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Post by Wolf on Dec 14, 2017 12:32:02 GMT -5
Wolf stood in the doorway of the old church, frantically blowing on his hands and wondering whether he should brave the biting winds and head back to the Lodging House, or whether to simply duck inside the church and ride out the storm. He finally chose the latter after a stray gust threatened to tear his hat from his head, and he pushed open the heavy wooden door. It closed behind him with a muffled yet resounding and satisfying 'bang', and he leant upon it for a moment while he got his breath back.
As he stood there, he found his eyes wandering around the building, taking in the rows of pews, the lectern and the gallery above, which had been tastefully decorated with fronds of holly and candles of various sizes for Christmas. There was a modest but brightly decorated tree in one corner and in the other, set out on a wooden pedestal, was a porcelain Nativity scene, as yet lacking the tiny figure of the baby Jesus.
For some reason, he found himself moving to examine the scene in closer detail, and he was soon so engrossed in it that he completely failed to hear when the inner door of the church opened to admit someone who started humming to themselves as they moved between the pews...
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Post by Hoot on Dec 14, 2017 13:02:43 GMT -5
Hoot didn’t come to the church very often. Her parents wouldn’t be too pleased... but as life had its way, she had not been able to come as often as she would have liked. But she had been coming a little more often than she had been. Her friend Critter often helped at this church and her work ther had encouraged Hoot to start coming back to church as well.
With Christmas just around the corner, she couldn’t help but feel drawn to the church again. Something about the holiday made her want to be there. She entered in as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb anyone who might already be inside. A bright smile lit up her face as she glanced up at all the Christmas decorations. As she made her way down to the front of the church, she found herself softly humming Christmas carols her mother had taught her.
She probably should have been paying a little more attention to in front of her instead of around at th decorations. She didn’t notice the young man standing in the center aisle right in front of her.
“Oof!”
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Post by Wolf on Dec 17, 2017 16:10:45 GMT -5
Wolf nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt someone bump into the back of him, and he whirled round with an half shocked, half angry cry of 'Hey! Watch it!" on his lips. However, when he saw that it was an equally shocked-looking young lady that now stood behind him, his anger turned to embarrassment at his reaction; embarrassment that he completely failed to hide behind an attempt at a masculine glare.
"Don't ya know it's rude to sneak up on people?" he asked, insincerely, trying to pretend his face wasn't a burnt red colour which reached to the tip of his ears.
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Post by Hoot on Dec 17, 2017 16:16:16 GMT -5
”Hey! Watch it!”
Hoot was startled by the young man’s angry cry, but she did her best not to show it and hold her ground. “Shhhhh!” she hissed. “This is a church...” then she softly added, “I’m sorry for bumping you.”
”Don’t ya know it’s rude to sneak up on people?”
She raised an eyebrow, noting he didn’t seem to mean what he said, but still it was her way to answer truthfully and somewhat bluntly. “I didn’t see you there. I was looking at the decorations.” She sighed softly but happily as she gazed around the church again. It looked so lovely this time of year. It was nice and quiet too. Not something a newsie could get very often. She could almost drift to sleep in this nice cozy place with the sweet smell of pine and cinnamon, but she knew better than to fall asleep here. Besides, she probably wouldn’t get that much sleep anyway.
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Post by Wolf on Dec 17, 2017 17:32:36 GMT -5
"Shhhhh! This is a church!"
Wolf couldn't help but glance upwards at the ceiling as the girl said this, as if he expected the good Lord to be just waiting to smite him down for his impropriety. It also made him uncomfortably aware that he was still wearing his cap, which he tore from his head as if it was on fire. He almost forgot that the girl was still there until she spoke again.
"I'm sorry for bumping you."
"Don't ya know it's rude to sneak up on people?" he asked, insincerely, trying to hide his embarrassment. For some reason, the eyebrow she raised as she replied made him rather uncomfortable.
"I didn’t see you there. I was looking at the decorations.”
He didn't quite know how to react to this, so he settled on mumbling "Well, try to look where you are going next time", and then he turned to look at the decorations with her.
"Me ma used to bring me here every year when I was a kid," he said softly. "She was a really religious type."
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Post by Hoot on Dec 17, 2017 17:39:40 GMT -5
”Well, try to look where you are going next time.”
Hoot cracked a small smile. He may not be the most respectful person she had met, but he wasn’t the rudest either. “I’ll do my best,” she promised softly.
”Me am used to bring me here every year when I was a kid. She was a really religious type.”
Her smile was more sad now at the mention of his mom. “Ah... my parents used to take me to church every Sunday...” she almost mentioned her old borough, but she caught herself in time. New Jersey was a better place for her now. She lived her for years and it was just as much of a home to her as New York had been.
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