All of you, who haven’t had a chance to read the beginning of this tale, I invite you to read the short story titled: Christmas storytelling: A falling star

So, my dear readers, where were we? Ah, yes … the gingerbread man thought it was the last chance for him to make his wish come true and whispered: ‘Please, give me a chance to become a human at least for one day!’

To his great surprise the dark sky was lit up with the brightest light he had ever seen. When his eyes got used to this magical glow, he noticed a woman smiling at him gently. He couldn’t say a word amazed with the beauty of his unexpected visitor.

The woman kept looking into the gingerbread man’s eyes and finally spoke out: ‘I’ll make your dream come true. You’ll become a man for one day. Hope you’re strong enough to handle the weight of the world on your shoulders. When you’re ready to be a gingerbread man again, just whisper my name: Hope.’

The gingerbread man wasn’t sure whether it was a dream or his vivid imagination. Feeling tired he fell asleep. When he woke up in the morning and started stretching himself … he noticed that he was no longer a gingerbread man … his new body was beautiful, he looked like a human – the one he wanted to become so badly.

He started crying out of happiness, got up and rushed down the stairs to say: ‘Good morning!’ to the people who he loved so much. When he entered the room he noticed the whole family gathered in the living room. They didn’t seem to see the man who was waving and smiling at them happily.

Ginger the man was surprised with this cold reaction. He approached the family and realized that they couldn’t see him. They were shouting and crying over something. Ginger was trying to understand what they were saying. Finally their speech became clearer to him. The woman who created him with such a care was sobbing and yelling: ‘I hate Christmas, it will always remind me of Tom! How could he do something like that to us?! It’s not the right time for dying!’

Ginger noticed then that someone was missing. The armchair next to the fireplace was empty. He tried to recall the person who used to occupy that place. It was Tom! The head of the family. The man who was working hard to maintain his big family. The one who made his wife smile, no matter how tired she was, and the one, who loved his kids more than anything else.

Children gathered around the woman and started consoling her. ‘Mom, you’ll never be alone. Daddy is in heaven, but we will always be here for you.’ said a little chubby girl with blond curls around her face. The rest of her siblings were trying to do their best to make their mum stop crying for a moment.

Mom embraced her beloved children and kissed each one on their cheeks. ‘I know that you’ll always be with me. I’m just scared of your future. You know I can’t work much and we may be forced to leave this house just before the Christmas Eve’. The oldest boy stood up and decided that it was his duty to become the new head of his family: ‘I’ll go to work, mom! I won’t let you leave this house. Our dad built it for us and we can’t lose it.’

It was too much for Ginger. The new feelings overwhelmed him, he felt a big tear rolling down his face. The real life was tougher than he expected.

‘David, you cannot quit school! I will never agree on that!’ The voices became inaudible.

Ginger decided to do something for people who he loved so much. He whispered the name of the stranger he had met last evening. ‘Hope!’ he was waiting impatiently for the woman who made him a human. The room was lit up with the bright light again and he was accompanied by the beautiful lady.

She looked at Ginger and said: ‘Are you ready to become a gingerbread man again?’ Ginger couldn’t leave his family without support, that’s why he decided to ask the woman to do him the last favor. ‘My dear ones are suffering. I can’t let them lose this house. It’s so important for them and they can’t afford to move out!’ The lady in white didn’t answer him, so he continued: ‘I’ll sacrifice my life for them! They need to restore the spirit of Christmas!’ The woman seemed to be moved by the kindness and selflessness of the gingerbread man, and said: ‘Despite being a human creation, who wasn’t supposed to have a heart and soul, you’re the most generous and sympathetic man I’ve ever met. I’ll make your last wish come true!’

Ginger felt that his heart began to beat faster. The whole room started whirling around him. He looked at the window and he noticed snow swirling around a dark shadow which was approaching the porch. He turned his head over and he had the last glimpse at the family and the woman who made him understand the real world. The lady said: ‘You see that shadow? It’s a man who will help this family to stay here. He will make this family happy again!’ Ginger wasn’t sure how to understand these words, he looked at the window again and he realized that the blurred shadow was a young handsome man who was just about to knock the door.

Ginger became calm, he knew that his family wouldn’t be let alone. He felt that he started transforming into his old weak gingerbread body. When he was ready to say: ‘Goodbye!’ he heard knocking at the door … it was the time when his little heart broke into pieces leaving his family unaware of the fact that thanks to his sacrifice they would live happily ever after.

The end.

See you around!

Yours,

Passion Piece

Author of the story: Natalia Gerlich – Passion Piece

These are some of your comments:

Tara: My end to this story would be that he wished upon the star and became a boy. He then got to be free.

Keshia: So you would like to know how this story ends? I actually wish the story never began. Not for my sake but for the gingerbread man.

Mommaybefailing: I don’t know how this story ends but I like to think he just became real and is now a Gumby looking gingerbread guy.

VIV FOR TODAY: His wish was granted. He became a human and went to the bakery. He saw a row of gingerbread men sitting in the window. I’m not exactly sure what happened next but the long and short of it is this. When he was a gingerbread man, he knew the other gingerbread men by name. Now that he was human, he couldn’t tell them apart. I feel there’s got to be a moral to this but I can’t quite figure it out!

Swathi: I think his wish is granted and he becomes a man. Then he realizes that his life is more tragic than a gingerbread man.

David: Not sure where I would go next. I think he needs to realize the beauty and necessity of being a gingerbread man. Maybe what life would be like for his fellow gingerbread folk without him. Something like It’s A Wonderful Life.