On the Eve of A Morn ~

Shuffled footsteps echoed in near empty hallways

as a nurse delivered meds

to

the four patients who remained

and a doctor stood

perusing orders.

All others had been discharged

in anticipation of

the

Christmas holiday.

It was rumored that at this particular hospital

a miracle occurred each Christmas Eve.

Speculation ran high among the staff

and

the four patients lay hoping.

Of the four

two were middle-aged loggers with large families.

They had become the victims of felled trees

that had missed their mark.

One was a young woman

recently paralyzed

expectant with

both hope and child

her first.

The fourth

was a teenager

with a head injury

who had words left unspoken for months.

So on this night

when a star speaks direction

and angels sing good news and peace reigns

there was great hope

hope that was no stranger to great despair.

As the evening

slowly slipped away,

anticipation hung heavily in the air.

Would there be

and

who would it be?

Quietly the word began to spread.

two words

Christmas words

first words

since his young finger

had

squeezed the trigger

that

he had hoped

would end his life

of

desperation.

despair … anticipation … hope … miracle

All on the eve

of

a Christmas morn.