Preface

Christmas - what a precious time. It has always been a very special time for myself, and it has even grown more special to me over the last years, as it is one of the times of the years where I see my parents, and there is really time for being with them.

I know Christmas is not necessary a happy time for everyone, and in every family. And not everyone has a family where he or she can share this special time with.

So this one is for all the people who are not as lucky as me, to remind them that the future may have something bright in store as well.

And of course it is for all the people who are as lucky as me, as a reminder that not all people out there are as lucky. Or that the best thing about Christmas is not receiving gifts, but giving. And not all presents have to be substantial to make a difference.

After all this grave talk: I wish all of you a Merry Christmas! John

Christmas at the Fort

Jake rushed his way through the meadow, towards the hidden entrance of their Fort. Although it was already 10:30 am, there was still frost on the blades as he strode through the hip-high grass, shivering a bit in the icy December air.

He was already late for their meeting in the Fort, the last one before Christmas. During the Christmas days they never had the time to meet, there was just too much family stuff going around, and their parents wouldn't leave them out after the dark.

Looking around to see if someone was nearby, he slipped between the old oak and the bush where the hidden entrance to the Fort was concealed, and heaved up the heavy wooden trapdoor. It had taken them month to dig that tunnel, and it was the only entrance to the mountain of boxes which was on the large meadow. It had been the stockyard for a box-producing company a couple of years ago, which went bankrupt just before Jake had moved into the neighbourhood. When he made friends with some of the local boys, he learned that they were building a secret fort, a hideout place, in that huge pile of boxes, and soon he was included in the group and the frantic attempt to transform that old pile of boxes into a boy's dream- and Adventureland.

They nailed together most of the boxes, took out side walls to create corridors through the pile, and took out some of the boxes as a whole to create a couple of nice and cozy rooms in the depth of mountain. As a last part they dug the secret tunnel as a hidden entrance, which turned into a maze through the mountain once it reached the Fort from the bottom, and only the five boys knew their way around in that maze. Everyone else entering that maze would be doomed, as they had built secret traps, holes in the ground which were concealed and you had to know how to pass them, strings you had to pull to open the right passageways and other nasty surprises.

Being out of the cold winter wind, Jake sighed relieved. It wasn't that warm in the entrance tunnel, but he knew that would change once he got into the heart of the Fort. It never got really cold in there, and never really hot in the summer.

He scrambled on all fours through the tunnel, and soon he was in the entrance maze, working his way carefully around some of the traps, but all as fast as he could manage. He wanted to spend as much time with his friends as possible before they all were dragged off to be with their own families.

When he reached the main hall, the heart of the Fort, he was momentarily astounded that only Ethan waited there for him. He had expected to see all four of them there. But Ethan had a grin a mile wide on his face, so he figured that nothing bad could have happened.

As soon as Ethan saw Jake appear out of the tunnel, he waited impatiently until Jake had pulled himself up all the way, and instantly said: "C'mon, there is a Christmas present for you!", and with that, he disappeared moments later into the tunnel Jake had just come out of.

With a puzzled expression on his face, Jake followed his friend, thinking about what his friends could have gotten him for Christmas. They normally didn't make each other Christmas presents, but obviously the gang had planned something behind his back and gotten him something. He cursed silently, as he didn't have anything for them. Well, he still had the stone for Ethan he wanted to give him for a week now, but nothing for the other ones.

Jake's confusion only grew as Ethan headed back into the maze, and especially when he moved into one of the seldom used tunnels, one which he remembered only had traps in it.

When Ethan reached back and handed him a flashlight, and then worked his way carefully over the broken remains of a booby trap door in the ground, Jake could begin to understand why Ethan has brought him here, but still had no clue what he could have meant by "Christmas present".

Jake could make out the schemes of his other friends on a wider passageway a bit further away, but Ethan had turned around to him, still sporting that grin on his face and pointed towards the opening in the ground.

But all thoughts about Christmas presents were eradicated from Jake's mind when an angry voice from the hole in the floor reached his ears: "Get me the f--k out of here!"

Jake recognized that voice instantly: It was Chad, the biggest bully out in the world, and his arch-enemy. And he was definitely not a member of the Fearsome Five.

