If He Had Not Come

It seemed like Bobby had hardly gone to sleep when a loud voice called, “Get up, Bobby, get up right away!” He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Was it morning? Was his dad calling to him already? He jumped out of bed and pulled on his clothes. He sure wondered if he was going to get the presents he wanted—new skates, a flashlight, a baseball, maybe that model airplane he’d seen at Woolworths! He hurried downstairs.

But all was still, and no lights were on. His dad wasn’t waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, his mother wasn’t in the kitchen making breakfast. And the Christmas tree was gone! No stocking hanging above the fireplace, no wreaths in the window, and no presents!

Bobby ran over to the front door and looked up and down the street. He could hear the rumble of machinery from the large factory three blocks away. He grabbed his jacket and cap and raced to the factory entrance, but it was blocked by a grim-looking man. “What do you want, kid?” he growled.

“Why is the factory open on Christmas?” Bobby wanted to know. “Christmas?” the man asked. “What’s that? I’ve never heard of it. We’re very busy right now, kid, so you clear out, you hear me?” Bobby frowned and turned away, puzzled and even a little scared. What’s going on? he wondered as he started toward town.

Bobby hurried along the sidewalk. Maybe I’ll find someone else I can ask, he thought. To his amazement, the stores were all open—on Christmas Day! The grocer, the barber, the baker—each of them busy with customers, and they impatiently replied to his question, “Christmas? What’s that?” Bobby tried to explain it was Jesus’ birthday, that the first part of the word Christmas means Jesus, but he was gruffly ordered to move on.

“Can’t you see I’m busy?” the five-and-dime store owner demanded as Bobby turned away.