Christmas Angel:
	A shortie by Lone Wolf

	I love life. It's filled with so many beautiful things. Four months 
ago, I discovered one of the most beautiful things in the world. It was a 
small group of women living underground, away from the world, virtually 
isolated. Their only connections to the outside world were a door that led 
out the side of their hill and a tunnel that, if tripped, sent you on a wild 
ride before landing you rather harshly into their main living room. That is 
how I discovered them at first.

	I made only two visits, totaling a week and three days, but I learned 
so much from them. They taught me how to love life and everyone you meet. 
They also taught me how sex really often can improve one's mood overall. And 
they also taught me about the art of taking a relaxing bath. But it was all 
good. I grew to love these women. In fact, I love them so much I had a house 
built on their property. I now live there with my friend Samuel, who also 
met and fell in love with them (though he harshly denys it).

	It had all gone down in July. We lived there peacefully. The hustle 
and bustle of life in the city wasn't there. Our friends from the city came 
by on occasion. When our friends weren't around, you could surely find one 
or more of our neighbors hovering around. The two groups never met each 
other. I'm pretty thankful for that. Never the less, time crawled by like 
it always does. Summer passed into autumn. It was hard to keep the fallen 
leaves in one pile; Shanon and Jessica seemed to love to jump into said 
piles. I don't blame 'em. And as quickly as autumn came around, so did 
winter. And with winter comes the Christmas season.

	Samuel and I had just come back to the house with our Christmas tree. 
We had set it down on the porch and I was about to unlock the door when I 
got hit on the back with a snowball. Foolishly, I turned around and got hit 
in the face. I wiped the snow out of my eyes and looked to see who it was. 
"You look funny," I heard Ashley say. I smiled and threw a snowball at her. 
She laughed playfully and we got into a snowball fight.

	After our brief reliving of childhood memories, I helped Samuel get 
the tree into the house. Naturally, we invited Ashley in. She happily 
trotted in after us. She watched us as we set the tree up in a corner of the 
main room. It took us some time, but we got it so it was perfect. "Now," I 
said. "Where'd we put the tinsel and lights?"
	"I think they're upstairs," Samuel said.
	"And the ornaments?"
	"With the tinsel smart ass."
	I shot him a dirty look and turned to Ashley. "You wanna help me go 
find them."
	She nodded. "No," Samuel objected. "Everytime you two go to find 
something in the attic, you make love."
	I laughed and took Ashley's hand. "And how does that make it different 
for you and Jessica every time you go up there?" Samuel shut up instantly. 
I led her up to the attic.

	I had forgotten what we had packed away and where everything was, so I 
was going to have to do a little searching. "You don't have to look if you 
don't want to," I told Ashley. "I'm sure I'll find the stuff."
	"No," she replied. "It's okay. Now, just tell me what we're looking 
for and I will help."
	I smiled and gave her a kiss. "Thank you," I said. "We're looking for 
a small box with 'ornaments' in red on the lid." She smiled and kissed me 
back. We started our search. I, of course, couldn't find the god damn box. 
But Ashley had better luck.
	"I think I found it," she said, holding up a box.
	I took the box and lifted the lid. "Yeah," I said. "This is it."
	She looked into the box. "What is it?"
	I sat down on a crate and motioned for her to join me. She sat down 
next to me and I held up an ornament. It was a small, brass rocking horse. 
"I've had these since I was 15," I explained. "Every year, my parents and I 
would set up the tree, putting all these ornaments on and making it look 
extra pretty. Speaking of which, did you find a box with this one?" She 
nodded and handed me a long box. I smiled and opened it up. In it was an 
angel, holding a single candle. "This is what we will be putting on the top 
of the tree. This is our Christmas Angel."
	"It looks nice. How old is it?"
	"Probably 20 years old. I'm not sure."
	"Oh!"
	I smiled and put it into her hands. "You're holding something that 
I've looked at every Christmas since I was little. It has seen so many 
memories. This year it will see another."
	She looked at me. "And what would that be?"
	I took her hand. "Our first Christmas together." She smiled and kissed 
me. "My first Christmas with one of the lovliest women alive."

