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CRUISING KIDS’ CORNER<br />
CHRISTMAS CHEER<br />
by Lee Kessell<br />
“Christmas comes but once a year and when it comes it brings good cheer,” chanted<br />
all the boys and girls at the village school — including little Maizie.<br />
The village school was in the forest region of a little island north of Trinidad and<br />
south of St. Vincent. It was a simple little village w<strong>here</strong> the women looked after the<br />
children and the men grew ground provisions such as yams, cassava and dasheen<br />
to take to the weekly market down by the coast.<br />
Now it was the Christmas season and the children looked forward to the Christmas<br />
mid-day feast of jellied pig snout, chicken and rice, pig tails with red beans, chewy<br />
dumplings and, the best of all, sweet coconut cake. T<strong>here</strong> were always a few toys<br />
from Santa and most of the girls got their wishes for little make-up purses with lipstick<br />
and powder, and the boys got their toy tractors, a toy gun or a boat to push<br />
around in a basin of water.<br />
But what of Maizie? Like many island children, Maizie’s mother had left her daughter<br />
in the care of her Granny to earn a better living abroad. Maizie’s father had left<br />
before she was born as he wasn’t the fatherly kind, so that was that. Now, after a<br />
few years, poor Maizie’s mother was no better off than when she started out and it<br />
took all of her money just to pay her rent and save a little for a ticket home, leaving<br />
Granny to struggle on as best as she could. The old lady loved her little granddaughter<br />
and worked hard to buy her shoes for school and put food on the table.<br />
‘Maizie didn’t expect a special<br />
Christmas feast or gifts from Santa’<br />
Now Maizie didn’t expect a special Christmas feast or gifts from Santa but as she<br />
joined in the playground chant she wondered what Christmas cheer really meant.<br />
“Cheer” — what a strange word it was, and to Maizie’s seven-year-old mind it did not<br />
mean a feast, nor did it mean gifts from Santa. And who should benefit from the<br />
cheer? Maizie thought about how hard Granny worked, taking in sewing and mending,<br />
growing vegetables in her small garden and tending a few hens for their eggs to<br />
sell in the village. Granny certainly deserved some Christmas cheer, but how was<br />
little Maizie going to get it? Then she had an idea. Maizie began to collect all the<br />
pretty things she found in the forest: a lovely butterfly wing of shimmering blue; red<br />
and black jumbie beans; yellow and white cabbage moth wings; a few leaves that had<br />
fallen and turned bright orange; the striped feather from the tail of a dove; and wonder<br />
of wonders, a tiny feather from a hummingbird that shone like the stars at night.<br />
Then on a board given her at school, Maizie pasted all the pretty things in the shape<br />
of a heart and then wrote, in her very best letters, “I LOVE YOU GRANNY”. The<br />
teacher was so pleased with Maizie’s effort that she wrapped up the card in some<br />
silver paper she had saved from last year and tied it with a bright red ribbon she had<br />
kept as well.<br />
Maizie was so excited that she could hardly wait for Christmas morning to present<br />
her gift. Granny cried with surprise and hugged Maizie tight. As she turned to tack<br />
the card up on the wall, t<strong>here</strong>, hanging by the window was a red Christmas stocking<br />
filled with little gifts. A card attached said “Christmas cheer for Maizie”. No, Granny<br />
had not put it t<strong>here</strong> and it had not come from Maizie’s mother. T<strong>here</strong> is only one<br />
other person who could have done this, and that person is Santa.<br />
“Happy Christmas, everyone!” from Santa.<br />
THE END<br />
PICK UP!<br />
Ahoy, <strong>Compass</strong> Readers! When in St. Lucia, pick up your free monthly copy of<br />
the <strong>Caribbean</strong> <strong>Compass</strong> at any of these locations (advertisers in this issue<br />
appear in bold):<br />
RODNEY BAY AREA<br />
Café Olé<br />
DSL Yacht Charters<br />
Island Water World<br />
Johnson Hardware<br />
Ocean Club Restaurant<br />
Regis Electronics<br />
Rodney Bay Boatyard Bistro & Restaurant<br />
Rodney Bay Boatyard Office<br />
Rodney Bay Marina Office<br />
Rodney Bay Sails<br />
St. Lucia Yacht Club<br />
The Bread Basket<br />
MARIGOT BAY<br />
Chateau Mygo Restaurant<br />
Dolittle’s Restaurant Marigot Beach Club<br />
Marigot Customs<br />
Marigot Bay Hotel<br />
The Moorings<br />
SOUFRIERE<br />
SMMA office<br />
DECEMBER 2012 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 31
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