And, as if an electric bulb had been lighted in his head, Jake knew what Ethan had meant by "Christmas present". Chad must have tried to sneak into the Fort, and he must have fallen in one of the traps. And obviously, there was his tormentor, in the whole in the ground, at their mercy. And all at once, Jake's grin could rival Ethan's.

He turned on the flashlight, and aimed the ray of light into the hole. And there looking up that the bright light stood Chad, at the bottom of the narrow, more than two and a half meter deep hole.

Jake was unable to say anything, he could only grin evilly and wave into the hole, and Chad cried again, with an even more raised voice: "I will beat the crap out of you suckers! Just let me out of here!"

The voice of Daniel sounded from behind Ethan: "Given your attitude, it would

be a very unwise thing to do so, don't you think so as well, Chad?"

That silenced Chad instantly, and Jake could only marvel in the sudden silence. He was at their mercy! And it was totally his own fault!

Ethan had continued over to where the other boys stood, and Jason had taken his place at the edge of the hole: "So, Chad, we are suckers? Hm, maybe we should make YOU suck......", and he flashed an equally evil grin to Jake.

In a lot more casual tone, Jason asked Jake: "So, what do you think we should do with him? After all, he has tormented you the most, I think you should have the honour to decide his punishment for breaking into the Fort...."

"What? That fag will decide? I demand that you let me out of here, or you will regret it for the rest of your lives!", Chad shouted again from below.

Jason considered that statement for a moment, but then turned on his shark grin once more: "Yeah, I really think he will decide. But this can't be done with the constant interruption of you shouting foul names at us, and especially Jake. He has endured enough of the crap coming out of your mouth, and from your hands. I think, we will just leave you right where you are, for the moment!"

With that, he pulled up a wooden board from behind him, and put it squarely over the opening, effectively muffling the now panicked voice of Chad, who was still shouting foul names at them. And as it looked as if he had gotten even angrier.

"Let's go back to the main hall and hold a war council", Jason said.

Jake just nodded, turned around and crouched back towards the main hall. He heard that his friends were following him, and he started to think about great ways of retaliation and revenge towards Chad.

---

When they all arrived in the main hall, everyone went to their favorite spot.

Daniel mumbled something about: "I'm sure you will think of something that will be good," pulled out his book and dug himself into his pile of blankets, so that only his head of hair could be seen.

Jason seemed to object for a second, then he sighed and shrugged: "He will be asleep in a quarter of hour anyway, so he probably won't follow the discussion anyway....", and then he sat down on the ground in Indian style.

The Doc (Troy, or 'Doc' Troy as he was called most of the time) went to the oil lamp which was hanging from a hook in the low ceiling, took it down and carefully lighted it. Despite the time of day, it never got really bright inside the Fort during this time of year, so the boys had made it a habit to light the oil lamp in the winter. Soon the flickering light of the lamp filled the middle of the room, and everything in there cast eerie shadows, making the room look unreal.

The Doc then went to sit back against the wall, pulled his knees to his chin and wrapped his arms around his knees.

Ethan instantly went over to his collection of stones and rocks, taking some up, examining them, putting them back into the shelf where he kept them all. He always did that when he was unsure, a small ritual of calming himself down. When Jake saw that, he was reminded of the stone that he had found, and dug it out of his pocket.

Going over to Ethan, he gently laid his hand on Ethan's shoulder. Ethan shook a little, as when waking up from a strange dream. He looked at Jake in surprise before Jake quietly said: "Here, I have found this, I thought maybe you'd want to add it to your collection."

Ethan's face lit up when he saw the small purple and gray stone, and started to examine it closely. " Thanks, I will decide later where it fits into the collection. You are a real stone-saver, you know that, Jake? ", and he grinned at his friend.

Jake groaned theatrically at the latest bad word play of Ethan, but couldn't keep it up for very long and started to snicker while he moved to lie down on the bench next to Ethan's stone collection.

"I really can't believe that he is back there, sitting in the hole, still yelling at us....", Jake started to say, trailing off, once more caught up in his own thoughts.

The Doc then started: "You all know, this is the sign that I have been waiting

for. It means that the world domination machine I have built in the basement is finally starting to work."

The other boys rolled their eyes, but the Doc just continued to drone: "It will bend the will of everyone around the Fort, making them easy to manipulate, they will do exactly what we want them to. We will have our own army..."

