Ho Ho Ho

 My eyes peek open, looking around in my black-blanketed room. Suddenly realizing the time, I know that Santa should be here any second. Without rustling my covers too much, I kick one leg out, and then another, off of my bed. If Santa is out there, anywhere, I have to find him; at least catch a glimpse of him. My feet pidder-padder through my room, and as silently as a mouse, I peer outside of my door. If there is a "Santa Claus" he's got to be here, he just as to! I creep of my room, suddenly overwhelmed with excitement. The wooden floor sinks up and down, releasing wails as I walk on the balls of my feet down my dimly lit hallway, careful not to wake anyone up.

I walk past the window that is facing out toward our backyard, but soon turn back to look at it again. As loud as the outside world is, the mute of the snowfall at midnight is eerily perfect. My rest my palms and the tip of my nose ever so gently on the ice-chilled glass of my window. Everything outside is perfect--too perfect. The sound of cars passing by is distant in my ears as my eyes are hypnotized by the snow flakes whimsically falling into place on top of each other. The conglomeration of snow that covers everything outside looks almost unreal. The silence of the outside wonderland isn't interrupted by anything--not my siblings complaining, not the T.V rambling on...nothing. 

I shake out of my trans when I see something cut through the clouds. I blink twice to make sure I'm not dreaming at what I'm seeing--a red light flickering through the frigid midnight air. Following shortly behind the light is, undoubtedly, the figure of 8 reindeer. My eyes light up almost as bright as my Christmas tree in the other room. Santa Clause has to be behind the reindeer! Santa has to be! But he's not there. I watch for a good minute, waiting for a jolly man with a red coat in a sleigh, but nothing. My eyes droop, and my heart sinks down into my stomach, as I turn away and head back to my bed. 

As I turn away, through the sound of the cars rushing by, through the mute of snowfall at midnight, through the wailing of the wooden floor, I hear the faint sound of a jolly man with a red coat, singing the tune of "Ho Ho Ho!" I don't turn around to look what the noise was. I simply look down at the floor, and smile a petite smile, because I know.

Yellow Star's Starry Day

Author's Note:

Yellow Star, written in diary form, explains the feelings and emotions of the main character, Syvia. The book takes place during the Holocaust, and through the book, she tells her diary her daily life, in full detail, of what it's like to live in hiding, misery, pain, and hunger. The ending of the book leaves off when, extraordinarily, someone comes and saves her and all of her family from the ghetto. The last few pages explain her being carried away by a strange man with her whole family following. My short story is going to explain what happened, or what I predict happened, after the book ended and the family left the ghetto.

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Mother and Father look unnaturally happy. I wonder what's going on, maybe they're going to celebrate my birthday for the first time in years! I am now 11 years old, it's been one year since we left the ghetto. Mother sits me down and calls Dora and Father to the table, also. It's so great to be back at our old dinner table. Our dining room. Our house. Every day, I am grateful that we left the ghetto. Looking at our dining room makes me smile; I never thought I'd be sitting here with my family, one year later.

Father and Mother exchange looks that make me suspicious. She turns to me and Dora and, with her beautiful smile, shines down at us.

"We have news for you two young ladies," my mother squeaks.

Dora and me look at each other, not sure what to say or think about what Mother just told us.

Father chimes in, making things more at ease.

"You're going to like the news," he adds, "me and your mother can't wait."

"Do you remember baby Isaac? And your aunt Julia?"

My face flushes, and I flash back for a moment, remembering Isaac and me sitting in the cellar, starving and on the verge of hypothermia. Knowing what this is leading to, I stand up.

"YES! What about them? I haven't seen them in such a long time. Nearly a year."

Mother closes her eyes and smiles more genuinely than I have seen her smile in a long time.

"They are on their way here right now. They're going to visit for a week and a weekend. But Isaac is going to have to sleep in your bed, Syvia. No arguing while they're here. Got it, you two?"

Me and Dora start screaming, running around our house, getting ready to see our long lost relatives. I don't even mind Isaac taking my bed, I can't wait to see both of them. Dora fixes my hair, and I fix hers. I rush up to my room, and shove everything back into it's place, making my floor look clean. Not wanting to look like a slob, I put on my favorite dress, the one aunt Julia sewed me before we were separated. She'll be delighted to see that I still have it.

Dora and I meet eyes immediately when we hear a knock on the door. THAT'S HER! ISAAC! JULIA! Squealing with excitement, our whole family meets, and gathers in front of the door. We're all sweating, waiting to see what's become of them. The door knob turns... The door creaks, and opens ever so slowly. Soon enough, the door is wide open.

My eyes meet his, and then hers. Their luggage bags are nearly as big as both of them. Before we know it, my eyes are flooded with tears, as well as everyone else's around me. My arms wrap tightly around baby Isaac, who now, apparently isn't such a baby anymore. Julia looks at me and rubs my hair gently, just like she used to, as I grip her leg with all my force. Mother and Father are hugging everyone, Dora, me, Isaac, Julia, and each other. I missed them so much, seeing them again and knowing they're safe makes me cry even harder. I'm never letting them go. I'm never letting this family go again.

---

After the book ended, Syvia talked briefly about wanting to see if any of her other family members had gotten out, the way her and her family did. I skipped through time a year, to show that they have moved on from their life in the ghetto. Also, in the beginning of the book, Syvia talked about how all of her relatives moved away to places that weren't impacted in the Holocaust. I wanted to incorporate her family into the story because she talked about their family very frequently and it seemed to be a big part of their lives.

From Yellow Star, my prediction is similar to the ending to Go Ask Alice. In the ending of the book, the unnamed character finally gets to meet her family after a long while of being away from them. The same scenario happened in Yellow Star, when in my prediction, Syvia and her family meets their family again after a long time of being apart from each other. Also, both of the characters from both of the books are meeting their family again after being at a place that wasn't a healthy or normal place to be.