and ready for bed, we stood around the piano singing Advent carols, but I had such a big lump in my throat that I couldnât sing.
Daddy put his arm around me. âWhatâs the matter with my girl?â
Two tears slipped out of my eyes, and I told him about the rehearsal and what the director had said. He told me that he and Mother would help me to look and move more like an angel. âYou can be a lovely angel, Vicky, but youâll have to work at it.â
âIâll work. I promise.â
On the ninth day of Advent we hung the Christmas bells from the beams in the living room, and then Mother worked with me on being an angel. She had me walk all over the house with a volume of the encyclopedia on my head. When I was finally able to walk all around without the encyclopedia falling, Mother showed me how to stand with my feet in ballet position, and how to hold my arms so they didnât look all elbows.
On the tenth day of December Mother got the cuddly Santa Claus doll out of the attic, and told Suzy and me we could take turns taking it to bed at night. I thought of the Pageant, and said, âSuzy can have it. May I take the Shu to Sub volume of the encyclopedia to bed with me?â
Mother understood. âYes. And now put it on your head and try walking up the front stairs and down the back stairs.â
Each time I did it I managed more steps without having to catch the encyclopedia. Suzy went to bed with the cuddly Santa Claus doll. I put the Shu to Sub volume under my pillow.
On the eleventh day the director beamed at me and said, âThat was much better, Vicky. I think youâre going to be all right after all. Now letâs try it again. Good , Vicky, GOOD.â
I was happy when I got home and Mother gave me a hug, and John said, âI donât know why anybody ever thought you couldnât do it. I knew you could.â
Suzy jumped up and down and said, âWhatâre we going to do for Advent today?â
Mother suggested, âLetâs make a Christmas chandelier.â We took the wire mesh lettuce basket and filled it with the Christmas decorations that were just a tiny bit broken but not shattered. We hung one of the prettiest, shiniest decorations on the bottom of the lettuce basket, and then Mother and John fitted the basket over the front hall light so that it glittered and sparkled with the color of all the Christmas baubles.
And I walked up and down the front hall with the encyclopedia, Shu to Sub , balanced on my head; I tried to look at the Christmas chandelier out of the corner of my eye, but when I looked up, the encyclopedia slipped and I caught it just before it landed on the floor.
On the twelfth day of December not only did it not snow, it rained. Rain poured in great torrents from the sodden skies and the gutters spouted like fountains. After school Mother discovered that weâd eaten up all the first batch of Christmas cookies, so we made more.
On the thirteenth the skies were all washed clean and the sun was out and we had a Pageant rehearsal. The director surprised me by saying, âVicky, dear, youâre doing so well that weâve decided to give you some lines for the scene where you appear with the shepherds. Do you think you can memorize them?â
I nodded happily. It may be hard for me to walk without tripping up, and to stand still without being all sharp corners and angles, but memorizing things is easy for me.
The director explained, âThese are the angel lines from an old play in the Chester Cycle. The Chester Cycle is a group of plays written in the Middle Ages in England, to be performed in the Cathedral in Chester, so we think itâs very appropriate for the Pageant. By the way, we miss your mother in the choir.â
I explained, âItâs because of the new baby, you know.â
âIsnât that nice! I wonder if sheâll be in the hospital for Christmas? Now here are your lines,
Tia Louise
Charlotte Hubbard
Sheena Binkley
Donna Jo Napoli
Carole Mortimer
Carmine Gallo
Joyce Carol Oates
Rob Spillman
Carolyn Hart
Bruce Wagner