That was the moment that Jason chose to interrupt: "Doc?" "Yeah?"

"Shut the f--k up, we have more important things to discuss now. We all know how the machine is going to work. "

Troy cast an angry look towards Jason, as he had been interrupted while he was making a very important point, but he just closed his mouth.

"So, Jake, what should we do with Chad?", Jason inquired.

"That is a really hard choice. There are so much things I would like to do to him, I don't know where to start", Jake answered thoughtfully.

Ethan continued from there: "But we all agree that he has to be made to suffer consequences for all the things he did to us, and especially to Jake?"

The four boys all nodded, and Jason even shot a glance toward Daniel. But Daniel seemed totally unaware of the situation around him, being totally immersed in his book.

"So, we have him in the hole. Where do we go from there?", Ethan continued.

Jake thought about that: "I mean, we could just leave him there, rotting. No one will ever find him, and then he couldn't hurt anyone else."

Jason agreed: "Nice idea, but it's so totally unimaginative. I'm for a much more creative approach, myself. "

The Doc was suddenly quite excited: "We could toss a rat down there and study how they react to each other. "

"But we don't have a rat, pinhead", Jason destroyed Troy's dreams of science

evaluation.

"Hm, we could force him to eat an earthworm before we let him out. That would be sooooo gross", Jake suggested.

"We don't have an earthworm either, numb nuts. And they are much too hard to dig up in the winter."

"We could find some maggots or other bugs in the Fort for sure!", Ethan offered as another possibility.

"Guys, we want to make sure that he doesn't try to ever do his stuff to anyone of us again", Jason turned that one down as well.

That got all the boys thinking once more. How could they stop Chad from ever bullying them again?

The Doc said, more talking to himself than anyone else: "It has to be something really embarrassing to him, so that if anyone besides us ever found out, his standing would be just totally destroyed."

Jake continued from there: "Yeah, something we could hold over him to force him to be nice to us. If we could just show the school how he is imprisoned in that deep earth hole...."

The Doc got excited again: "We COULD show the school. My new mobile has the option of creating short videos. So we could just record him, sitting down there in that hole, begging to be let out."

Jason nodded considerately: "Yes, and if he ever bullies anyone of us again, we can just put that video on Youtube and tell everyone the address for it."

All the other boys nodded as well, thinking it through. But it sounded like the best plan they had thought of so far.

Jason turned once more towards Daniel: "Danny, what do you think? DANNY? I can't believe it, he really did fall asleep. He should read less at night."

He got up, and went over to Daniel's blanket pile, just to shake Daniel by the shoulder: "Hey, sleeping beauty, wake up!"

Daniel looked up sleepily, his platinum-blond hair quite tousled from falling asleep: "What? What did I miss? I told you that I thought you would come up with something which would be alright."

Jason replied a bit impatiently: "Yes, but this is a war COUNCIL, so everyone should agree to what we do! "

"But I agreed before!", Daniel replied, a bit annoyed, then he sighed: "Ok, Ok, so, what do you have planned? Tell me, and I will agree."

Jake explained it: "We will go back to that hole, and record him with Troy's mobile. We'll show how he begs to be let out of that hole. And if he ever bullies one of us again, we will put that video on YouTube and show it to everyone in school."

"Yeah, that sounds good. But what if he doesn't beg?", Daniel asked.

Jason replied to that: "Then he will just have to stay in that hole until he is willing to beg. Shouldn't take too long, I guess."

"OK, I agree to that."

Jason was now in full leader mode: "Good, we will go back there and tell him what his sentence is. As it is quite cramped, not all of us have to go. I guess I will go, Jake will go as well since he is the main victim of Chad's bullying, and the Doc will need to come as well, as he is to record the things. Ethan, Daniel, do you mind staying back?"

Ethan answered, "Nope, I will just try to find the place where that beautiful stone fits into my collection. And I think Daniel has either started reading again, or is already asleep again. So he should be fine if you leave him here as well."

"Cool, then let's move!"

---

When they arrived back in the tunnel, they were a bit surprised that they weren't greeted by more angry shouts from Chad.

That mystery was explained quickly when they removed the wooden board from the hole, as Chad was now lying on the floor of the hole, rolled into a ball, sobbing and sucking on his thumb.

Jake stared down the hole with disbelief in his eyes, and shouted down with a sneer: "I suppose this is another plot of yours to get out of the hole!"

