Neha found it difficult to contain her excitement. The teacher kept rambling about the tribal uprising but not even a single word entered her brain. Well, why would she care about the tribal uprising when she had better things to think about? She kept checking her pink watch every now and then. It seemed like time had forgotten to move his limbs towards future. Every other second, she cast a glance at Jack. He was completely absorbed in the lecture.
She eagerly waited for the class to end. But that was a long way to go. One can not expect the class to get over in the very first hour. At last, the hour was over! She rushed to Jack's bench. But, Jack just smiled and told her, ''Wait till evening''.
"Why evening and not morning?" she moaned.
Neha could not concentrate on the class. Her thoughts were circulating around the park. Jack already told her that, in a secret spot in the park, elves were living. Jack promised to take her to the park after class. Initially, Neha's mother refused to allow her to the park. But at last, she relented mainly due to Neha's nudging and gave her the permission. Neha's joys knew no boundaries. At last, when the evening came, they both hurried to the park.
They waited till the park was empty and Jack took her to a lonely bush at the end of the park. They looked eagerly under the bush but nothing was visible. They had to wait till it was dark. The wait seemed to last for long hours. You can't see the elves just like that. Only once in a blue moon you can see them. Jack's older brother had told him that on the particular day, the elves would be visible at that spot as soon as it became dark. But they will be visible just for five minutes. They had waited for long hours just to see the elves. Both of them knew nothing about the elves. Neither did they know how the elves looked like, nor how tall they were. All that they knew was, a shimmering light would be seen under the bush. As soon as the light is seen, all you have to do is to focus the flashlight at the spot. It will last just for five minutes.
At last, the much awaited moment arrived. A bright but short light appeared. It was more like a small glitter from a diamond. It was somewhat mild but it was bright. They both managed to focus their flashlights at the spot. At first, nothing was visible. But just as they were going to give up, they saw something wriggle under the light. They had to strain their eyes to see it.
It was such a different experience. It seemed like a whole town was below the bush. The elves were so funnily dressed. It was like an entire town full of clowns. It was as if the people jumped out of the circus show. They were way too small. They were only few inches tall. The city was lit up with beautiful lights. It looked as if the fireflies turned into street lights. Everything was so modest. The happy faces of the people added more beauty. Just as they watched, it became dark. Nothing was visible once again.
Neha couldn't contain her excitement. She unconsciously asked, ''The elves are so happy''
''Ya! It's Christmas!'' Jack replied.
Soon the excess excitement died out and she became herself. She realised slowly that it was way too late. Glancing at her watch, she rushed back home.
On the way back, the same thing came over to her mind again and again. ''The elves are so happy just because it is Christmas?'' None she was close to, knew about elves. They all thought that she making things up. None believed her.
Neha had never celebrated Christmas before. In fact, she knew nothing about Christmas. But that year, something became different. She came to know about the happiness of Christmas.
Never again she saw the elves nor heard about them. But every year, she had a memory to cherish and a reason to be happy about.
It was Christmas!!
