A Christmas Mystery

A Christmas Mystery
By Angela M. Sherman

It was Christmas Eve, a day I did not expect to get many clients. I was preparing for the New Year's rush. No one had come into my office the two weeks prior to that night. The only visitors I expected to have were the people who were supposed to change the sign on my building. The person who leased the small set of offices before me was a detective who had decided to retire to Florida. I expected that a few people would come in seeking his services, and boy would I they be surprised to find that the building now held an accounting practice.

That day I had a very large amount of people seeking out a private eye. Some cases were very weird from missing pets to people who wanted me to do some real James Bond sleuthing. I only had one guy come in for accounting services, but after he mentioned the Cayman islands I knew what he wanted was not entirely on the level so I firmly turned him down.

Just as I was about to close down a young woman came in. I had been looking down at a stack of papers and did not notice her come in. Suddenly I hear "I need you to find my son." That's when I looked up and realized that someone was sitting in the chair across from mine. My eyes stared at a teenager. I immediately felt sorry for her. She was still a baby with a baby. I told her calmly that I was not a detective but instead an accountant. She insisted that I needed to find her son.

"He's supposed to be with his father but I just know that he supposed to be around here somewhere. Here's a picture of him when he was born" She handed me a folded picture.I just knew she was probably the nuttiest of all the people who had come in that day. What was it about Christmas Eve that brought out the nut jobs? I insisted that I could not help her, then she said the thing that really creeped me out. "You can help me more than you think"

I had already went back to looking at my work when she said this. My head jerked up and I was surprised to see that she was gone. I realized that she had left her picture. I grabbed it and ran outside. She was nowhere to be found. I then looked down at the picture and thought that some kids must have just been playing a prank. The picture was of the nativity, a scene I had seen countless of times. Shoving the picture in my pocket. I decided that my day had been long enough and that was going to close up.



I went to the mall and heard all the people hustling and bustling. There were countless signs flashing Happy Holidays and Holiday music played rather loudly. For some reason I was drawn back to the picture in my pocket. Though it looked brand new when I had first glanced at it I saw that the picture looked somewhat faded now. I shoved it back in my pocket as I went and finished my last minute shopping.

I knew that I was going to see my family that night so I decided to rent a movie that me and my niece could enjoy together. I saw countless titles about Rudolph, Frosty and even Hello Kitty. I then turned my gaze to the bottom of the shelf and I saw a very small section of movies about the nativity. This brought my mind back to the picture in my pocket. It seemed to be more faded than before. I was puzzled and thought that maybe I was having eye problems. I grabbed the hello kitty movie and one about, still bothered by the picture.

This went on until finally I arrived at my sister's house. I was practically tackled by my niece who was insisting that I tell her what I had got her for Christmas. My niece was just like everyone else I had seen while running errands they were to busy being caught up in the material spirit of Christmas and were not giving thought to the real reason for the season. I was unable to stay long after I checked the picture again and saw that it was still fading almost right before my eyes.

I went back to my apartment and put in the movie about the nativity. Something had to be wrong with my tv because the sound was very low and you could barely make out a picture. I pulled out the picture and just stared at it. It was still fading. Suddenly the movie cut off completely. i looked down at the picture and it was completely blank. I asked myself over and over again what it all meant.

This had to be more than just some kid pulling a prank or a mother who had lost her son. Who was this young woman? What had happened to the picture? What did she mean by "you can help me more than you think"?

Finally it hit me! The mother in the picture was the young woman who had stood in my office. The baby was Jesus. The true meaning of Christmas was lost and she wanted me to find it. The Christmas Mystery was solved. Or was it?

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This is not a true story just one God gave to me a couple of years ago to tell my church. It poses a question about this time of the year that is supposed to be Wonderful and Joyous, but the most wonderful part is being shut out. I want people to read this and to make an honest effort to put more Christ into Christmas. Let's Keep The Christ In Christmas!