Chad didn't react at all to this, he just continued to sob down there. Jason asked, quite loudly: "Do you have this on video, Doc?"

"Yep, you can count on it, Jason!"

"Good, I think we will just let him stay down there in the trap a bit longer, so he can think about his sins, before we send him home crying, with a swift kick in the butt! Of course, after we have told him that we will show this to all of his cronies in school."

With that, Jason started to put the board over hole again, when a cry from below stopped him dead in the tracks: "NOOOOOOOO! Please don't leave me in the dark again! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!"

Jake didn't trust his own ears when he heard that, and he glanced down the opening to see if it was really the Chad he knew down there. But it really was Chad who had said that, and pleaded to them like his life was depending on them not putting the board over the hole again.

"So, you are afraid of the dark? Haha, this will make you look even more stupid to all the others out there!", Jason said, barely hiding a chuckle.

"Yes.....No......I mean, I just felt like I was back.....", Chad's voice trailed off, and another sob could be heard from below.

"What do you mean, like you were back?", Jake inquired curiously.

This produced a long silence by Chad, only broken by an occasional sob from the now defeated boy.

"Hey, pinhead, I asked you a question!", Jake asked again, now a with bit of anger back in his voice.

That produced a response by Chad: "My.....my father used to lock me in the cupboard after he beat me. It was always so.....so dark in there, I felt like I was back in the cupboard when you put the board over opening. I ran away to escape from that, but I guess it never ends for me, I'm just not worth it....."

"Yeah, right, whatever. As if we could believe you after what you have done to all of us. You just want out of that hole, that's all!", Jason replied, clearly not buying a word of the things Chad had said, and started to push the board more over the hole.

"NOOOOOO! Pleaaaaase, don't leave me here! I beg you! I will do whatever you want!", Chad cried again from below.

"Wait!", Jake stopped Jason by putting his hand on Jason's arm.

"What? You mean you believe him? After all he has done to you?", Jason asked, still the disbelief in his voice.

"He really sounds desperate. And we don't want to be like him, do we? We just want him to stop bullying us. And at the moment, it doesn't sound as if he would do that to us again."

Jake took a deep breath, to have the strength to say what he wanted to tell his friends now: "Besides, I know how he feels. Well, not totally, but my parents used to treat me real bad as well."

"What?", came the astonished question at the same time from Troy and Jason.

Jason continued: "But your parents are always so nice, how did they treat you bad?"

Jake let out a sad, little laugh: "My REAL parents used to treat me bad. My parents that you know are really my foster parents."

"WHAT???" Again the same astonished question by Jason and the Doc. "Have you turned deaf, or what? I said 'The parents you know are my foster

parents'. But this is really not the kind of discussion you can have when being in a tunnel. C'mon, let's get Chad out of there, and go to the main hall. I will explain it to you then."

When he saw that Jason wanted to object, Jake just continued: "No discussion there, we WILL get him out of there, and I don't want to have that talk here."

Jason seemed to consider that for a moment, but finally he decided that Jake was right, and nodded. "OK. When we both extend our hands down there, we can pull him up. Get up, big bully! And I warn you: If this is just a ploy to get out of here: We will leave you rotting for eternity in the next hole you fall in. And be assured, if you try to escape from here, there WILL be more holes!"

Chad just nodded weakly, and got up. Jake and Jason laid down on the edge of the hole, and extended their arms down into the hole. Chad grabbed each hand with one of his, and they pulled him out of there.

Jake said warningly as well: "Follow us, and watch very closely where we are stepping. You don't want to end up in another hole. And if you want to make a dash for it: Just remember the words Jason said, he wasn't exaggerating. I can understand how you feel, but my compassion for you is quite limited at the moment. Do you understand?"

Chad just nodded, and then wiped his puffy red eyes, and sniffled.

Jake then started going back to the main hall again, with Chad following directly behind. Jason, while Troy made up the rear.

---

Jake scrambled out of the trap door in the ground when he arrived in the main hall. Ethan looked up when he heard the sound of the trap door, and started to ask: "So, did you get the.....", and then stopped dead when he saw the head of Chad appear coming up into the main hall just after Jake.

"What the f--k?", he shouted, but was stopped by Jake's raised hand.