	We brought down the ornaments, lights, and tinsel. We quickly began to 
work on getting the tree set up, starting at the bottom and heading to the 
top. We were working off an old picture from my youth, setting the tree up 
just as it was in the picture. It was sometime in the middle of our job when 
Jessica, Shanon, and Diana came in. They didn't disturb us, instead making 
some hot cocoa and watching us. Soon, we were down to nothing but the angel. 
I took it in my hands and looked at it. "Ashley," I said. "C'mere."
	She came over. "Yes?"
	"I want you to help me put the angel on top of the tree."
	She smiled. "Of course. What do you want me to do?"
	I handed her the angel. "Hold this." She took it and waited. I went 
behind her and lifted her onto my shoulders. "When we get close enough, put 
that baby on top." She nodded and I made my way to the tree. We reached it 
and she reached over to put it on. But her aim was off and the angel slipped 
from her hands. It plummeted to the ground and broke into two pieces. I was 
stunned. "No."
	Ashley slid down my back and away from me. "I'm so sorry," she said.
	I kneeled and picked up the two pieces. "No. Why now?"
	"I'm so sorry."
	"It can be fixed, but not in time for Christmas." I closed my eyes. 
"Why?"
	"Please forgive me."
	I got up and turned to her. "Don't worry Ashley. It's okay. I'll be 
able to fix it. But not until after Christmas." Her eyes were welling up 
with tears. I put the angel down on a table and went over to her. I gave her 
a hug. "Please don't cry beautiful. I don't want you to worry about it." 
	"But what are we going to do about the top of the tree?"
	"Leave that to me. I'll figure something out."

	The girls slept over that night. Why not, they were like the landlords 
to the place. Jessica and Shanon slept with Samuel in his private "suite" 
while Diana and Ashley bunked with me. That night, however, Ashley was a 
little reluctant to climb into bed with me. "I just feel guilty about the 
angel," she kept saying. "It must have meant a hell of a lot to you and I 
snapped it in two."
	"Don't worry Ashley," I told her. "That thing's been busted in two 
hundreds of times. We've repaired it every time. Now, come to bed."
	"But you're angry at me!"
	"Do I sound angry?"
	"Well, no, but-"
	"Ashley, I could never be angry at you. Don't forget, I love you." She 
looked at me doubtfully. I patted the bed. "C'mere." She reluctantly sat 
down. I put my hands on her shoulders and kissed her neck. "If I were angry 
at you, would I even be talking to you?"
	"No, you wouldn't."
	"But am I?"
	"You are."
	"So tell me what that means."
	"You're not angry with me?" I kissed her. She turned and hugged me. "I 
love you Lone Wolf." She crawled into bed and fell asleep.

	We spent the next week decorating the house. It was soon two weeks 
until Christmas. Time to do some Christmas shopping. Samuel took his turn 
first, buying some really skimpy stuff for Jessica and Shanon (go figure) 
and some silk robes for Diana and Ashley. Oddly enough, I had the exact same 
thing planned, only the other way around. That meant I'd have to come up 
with some special stuff to keep the peace. So anyway, I took a walk into 
town. I knew what I was looking for.

	My first stop was in a book store. Casually, I walked up to the 
counter. The clerk that was there came over to me. "Can I help you?" he 
asked.
	"Yeah, I'm looking for a particular novel."
	"And that would be?"
	"Um....." I tried to remember the title. " 'Betrayl' by Dennis 
Williams."
	The clerk nodded and pulled out a pale, yellow book with 'Betrayl' 
written across it in red letters. "Is this the one?"
	"Yeah. How much?"
	"Twenty bucks."
	I produced the cash. "Can you get it gift wrapped as well?"
	"For an extra buck or two I can." I coughed up the extra cash. "Who's 
name should I put on the label?"
	"Shanon." He wrote it on the tag and handed me the gift. "Merry 
Christmas sir," I said as I left the shop.

	Jessica was a little harder to shop for. I mean REALLY hard to shop 
for. All I knew that she liked was neglige, lengerie, and Samuel. I 
certainly wasn't gonna get her any clothing and she already had Sammy, so I 
had to try my luck in the next shop I entered. I looked around and felt 
faint. I had walked right into a perfume shop! I started to turn when an 
annoying little fellow stepped up to me. "Can I help you?" he asked, 
wringing his hands greedily.
	"Uh, yeah. I was looking for something for a lady friend of mine."
	"Oh? Anything in particular?"
	"Yeah, anything that I can give to a skunkette without insulting her."
	"Okay. Anything else that might help me find something?"
	"Yeah, she enjoys sex nearly all the time." The thing (that's all that 
I can call it!) smiled and removed a bottle from the shelf. He spritzed some 
onto my hand and urged me to take a sniff. I made sure there was nobody 
around that I knew and took a sniff. "This is perfect! How much?" He wrote 
something down on a piece of paper and gave it to me. Three hundred dollars 
later, I had Jessica's gift wrapped and ready.

