Count Your Blessings
By Alicia Koeb (writebook)
"Tell us a story, daddy! Tell us a story!" the two boys bounced up and down on the bed. A little girl ran into the room. "Oh, yes Uncle Jason! Please do!"
Jason Havkak laughed at them, his face a wreath of smiles.
"Just one story then. Which one would you like to hear?"
"The one about you and Uncle Draver, Daddy! Tell us that one!"
"Ok! Ok! Just settle down and I'll tell it."
Both boys sat down expectantly. The little girl climbed onto Jason's lap. When they were settled, he began.
"A long time ago, there was a boy. Me, and he was 14 years old." (Scene change)
14 year old Jason sighed and sat down on the bottom bunk of his bunk bed.
"This is going to be the worst Christmas ever," he said grumpily.
A head looked down at him from the top bunk.
"Why's that?" asked his little sister Becca. Jason glared up at her.
"Because we're in this dump instead of at home," he gestured to all of the cots in the homeless shelter before continuing. " Because Dad's drunk again, because we barely see mom anymore and because Thorn is in the hospital dying! Is that enough reason for you?"
Becca was holding back tears by the time Jason was finished. He regretted even mentioning all that stuff, but especially the mention of their 16-year-old brother.
"Becc, I didn't mean it."
She silenced him with an angry glare.
"He is not dying. He's just taking a long time to get better that's all. He'll be fine soon."
"Whatever you say, Beccs'. Whatever you say."
Becca got up and walked away, still sniffling.
Jason sighed and lay down, starring at the metal mesh that held Becca's bed above him. A year ago he would have laughed and teased Becca about almost crying. That had been a year ago, when they had been a normal family. That had been before the problems.
It had started with Thorn's illness. It had been a small concern then. The doctor had said that it was a cold and that he would be over it in a week. But Thorn hadn't gotten better. Instead he had gotten worse. He started seeing things, and sometimes didn't know where he was. Finally, their parents had taken him to the hospital.
The doctors' said that he would have to stay there for a few days so they could perform tests. A few days had turned into weeks, and weeks into months. The insurance hadn't been enough to pay the bills, so they had sold everything, even the house. Yet Thorn never got any better. He never knew whom they were when they visited, or who he was. The doctors' said he needed an operation. They didn't have enough money for it though.
Their father had gradually developed a drinking problem, and their mother worked 20 hours a day.
Jason sighed again. Why? Why did life have to be like this? Why?
Slowly, with the questions still spinning through his head, he fell asleep.
"WAKE UP YOU LOUSIE KID! WAKE UP!"
Jason jolted out of his sleep. His father was drunk again, and it did
not sound like he was in a good mood. Quickly he rolled out of bed and
ran.

"GET BACK HERE! NOW!"
Jason ran on, dogging beds and people. He didn't slow down until he was near the steps to the roof. If his father followed, he would never think to look up there.
Slowly he climbed the stairs, and upon reaching the top, sat down and leaned against the wall. He hugged his coat against himself and starred at the sunset.
"Beautiful isn't it," a voice said from a bit farther down on the roof. Jason looked around. He hadn't seen the teenager sitting on a box farther down the landing. He recognized him as the blind kid from a few beds down; the sunglasses that he always wore helped distinguish him from everyone else.
"I guess, but. I don't want to be rude or anything. but aren't you.."
". blind. You can say it. I don't mind, " the kid said and sighed, a puff of smoke in the frigid air. "No I can't see. But I don't need my eyes to enjoy the sunset. Being blind actually helps me enjoy it more then when I could see it. For example, have you noticed the last of the warm sunshine disappearing gradually? Soon it will be fifteen degrees colder. And can you feel the wind rising?" he sighed contently and kept going. "You don't just look at a whole picture, you have to look closer and notice the small things. They are the things that life is made of. You have to cherish all of them, for even small blessings are good. You pass them over, looking for the big things, things that are noticeable to everyone else. But you have to count your blessings."
Everything was quiet as the boy finished. They let the silence stretch between them, like a wall of glass. The boy was the first to shatter it.
"I'm sorry. Must be weird listing to a total stranger ramble on," he laughed. "By the way, I'm Draver."
"Jason, and yah it was kinda weird. But it made a lot of sense. I've been really down lately. My brother is in the hospital and my dad's a drunk, but at least we're all alive," he scooted closer to Draver so that he wouldn't have to talk so loud. Two things struck him about Draver at the same time. One was that his clothes were in bad shape. The second was that he wasn't wearing a coat.
"Are you cold?" Draver's shivering answered his question. "Common, lets go inside. Its cold out here."
Draver got up and, with one hand pressed against the wall for guidance, lead the way through the door, closing it behind them. Once inside, a wall of heat hit them. It was so reliving to be warm again that both boys sank down onto the stairs.
Draver smiled at Jason, his face red from the cold. Jason smiled back.
"You know what? I think this is going to be the best Christmas ever."
Draver smiled again. "You know what? I agree."
(perspective change)
"And they grew up, and to this day, they are still friends."
"I like that story Daddy. It has a nice ending." Said one of the boys in a sleepy tone. He tried to hide a yawn.
"And I don't need to be able to see to know that all of you are up past your bedtime." Draver walked into the room, a smug expression on his face. "I told your wife that you put them to bed an hour ago. You don't want them to be tired for Christmas, do you?"
"Sometimes sharing a house with you is exhausting, you know that?"
"Yep," he said as he gathered his little girl into his arms. She was sound asleep. "And I can say the same of you."
He began to walk out of the room but stopped suddenly. He turned back and smiled at Jason. "Have fun putting those two monsters to bed."
Jason laughed. "I thought they were more like small blessings. Merry Christmas Draver." "Merry Christmas Jason," he said as he exited the room.