That noise made Daniel look up as well, and he looked puzzled at Chad as well, who stood wearily in the middle of the low room, trying to avoid the stares of the other boys.

Jake moved to occupy his usual place, this time just sitting on the bench, and Troy and Jason moved to their usual places as well once they were in the room, and Jason had closed the trap door.

That left Chad standing alone in the middle of the room, and he glanced around quickly to decide where he could sit. After a moment of consideration, he moved to sit besides Jake on the bench, as he seemed to be the only one that was the slightest bit friendly right now.

"What in all the hells out there is going on?" Ethan wanted to know then. "When we talked, we agreed to take a video of him, and not get him into the main hall like he belongs here!"

Jake jumped in on that opportunity: "I told the others to bring him here. When we got back to the trap..... ", and Jake then recounted the events that led him to bring Chad into the main room. Ethan and Daniel looked unbelievingly at Chad, when Jake told them how they found Chad lying there curled up in a ball, crying, but Chad just looked at the tips of his shoes, and was not meeting their eyes. That seemed to be just enough confirmation to make the story likely, and Ethan and Daniel didn't inquire further about it.

"....so that was why I wanted to bring Chad here. I guess I have a bit of explaining to do." Jake took another deep breath.

"Yes, I was adopted a couple of years ago. My real parents beat me just for no reason, really often, and there wasn't enough food and I went for days sometimes, without getting anything to eat. So, in the summer three years ago, the CPS got a call from a neighbor that she had heard screams repeatedly, and they started to investigate. I was removed immediately from my parents, and put into a foster home. Four months later, Chris and Mary met me there when they were looking for a child to adopt, and we hit it right off then. I moved in with them a month later, and two months after that Chris got a new job here, so we had to move. I asked them then not to tell anybody that I was adopted, as I didn't want any pity from anybody, and I started calling them Mum and Dad then. They are the best thing that ever happened to me, they really do love me, and they really are my parents, in all but blood relation!", Jake finished his explanation, staring at each of his friends as if to question his explanation.

All his friends but Daniel were stunned by this revelation. Daniel just pulled himself out of his pile of blankets, and rushed over to envelop Jake in a hug.

"I'm so sorry to hear that!", he exclaimed to Jake, who seemed to be a bit uncomfortable by that.

"See, that is exactly the reason why I wanted to keep it hidden. But thanks anyway", Jake told Daniel.

Daniel pulled away a bit surprised at himself and his sudden activity, and moved back to his blankets.

Jake continued then softly, this time directed at Chad: "So, I guess nothing that good has happened you, am I right?"

Chad just shook his head, still only staring at the tips of his shoes. Jake continued then: "Would you like to tell?"

Chad nodded shyly at that, and pulled himself together visibly.

After clearing his throat, he started in an unsteady voice: "My mother died when I was little, so all the time I can remember it was just my....my father.", he literally spat that word out, as if it would leave a foul taste in his mouth. "He didn't use to be that bad, but a couple of years ago, he lost his job, and ever since then, he has been basically sitting at home all day and doing nothing. Nothing besides watching TV and waiting for me to be home and make a tiny mistake, so he'd have an excuse to beat me up. Sometimes he didn't even need a reason for beating me, he just beat me for the fun of it. If he was especially angry with me, or if he felt really nasty, he locked me up in the broom cupboard afterwards. Most of the time, he just left me there for a couple of hours, but sometimes he forgot that he had locked me in there, and I just spent a long time in that cupboard......alone......in the dark.....A couple of times he even left me in there over night, and only thought of me in the morning." Chad visibly shuddered when the scenes of being in the dark replayed in his mind.

"YOU have been BEAT at home?", Ethan asked, still not buying it.

"You don't believe me, Ethan? Let me show you!", Chad replied angrily, a trace of the old Chad back in his voice. He then stood up, turned around and pulled down his pants and briefs a bit.

A collective gasp came from all the boys in the room. Even in the unsteady light of the oil lamp, there were scars and bruises clearly visible on the part of his bottom Chad showed them.

When Chad had pulled up his pants again, he continued: "I really learned to hate the sound of a belt being pulled out of pants. I never saw it, as I always had to bend over a chair, my pants around my ankles. But by God, when I heard that sound, I knew the pain wasn't far away."

