.
“Come in, baby, you must be freezing!” Leighanne exclaimed, coming
back to her senses. She grabbed one of
Brian’s big suitcases and hoisted it inside, Brian following her in with his
other bags. They both dropped the suitcases
in the foyer, and Brian shut and locked the front door behind him, cutting off
the draft from outside.
Once Brian had taken off his coat, Leighanne hugged him again,
burying her head into his chest and beginning to cry softly again, leaving
tearstains on his dark green sweater.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” Brian asked, cupping Leighanne’s chin in
his and lifting her face up so that her gaze met his. His eyes expressed his concern.
“The… the plane cr-“ It was
then that Leighanne became puzzled. The
news report had said over and over that there had been no survivors in the plane
crash. And Brian didn’t even seem to
know about it.
“What?” Brian asked. “What
about the plane?”
“Where have you been?” Leighanne asked, ignoring his
question.
“Well, that’s a long
story,” Brian began. “You see, the flight
I was scheduled to be on kept getting delayed cause of the snow. So I was sitting at this airport, in New
York, just waiting. After I’d waited
awhile, this old man came over and started talking to me. He was waiting for a flight too, one that was
heading to Florida, but stopped in Atlanta along the way. It was around four by then, and his flight
was supposed to take off at four-thirty.
We started talking, and I asked him where he was going. He said he was going to Florida to stay with
his son and grandchildren over Christmas.
Then he asked where I was going, and I told him I was heading home to
see my wife. He smiled, kinda sadly, and
told me that his wife had passed away two years ago. We waited a little longer, and my flight
still wasn’t coming in. It came time for
his flight to arrive, and it was still on time, so you know what he did? He gave me his ticket and said, ‘Here, you
take this and go on home to your wife.’
I insisted that I couldn’t take his ticket, but he kept insisting that
it was fine. He said to me, ‘My son and
his family will be okay if I don’t make it home until late this night. They all have each other. But your wife’s all alone, and I bet she’s
worrying about you. No one should have
to sit all alone and worry about her husband on Christmas Eve. Plus, you should spend every minute you can
with her now, while you still can. You
never know when the two of you won’t have any time left to spend together. Life can be very short.’ I knew he was thinking about his wife, and
that made me almost want to cry. He
wouldn’t back down, and so I finally gave in and switched tickets with
him. I got on his flight and made it to
Atlanta about an hour ago.”
Leighanne stared at him, tears in her eyes. “What a nice man,” she murmured.
Brian nodded. “I hope he’s
on his way to his son’s house now,” he said.
“I’m sure his family misses him.”
Leighanne suddenly gasped.
“You gave him your ticket?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Brian said. “Why?”
“Oh, Brian,” Leighanne said softly, “the plane you were supposed to be on
crashed, just awhile ago.” Brian’s eyes
widened in horror.
“There were no survivors,” Leighanne continued sadly.
“Oh, my God,” Brian said, his blue eyes filling with tears.
“Brian, if that man hadn’t have given you his ticket, you’d be
dead right now,” Leighanne said.
“And if he hadn’t, he’d still be alive,” Brian whispered.
Leighanne nodded sadly.
“But just think, honey,” she said.
“Now he can be with his wife again for Christmas.”
Brian nodded, smiling sadly, and took Leighanne in his arms. “I hope that will make him happy. I couldn’t imagine spending Christmas without
you.”
“And I couldn’t imagine spending it without you,” Leighanne
added. “It’s hard to believe I came so
close to losing you.”
Brian smiled, and glanced heavenward. Someone had been watching over him that
night. Maybe it had been God, or maybe
it had just been a kind old man who had given his ticket, and his life, so that
another family could be together that Christmas Eve.
The End
Home for Christmas Ó 2000 by Julie
