"A Delightful Tale of Holiday Magic sure to warm the cockles of your heart"
Lana Davis quickly regrets her impulse to volunteer at the
nursing home on Christmas eve. Her love of the holiday was
lost along with her husband Mark, on that tragic day five
years ago. Lana held herself responsible for his death, and
had spent the following Christmas's alone as she felt she
deserved. No, there was no joy in her heart, but still she
had not wanted to disappoint her favorite patient, Elmira
Scanlan, a woman whose bright eyes and warm heart belied
her ravaged body. Elmira thinks its high time that Lana put her sorrow aside
and opened her heart once more. Lana is having nothing of
it,
but as she prepares to depart, Elmira offers her a gift
from a stash of snow globes hidden in a drawer. Lana
reminds her that she doesn't accept or give gifts, however
when the woman insists she takes it on loan, promising to
return it the following week. It is a promise she knows
Lana is not destined to keep. Elmira lets her go with one
stipulation, not to shake the globe unless she is ready to
let magic into her life. For me the sign of a good short story is whether or not it
leaves me misty eyed. This one did. Lana gets her wish to
spend the holiday alone when her car breaks down on a
deserted, snow-covered road. Stranded, she takes refuge in
an abandoned house. As she ponders what to do next, she
remembers Elmira's gift. The scene inside depicts a woman
resembling herself, dancing in the arms of a nutcracker
soldier. As she shakes it, the world, and her sorrows, melt
away as magical possibilities open up to her. Will this
glimpse be enough to melt her frozen heart? Is she ready to
accept the magic? A delightfully charming holiday read, the perfect length to
fit those busy December schedules (and I might add at an
affordable price for the holiday budget). Enjoy Ms. Rose's
gift to her readers, I warmly recommend it. Copyright © 2002
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted December 6, 2002
|
|
Lana Davis has let the death of her husband taint her
opinion of the holidays. Living in denial of the true
spirit of Christmas, she's shut herself off to the
happiness and magic of the holidays. But when one of her
nursing home patients gives her a snowglobe and tells her
not to shake it unless she wants magic to happen, her life
changes. Now the nutcracker soldier inside the slowglobe
has become real, and teaches her a very valuable lesson.
|