A single tear had run down on Chad's left cheek, and he wiped it away with a splenetic wave of his hand.

"But the pain wasn't the worst thing. Being left alone, in the dark, that was the really frightening part. Never to know when you would finally be let out of that room, if I would ever see the light of the day again, or if he just had forgotten me and I would die in there."

The other boys exchanged looks, as if they wanted to make themselves believe that they were not in a bad dream. Clearly, all the boys were trying to imagine what it would be like to be locked up like that, being beaten like that.

Silence fell upon the room, everyone a bit in their own thought.

It was Jake who moved first, and put his arm around Chad's shoulders. Chad jerked when Jake's arm touched him, but he relaxed quickly.

Jake spoke then, again very softly: "Then why did you torment all of us?"

Chad snorted: "Ha, you deserved it! You never knew pain, you never knew loneliness. And I always imagined it was my father I was beating up. I hate that bastard so much!"

Jake shook his head, and replied more forcefully: "No, you are wrong! What did we do to deserve that treatment by you? Nothing! Mostly, we ignored you, some people even tried to be friends with you, but they stopped after you treated them even worse than the others."

"Pah, I didn't deserve to have friends. I'm not worth having friends", Chad answered bitterly.

"Do you really think so?"

"He said so, he said I was a worthless piece of shit!"

Jason now inquired: "Who said so? Your so called "father"?"

"Yeah!"

"And you really give a damn thought about his opinion? He beats up kids, for fun!"

When the realization of what Jason said sank into Chad, all his strength seemed to leave him. The tears started to run again down his face, and he started to sob.

Jake pulled him closer, so Chad was now effectively leaning against Jake, and just held him.

After a couple of minutes, during which only the slowly subsiding sobs of Chad could be heard, and all the others tried to digest what they had just heard, the Doc formulated a question which was running through his head: "And what are you doing in the Fort, then? You explained all but that."

Chad sniffled once more, and then tried to answer that question: "I......I ran away from home today. I don't care if he misses me, but I won't go back there. He....he left me in the cupboard for more than a day, yesterday. He put me in it Sunday evening, and just let me out of it this morning, after more than a day. And this on my birthday.....", Chad said, with a bitter tone in his voice.

"After that, I decided that even having no Christmas at all would be better than having to spend Christmas eventually in the dark. At least there is light out here. But it was so cold outside, and I thought of a good place to hide over the next few days. A place where I wouldn't see happy families having a nice Christmas. And that was the moment when I thought of your Fort. I have never been crazy enough to try to get in it before, all the kids just know that it is more secure than Fort Knox. But I thought that I hadn't anything to loose, and no one would look for me here", he shrugged.

Jason laughed a bit at that: "So, we have quite a reputation out there. Good! You are just lucky that we always meet on the morning of Christmas Eve here, otherwise no one would have found you in that trap for days. "

Chad nodded at that, realizing how close he had been to that fate. "It was really stupid of me, trying to come in here. If you would just let me out, I will just go away. You probably won't see me ever again."

Jake was taken aback by this: "Are you off your trolley? It is freezing cold out

there, you would freeze to death soon. No, you will stay here until we have figured out what to do about you and your rotten father!"

"I will?", Chad asked unbelieving.

"He will?", Ethan asked equally unbelieving.

Jake responded to that with determination in his voice: "Yes, of course he will! We built this Fort to have a safe place from the adults, a place where we could go if we don't want to see any adults, where we can be ourselves. And Chad really needs a safe, and warm place, right now. So - he needs to stay in the Fort!", Jake concluded his speech.

One after another, his friends nodded, as they saw the truth in Jake's words.

"So, we vote that Chad can stay here as long as he needs to stay. Good, we can look then after Christmas and see what to do further", Jake nodded as well, finalizing the decision.

That seemed to remind Troy that there was a life outside of the Fort as well, and he glanced at his watch: "Oh, holy shit, almost noon. I need to run, lunch will be ready soon, and I'm expected home."

As if a cold bucket of water was poured over the others as well, everyone got up.

Jake addressed Chad: "See, we REALLY need to get home right now. Just stay here in the main hall. I think I will be able to convice Mum and Dad that I need to go out this evening, and that I need some food. I will just tell them that there is someone who needs my help, and won't tell them any more. They trust me, I don't think that it will be a problem."