	Diana was the easiest to buy for, in my opinion. I just walked into 
the nearest jewler and bought and had wrapped a beautiful gold necklace 
with emeralds set into the chain and a big Sapphire set into it. I had to 
go home after that, however, because I was broke. I had no gift for Ashley. 
That was very disappointing for me. And it was almost as if they read it 
right off of me as I walked in the door.

	I had just set the gifts down under the tree when Ashley snuck up on 
me. Well, of course I didn't know at that point, but I quickly found out as 
soon as she goosed me. Naturally, I jumped and spun around, grabbing her by 
the arms. She smiled and kissed me. "So nice to see you too!" she cooed.
	I shook my head. "Please don't do that," I said. "I don't like to be 
surprised like that."
	"All right, I promise." She looked over at the gifts. "Who are those 
for?"
	I smiled weakly. "Those three are for Diana, Jessica, and Shanon."
	"Oh? And where's mine?" She had a playful tone in her voice.
	"I'm still looking for it."
	"Oh, so you want to get me the perfect gift then."
	"Yes, lovely. I want to do that."
	"Good." She played with the buttons on my shirt. "I love you, you know 
that?"
	I smiled and hugged her. "I love you too." She sighed and sat down on 
the couch. I sat on the opposite end. She stretched a bit and rested her 
head on my lap. I stroked her head and she soon fell asleep. I let her rest 
on the couch and went over to the busted angel that still sat where I had 
left it a week ago. I sat down and took a good look at the damage. It was 
the same fracture that it seemed to get every third Christmas. It was easily 
solved by applying some wood glue. But I realized that we had no wood glue. 
I couldn't get any until after Christmas. "This is gonna break her heart," I 
told myself, putting the two pieces back down.

	It was like that for the next three days. I'd go out, scower some part 
of town for the perfect gift, find none, and return home demoralized. Ashley 
would be there, ask the same question, get the same answer, and make me feel 
a little better. But I was rapidly losing time. It would soon be Christmas 
Day. I would have no gift for her. That was all that was going through my 
mind on the fourth day. I was feeling very down and was walking through the 
old part of town when I came to this little shop. It looked like something 
out of the 18th century. Curiously, I went over to the window and looked 
about. The window was decorated for Christmas, that was for sure. It had 
several glass ornaments, probably from Russia, hanging about. "Oh, why the 
hell not," I told myself as I pushed the door open.

	It was like being in my grandparent's house when I was young. Hundreds 
upon thousands of relics lined the walls, tables, and cabinets. Glass 
ornaments, wooden chairs, umbrella stands, you name it, they had it. I kept 
looking around as I approached the storekeeper. The storekeep was a relic 
himself; the old bear had maybe a few years left in him. He looked me over 
as I approached. "Can I help you young'n?" he asked, his voice heavy with a 
Russian accent.
	"No," I responded. "I'm just looking around."
	"Really? You look like you could use some help."
	"It's not that. It's just...I've never seen so many things like 
this...these artifacts."
	He chuckled. "These? Nah. I make them in the back. Anything you see 
that you like?"
	I looked at the shelves behind him and pointed to a little wooden box. 
"Can I take a look at that?" He nodded and took it down for me to look at. 
It was a light oak box. I found out, after opening it, that it had a red 
velvet inside. "How much?" I asked.
	"300 Ruples."
	"Um....what's that in dollars again?"
	He chuckled. "95 dollars." I smiled and started to fish the money out 
of my pocket. As I did, I accidentally laid my eyes on the one thing I was 
not expecting. I went over and took a look at it. "Yes," I said. "This is 
what I'm looking for. It's perfect!"
	The shopkeep came over and took it. "It's also expensive. $300."
	"I don't care what it costs," I said, taking out the money. "I'll take 
it along with the box." I handed him the money. He gave me both items. "Now, 
I ask you of one more thing."
	"Go ahead. Ask."
	"Does this come with a small gown I can add onto it?" The shopkeeper 
handed me a small piece of fabric. "Thank you sir. You've really made my 
Christmas." I started to the door.
	"Merry Christmas," the storekeeper called as I left. Ashley's gift 
just had to be wrapped to call it ready.

