Story #2

Here's the second story that I wrote for Turning Point...I'll post the third one later, and also promise to post a real blog when I'm done with finals.

Jenny's Gift

By Cassie Wood

Mr. Jackson was the worst kind of neighbor. He was old. He was mean. And he smoked like a freight train. When the neighborhood children dared to come within fifty feet of his front yard, he would storm onto his front lawn waving a broom stick and yelling threatening words. The children learned to stay as far away as possible. Mr. Jackson rarely came out of his house, and when he did, people scattered.

In late summer, a new family moved to the neighborhood in the house directly next door to Mr. Jackson. Jenny was eight years old. She was sweet. She was fearless. And she loved to play outside.

One afternoon, Jenny was playing basketball in her driveway with her neighbor Sam, when her ball escaped into Mr. Jackson’s yard. Sam stood rooted to cement of the driveway, frozen with fear. Jenny, on the other hand, immediately darted after the ball.

“Jenny! No!” Sam yelled in a terrified voice. “Don’t go over there!”

But Jenny didn’t listen. The second she reached her ball, the screen door of the house flew open with a bang, and Mr. Jackson rushed out waving his broom, screeching at the top of his smoke-filled lungs.

“You brat kids! How many times have I told you to stay away from my house?!” He came barreling toward Jenny with a look of complete rage on his face. "Who do you think you are?!"

Jenny froze for just a moment with the ball in her hands, with a look of surprise on her face. After a moment however, her surprised expression turned firm, and she marched over to meet Mr. Jackson, who was still hobbling threateningly toward her. As she started towards him, he stopped, slightly taken aback by the fact that she wasn't running in the opposite direction like the other neighborhood kids usually did.

Jenny stopped as she reached Mr. Jackson, looked directly into his eyes, pointed her finger at him and asked sternly, "Why are you so angry? You need to laugh more, Sir. My Grandma always says that laughter does the heart good and I think your heart needs some good."

With that direct statement, Jenny turned and ran back to Sam – who was still frozen in exactly the same position that she'd left him in - to resume her game. Mr. Jackson stood watching them with an odd expression on his face for a moment before he turned and walked back into his house without another word.

That night, Jenny told her mom about what had happened with their new neighbor. After hearing the whole story, her mom asked,

"Jenny, what do you think that you can do to help Mr. Jackson have a happier heart?"

Jenny promised to think about it, and the two of them prayed for Mr. Jackson before her mom tucked Jenny into bed.

A few days later, Mr. Jackson opened his front door to walk out to his mail box, and he found an envelope lying on his doormat, that said "To: Mr. Jackson" written in purple crayon. He opened the envelope and found a cartoon comic strip clipped out of the newspaper. With it was a note that said, "This made my Daddy laugh. I hope it makes you laugh too. From: Jenny." He read the comic strip, and cracked a brief smile before regaining his composure and turning to go inside.

Several days after that, a plate of cookies showed up on his porch. A week or so later, a silly children's book was left. Then a tape of Saturday morning cartoons. The gifts kept appearing, and with each gift was a note from Jenny, explaining to Mr. Jackson why each of the items made her laugh, or smile, or have a good day. Jenny never knocked on his door; she simply left her gifts and notes, and never went to bed without saying a prayer for her neighbor.

Whether he would admit it or not, the grumpy old man began to look forward to Jenny's gifts, and more times than not, he would find himself smiling at the bit of entertainment that she had cooked up for the week. He never laughed…but his smiles came more easily, and his heart began to soften bit-by-bit.

Finally, close to Christmas, Jenny was ready to make her move. She mustered up all of the courage that she had, and climbed the steps to Mr. Jackson's front porch and knocked on the door. He came to the door, and opened it without a word, waiting for Jenny to speak. She handed him a plate of Christmas cookies and said really quickly,

"Merry Christmas. I have a joke for you. What do monkeys sing at Christmas?"

Mr. Jackson looked at Jenny for a moment before finally responding, "I don't know Jenny. What do monkeys sing at Christmas?"

Jenny took a deep breath, and then sang at the top of her lungs, "JUNGLE BELLS, JUNGLE BELLS, JUNGLE ALL THE WAY!!"

After she finished her punch line, Jenny stood expectantly waiting for Mr. Jackson's response. It took a moment, but slowly a smile began to spread across his wrinkled old face. Then, ever so softly, he began to chuckle. Soon his chuckle turned into a laugh that got louder and louder. He doubled over, and tears began to run down his cheeks and his laughing turned to sobs. The little old man sat down on the steps of his porch and cried. Jenny sat down beside him and patted his back.

"I didn't mean to make you cry, Mr. Jackson. I'm sorry! I was trying to make you laugh so that your heart would be happy."

Mr. Jackson looked up with tears still running down his face and said, "Jenny, you have made my heart happy. And you are the first person who has cared about my heart since my wife died five years ago. Today is the first time that I have laughed since that day, and it was so overwhelming that it made me cry. Thank you for caring about me, Jenny."

At his words, Jenny climbed up into his lap, placed one hand on either side of his face, looked him in the eyes, and said, "I love you, Mr. Jackson, because somebody needs to…just like Jesus loves me."