Chad visibly relaxed at that last statement, clearly uncomfortable with Jake telling an adult about him.

Jake continued then: "Until then, there are some snacks in the box under the bench, I always get hungry when I'm here, so I keep the stash filled all the time, and there is something to drink as well", Jake smiled at Chad.

Daniel went over shyly to Chad and extended a book towards him: "Here, read this one; "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. It is my favorite. Maybe you want to read a bit while waiting for Jake to return. "

"I don't read that much......", Chad started to say, but then thought better when he saw the disappointed look in Daniel's face, "but I will give it a try when I get bored!" Chad then smiled as shyly at Daniel.

Jason was all business: "Jake, you are on your own with this one. I don't think anyone of us could leave tonight as well. Maybe tomorrow, but certainly not tonight. Keep us informed on ICQ, if there is anything I can do, I will tell you, but I don't think so."

Jake nodded at that, and one after another the boys left the main hall. Jake was the last one to leave, not without telling Chad: "No worries, I will be back tonight!", and then disappearing through the trap door as well.

Left alone all of a sudden, Chad sat on the bench a bit lost, but then he went to check out the box of snacks, since he hadn't eaten anything for quite some time.

---

It had already turned dark outside when Chad heard someone approaching the main hall again. He sat now Indian style on the floor, with his back against the wall, in a style very similar to Jason. He was reading the book which Daniel had given him.

As he wasn't used to reading, he wasn't very far in the book, but it definitely had taken his mind of all the other things going around in his head.

He watched the trap door being heaved up, and saw Jake's distinctively dark brown head of hair appear in the opening. He now carried a well-filled backpack.

Jake smiled at Chad when he saw him sitting there, and Chad smiled back at him.

"Sorry that I'm back so late, but there we baked cookies in the afternoon, and there was this big family dinner, and there was no way Mum and Dad would have let me go before that."

"I'm just glad you came back at all. It was getting really lonely here......", Chad admitted.

Jake smiled at him again, and pulled a large thermos from his backpack, together with a small bowl and a spoon: "Here, I got Mum to heat some stew for you. It is not exactly Christmas food, but it was the easiest to get here.

Everything else would have been just too difficult."

Chad carefully unscrewed the thermos, and poured some of the lentil stew into the bowl. A rich smell filled the air in the main hall, and Chad's mouth watered at the smell: "Whoa, smells great!", and wanted to start to tuck in.

Jake interrupted him: "Wait, there is something else!", and he pulled a small green plastic thing out of his backpack.

Chad glanced curiously at him, having no clue what it was. Jake put the valve to his mouth, and started to pump air in it.

Shortly after that, the small, inflatable Christmas tree was completely filled, and Jake set it down in the middle of the main hall: "No Christmas dinner without a Christmas tree!"

Chad giggled at that, and started to eat the stew.

Jake pulled out two cans of Coke from his backpack after that, opened one and sat it down in front of Chad, and opening the other one for himself. Taking a sip, he watched Chad wolfing down the stew, soon refilling the bowl first one time, then yet again.

After he had finished the third helping, and taken a long sip out of the can, he leaned back, clearly filled and satisfied: "Ah, thank you, that was good......"

When Jake saw that Chad was finished, he screwed down the thermos again, and placed it on the side for later. He then pulled two chocolate bars as dessert from his backpack, and after Chad had ripped open his one and was carefully chewing on it, he pulled two wrapped presents out of his backpack. One smaller, and one larger and unshaped. He set them down before Chad and said in a cheery voice: "Merry Christmas, Chad!"

Chad stared unbelieving at the two presents before him and said, in barely more than a mumble: "You....you have presents for me?" With that, a single

tear trickled down his left cheek.

"Sure, what kind of Christmas would it be if there were no presents!?", and Jake reached out to wipe away the tear from Chad's cheek. Touching Chad's skin, he noticed how cold he felt, and grasped one of Chad's hands. It was a bit warmer, not much, but a bit.

"Have you sat all the time on the ground here? Why didn't you move into the blanket pile, or got at least one of the blankets?", Jake asked.

Chad mumbled his reply as well, still staring at the presents: "It is Daniel's place....I didn't want to intrude on that, I'm only a guest here...."

"Nonsense! Daniel just uses it most, it is not his pile. Out of your clothes and in the pile, NOW!" , Jake commanded in a no-nonsense voice.