	They didn't notice the package was under the tree. That was really 
good, considering that I acted all down when I got home. Ashley went through 
the little routine we had for the last few days. As she rested her head on 
my lap, she saw the package. "That wasn't there before," she said, pointing 
at it.
	"I know," I replied.
	"Is that my gift?"
	"Well, it isn't the Pope's!"
	"It looks so....big. I wonder what it is."
	I leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You've got a little more than a 
week until you can open it. I trust you can wait that long."
	"But I want to open it now!"
	I chuckled. "Be patient, you will get to open it as soon as possible."
	"Well, can you at least give me a hint about what it is?"
	"Nope." That wasn't smart. She got up and started for my bedroom as if 
she were upset. I got up and followed her. That was foolish! "Ashley, I'm 
sorry," I said as I entered the room. She wasn't there. Suddenly, the door 
slammed shut. I spun around. And there was Ashley, totally nude, and a 
mischevious grin on her face. "NOW will you tell me what it is?" I was in 
shock. Yes, I had seen her perfect breasts and slim, naked body before, but 
this was just wrong. Knowing what she would do next, I shook my head. She 
walked up to me in the sexy way she does and grabbed my belt buckle. My 
pants fell to the ground. "Now?" she cooed. I responded negatively. That 
cost me my shirt. My next "no" cost me my underpants, and the one after that 
landed me in bed with her.

	I was assaulted like that throughout the next week. Ashley was pulling 
every trick in the book to try to get me to tell her what it was. I refused 
to tell her, which really must have ticked her off. She refused to speak to 
me in the last few days until Christmas. Diana approached me about the 
situation the day before Christmas. "Lone Wolf," she said. "Can I ask you a 
question?"
	I was busy working on the busted angel, but put the materials down and 
turned to her. "Absolutely. What's up?"
	"Ashley's been acting a little wierd lately."
	"Oh? How so?"
	"Well, she's constantly grumpy, she doesn't wanna come up here, and 
everytime I mention you, she bursts into tears and heads into the bedroom. 
What's up with that?"
	I lowered my head a little. "She's been trying to get me to tell her 
what the gift I bought her is. I haven't said anything about it to her, or 
anyone else. She's probably pissed off at me."
	"Oh. Can you tell me what the gift is?"
	"No. I don't want anyone to know until tomorrow morning."
	"I understand." She started to turn away.
	"Can I ask you a favor Diana?"
	She looked at me. "Sure sugah. What can I do for ya?"
	"Can you give Ashley a message for me?" She nodded. I handed her a 
small, folded up piece of paper. Diana smiled and left.

	I was awoken in the middle of the night by someone curling up next to 
me. I fumbled with the light, put my glasses on, and found Ashley curled up 
next to me. "Hello beautiful," I mumbled. "What brings you here this early 
in the morning?"
	She smiled and rested her head on my shoulder. "I was reading your 
note a few minutes ago and decided to come up here."
	"So you forgive me for being such an ass?"
	"Only if you forgive me for what I've done."
	I raised a curious brow. "What did you do wrong?"
	"I was acting like such a bitch about the gift. I shouldn't have tried 
to weasle the surprise out of you like that. I'm sorry."
	I gave her a kiss. "It's all right. I won't hold that against you." 
Much.
	"You are so fuckin' sweet! I don't deserve all this!"
	"Ah, but you do. You deserve my love more than anyone else on this 
planet. Now, get some sleep, we've got a busy day tomorrow."

