It was the month of December , and I had finally convinced my mother to drive to a warmer town. The air here in my town had become so brutely cold and since we had been kicked out of our apartment I wasn't looking forward to another long month in this chilly weather. Besides the big auction was going to be taking place in Utoland and mom had promised me that we could go. I knew that we didn't have any money to purchase any of the items that would be sold , but it would be such a great Christmas present to even be able to lay my eyes upon such prize items. A warm winter breeze during the night never sounded bad either.
Forgive me for not introducing myself, my name is Condor Joe, CJ for short. No, I am not the great warrior that fought the evil forces of Galactor. I was given this name because my mother had always admired the group of young warriors, and thought it was a way to pay tribute to them. Maybe now I will get my chance to at least look upon the items that they had once carried into battle. You see, it has been about two or three decades since the final battles, and now that all of them have since passed away I'm afraid that I won't get another chance to view an auction.
I slipped out of the side door of our dilapidated SUV and ambled over to the alley a few feet away. Slowly I strolled down it, till I found a safe place to relieve myself. Just as I felt relief, a cat flew out from behind my chosen spot. Poor cat, although I could not help, but to laugh. Mom was up, and waited till I got in, to go to the auction.
Making our way through the people there, almost proved to be disastrous. I could tell by the look in my mothers eye that she felt it was almost pointless, considering that we could never afford anything there, still she let me continue to struggle with the increasing crowd. I did however notice a well dressed man seemed to keep his eye on me, ever since we pulled up to the outer parking area. Just as I was about to pick up my first item, he approached.
" Son, I can't help but to notice the look in your eyes as you view every item. Is there something that I can help you look for?"
I felt a little ashamed about the worn close and dirty face that I must of had, so I pulled back from his fine suit and clean hand.
" It's okay boy, I don't have any intention of doing you no harm. Please forgive me, my name is Jerry."
The man that stood before me, seemed to have an honest face and kind eyes. So I finally spoke. " Howdy sir, my name is CJ. It's a pleasure to meet you."
The two of us exchanged a handshake,and he spoke up again. " Are you hungry ? If you are, you can go get your momma, and the two of you could join me for dinner."
I thought about trying to tell him that I wasn't, but as I opened my mouth, my stomach growled extremely loud. " I guess a bite to eat couldn't hurt. I'm just afraid that I will miss out on my only chance to view such treasured items."
Jerrys eyes filled with a gleam as he spoke " Oh I can see what you mean, but I promise you that you won't miss a thing by having dinner with me. Now if your willing to accept, then I think you should go get your momma."
I rushed off through the crowd to the spot that my mom said she would wait for me. When I approached her, she noticed the flushed look upon my face from trying to make my way through the crowd. " CJ, are you okay, whats the matter with you? You look flushed."
I grabbed my mom by the hand and tried to pull her in the direction of the gentleman that I had just spoke to. " Come on mom, we have a very nice dinner invitation, and I for one, want to accept it."
She walked with me, but all the way she cautioned me to not be to friendly with strangers. When we met back up with Jerry, they both introduced themselves to each other. Just as they had said their pleasantries, a fight broke out and knives were drawn. The crowd seemed to try to separate, but no matter what, we always wound up in the center of it. When the gun was pulled, it was Jerry that took us by the arm, and worked his way out of the crowd. With a look of relief and gratitude my mom decided to take Jerry up on his offer.Then we slowly walked to dinner.
Shortly after exiting all the ensuing battles Jerry spoke up. " Leave it to the roughhousing gang from the south side of town. Only they would mess up a charity auction of this magnitude." He huffed rather loudly and turned to us changing the conversation." So Evalene, your son tells me that you just got into Utoland. Is that correct?"
" Ah yes Jerry, that is true. You see at my last job, the company downsized. My job just so happened to be one that was no longer needed, and cut."
" Such a shame to hear that, but I am glad that you have come here to Utoland. It is a very peaceful and warm place. "
When we all arrived at Jerrys house, mom and I found it to be like a large mansion. Also it seemed that Jerry was a rather easy person to talk to, and we both found ourselves to be very open with him. It wasn't long before Evalene and I told him about all of our mishaps with the last town, and how we hoped that Utoland would provide a safer environment for us.
I even told Jerry what the CJ stood for. When that was said, Jerry was almost swallowed up by his own smile.
Story Notes:
This fic was actually my third started one. Hopefully now that it is complete, the other two will follow in line.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is my story of a young boy, finally getting a chance to see what a true Christmas is like. In his life that is.