That got Chad's attention: "What? Out of my clothes? I should strip here, in front of you?"

"Yes, out of your clothes! You won't get warm when you stay in those cold things. So, take them off. I have seen you naked in the showers after PE, so there is not much new to me. Just strip out of your clothes, I will get you warm. You can unwrap your presents once you are in the pile", Jake continued in a voice that left no room for arguing.

Hesitantly, Chad got up and started to untie his shoelaces, then he unbuttoned his pants. Pulling them down, Jake gasped when he saw the pattern of whip marks and scars on the back of Chad's legs. He gently ran his finger over one of the worse ones, and Chad winced a bit, obviously in pain.

"Sorry, I didn't want to hurt you. I just had to touch them, they look so.....unreal."

"They are quite real. And no problem, it just hurt a bit."

Chad then pulled his shirt over his head, and stood there just in his briefs. He started to pull them down as well, when Jake interrupted: "No, that is undressed enough. Just get in the pile now."

Chad walked over, and burrowed himself in the pile. Jake then moved the presents next to him, and started to remove his clothes as well.

"What......what are you doing????", Chad asked.

"You are silly, I will warm you. There is enough space in that pile for two, and you certainly can use the extra heat!"

"So, you will strip and then get here into the pile next to me? As in touching me?", Chad asked, clearly uncomfortable with that idea.

"I thought so. You really can use the extra heat, and I'll promise you that I won't do anything besides cuddling you. It may be a bit awkward for both of us, but it will be better than you getting pneumonia!", Jake continued on that subject.

Chad could say nothing against that, and simply nodded. Still, being next to naked with another boy made him feel quite uncomfortable.

When Jake had stripped off all his clothes except for his boxers, he moved into the pile as well and cuddled up to Chad, who was stiff as a board in the beginning, but when he realized that Jake intended to do nothing more than sharing body warmth, he let his guard down a bit.

Jake then reached out for the two presents and gave them to Chad: "As I said before: Merry Christmas! "

Chad was still a bit uncomfortable with the physical closeness of another boy, but as he started to warm up considerably, he put every thought about this out of his mind. He started to unwrap his presents, starting with the smaller one.

Soon a small flashlight appeared from the wrapping. Jake commented on that one: "You can put that on a key ring, and carry it with you wherever you are. So as long as you keep the batteries up, you will never be in the dark again."

Chad grinned at that one, asking: "When did you get this for me?"

"I didn't get it especially for you, I bought it some months ago. But I think you need it more than I do. "

"Thank you very much, I really appreciate it. It is very thoughtful and generous of you!"

Jake just smiled at him, and urged him: "Open the second one!"

Chad started to carefully open the unshaped package, and stared soon disbelieving at a small teddy bear.

"A......teddy?"

"Yep! It is one of my own, but this way you are never alone again, and you always have company. You can tell him anything, he won't tell anyone else, I promise!"

"But I'm too old for a teddy bear!"

"Nonsense! No one in need of a friend or someone to cuddle to is too old for a teddy bear!" Jake replied to that.

"Th......thanks, I'm not sure what to say.....!", and with that Chad pressed the small bear against his chest, and then hugged Jake as a thank you.

"You already said enough, both with and without words", Jake grinned at him impishly.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any presents for you.....", Chad admitted, seemingly a hard thing to do.

"Honestly, you gave me the best Christmas present already today: The knowledge that you won't bully me again. And I can't think of anything better", Jake said seriously.

Chad blushed to a deep red: "Was I that bad?"

Jake giggled: "Worse! But don't worry, that is in the past, I'm sure." Chad nodded thoughtfully, and silence fell between the two boys.

After a couple of minutes, Chad was getting drowsy from the warmth and exhaustion of the day, but managed to say sleepily: "This is the bestest Christmas I've had, ever. I got a friend.......", and his voice trailed off.

Seeing that Chad was asleep, Jake just cuddled to him a bit tighter, and closed his eyes with a smile on his face......

Editor's Notes:

I think we have found some really good kids. They have compassion and quite a bit of understanding. Jake had empathy for Chad and Chad finally realized that he was worth something and could reach out to someone else. It seems to be a very nice lesson in the real meaning of Christmas.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

 

Comments Appreciated at John Hollingway