	I always love Christmas morning. No matter how old you are, your 
internal clock automatically goes off at 4:25:32 (yes, I have timed it) in 
the morning on December 25th. The same was for Ashley. "Lone Wolf," she 
said. "You awake."
	"Yeah," I replied. "Are you?"
	She giggled. "Funny smart guy. What time is it?"
	"Still early. Probably around 4:26."
	"Oh. Wanna get more sleep?"
	"Nah. I'm not gonna get back to sleep any time soon. Wanna go do 
something?"
	"Lone Wolf! I'm surprised at you. You wanna make love at four in the 
morning, without even considering that we might wake the others up?" She 
kissed me. "Screw them, let's go."
	"That's not what I meant."
	She sighed. "Why not?"
	"Because we've got all day to do it. Now, wanna get up and go out on 
the porch?"
	"Yeah. That'd be nice." She got up. It was then I realized she was in 
the nude. She took a pair of my pants, a shirt, and a coat and put them on. 
I threw a coat on and we went outside. We both quickly noticed that the 
field was blanketed with fresh snow. "This is nice," she said, leaning 
against me. "I wish it could last forever."
	"It doesn't have to end."
	"Yes it does. Once spring rolls around, we have to part with the 
snow."
	"Well, that is true, but we can keep the memories." She smiled and 
wrapped her arms around my chest. I smiled and cradled her head in my arms. 
"I love you."
	She smiled. "I love you too."

	We stayed until daybreak. Then we went back inside to warm up. I put 
on a pot of coffee, which quickly aroused Samuel and got him to venture out 
of his "cave." We all had a little kickstart before Ashley went down to 
pick up the others. They arrived soon after and we all sat down by the tree. 
It would be a quick thing to do since there were only eight presents under 
it (Sammy and I never got each other a gift. Friendship will do, thank you 
very much). We decided to go by each girl, letting her open each of her 
presents. Shanon went first. She loved the set of white lengerae Samuel got 
for her and she absolutely adored my book. "Thank you," she told me. "I've 
been looking for this one for so long!" Jessica was next. She enjoyed my 
bottle of perfume and she nearly mowed Samuel over with affection for the 
set of black neglige he got her. Diana was next. Sammy earned a kiss from 
her for the robe he got her and I got her tongue down my throat for the 
necklace. Finally, we came to Ashley. She opened Sammy gift and thanked him 
for it. But as she reached for my gift, I snatched it away. "What are you 
doing that for?" she asked.
	"I just want you to know that when I found this, I immediately thought 
of you. Ashley, this is a symbol for how much I love you." I handed her the 
box. She opened it and found the wood box.
	"Wow. This is....nice."
	I smiled. "Try opening it." She shrugged and did. She saw what was 
inside and nearly had a heart attack. After recovering from her shock, she 
picked up the delicate figurine. She examined it's white lace gown, it's 
tiny, gold foil wings, and it's lone, white candle. She marveled at the 
details of the face.
	"This....this is just like the one I broke."
	"It's the same thing. When I found it, only one thing came to my 
mind." I pointed at the busted angel on the table. "That angel is the sole 
embodiment of my family, my blood family. We always used to put that up as 
a family. But they're not here. I don't have my blood family." I took her 
hand. "But you, you and Diana and Shanon and Jessica, you are my family now. 
I thought that maybe we should have a Christmas Angel of our own. I want to 
start a new tradition with my new family. And for that, I need a new 
Christmas Angel."
	She forced back a few tears and hugged me. "This is one of the nicest, 
sweetest, kindest gifts I've ever recieved. Thank you Lone Wolf." The tears 
came streaming forth. I rubbed her back. She let out a few more tears before 
sitting back up and looking at the box. She saw the small gown sitting 
there. She picked it up and looked at it. "What is this for?"
	I smiled and took it from her. "Well, we do want to remember this day 
forever." I grabbed a pen, wrote the date on the gown, and signed my name. I 
handed the pen and gown to Ashley. "Sign your name." She smiled and did so. 
The gown went around the room until it got back to me. I put the gown on the 
angel and handed it to Ashley. "Let's get this thing up on the tree." She 
nodded and I hoisted her onto my shoulders. We slowly made our way over to 
the tree. And with one felt swoop, she put the Angel on the tree. It didn't 
fall off. She slid down my back and into my arms. "It's the beginning of my 
new life," I said. "My life living here."

	That angel watched over us as we enjoyed our Christmas Day. It watched 
as we celebrated the new year. And it watched as we packed it away until 
next year. It watched over us for all that time, collecting the memories we 
were making. Everytime I'm up in the attic, I stumble across it and remember 
the good time we had that year. It was a Christmas I would never forget.

End

This story was inspired by the songs "Blue Lamp" and "Desert Angel," both 
written by Stevie Nicks.
It is dedicated to all of my friends. May your days always be great.

Lone Wolf, Ashley, Diana, Jessica, Shanon, and Samuel are © Me

Pe@cE until next story. Have a great day.