Christmas Dreams

[Betsyraeduke]

Betsy-rae stood in the center of the living room. The house was very quiet as everyone else was sound asleep. However, Betsy-rae couldn't sleep. She gazed around her in slight awe and bewilderment; excitement tingling through every inch of her being. She wondered what her presents were. She was hoping very much for a new radio. Quietly, she made her way to the stack of brightly wrapped gifts. Casually, she sorted through them, a little disappointed when she didn't find any that looked to be the right size and shape to maybe be a radio. Sighing, she put the gifts back as she had found them. She took another long look around the room. She loved the way this room looked right now. It seemed so magical. It was magical in a sense. Not just because it was Christmas eve, but because it was her first Christmas as a Duke. Her first real Christmas ever, for that matter.

All those Christmases that she had spent under the cruel manipulation of her parents the years before had never felt like Christmas. She shuddered at the very memory of them....No Christmas tree.....no mistletoe.....no pretty Christmas lights....no gifts. Of course all those things were material compared to the real anguish that the holiday brought for her back then.......She shook her head, trying to clear away the grisly memories, but to no avail. In spite of herself, she found her thoughts drifting backwards in time.

She remembered vividly the dreary house where she had lived with her parents. She recalled the ramshackle family room with its torn carpet and peeling wallpaper. In her mind's eye she could still see the grimy windows, most of which were cracked or broken and the filthy, tattered curtains that had hung sloppily across them. She remembered the cobwebs which had incessantly lingered in every corner of every room. She recollected the grungy kitchen with its greasy walls and floor; and the room where she had slept. It hadn't been so much a bedroom, but more like a closet, really. It had been a small, narrow room void of windows. The only furnishings that had been in the room were a small cot with a thin worn mattress and a single threadbare blanket and a small dilapidated dresser.

Christmas in that house had been anything but merry. Not once had there been any singing of carols or a single warm family gathering for the holidays during the years that she had spent there. Christmas, back then, had been a time of utter disappointment and pure misery for her. While other children were sitting around a brightly decorated tree, opening gifts, indulging in various holiday treats and otherwise engaged in joyous activities with their friends and families, Betsy-rae spent hour after hour performing one tedious task after another. It had not been uncommon for her to spend Christmas day cleaning shine stills, stacking logs, rearranging the cellar and a long list of whatever other painstaking chores her parents could think of, for her to do. She remembered how she had looked to every holiday season, filled with anticipation and hope that maybe some sort of Christmas miracle would be bestowed upon her; that her family would suddenly love and care for her, and that she would no longer feel empty or lonely. Worst of all, she remembered how that hope was quickly dashed away each Christmas morning when she was roughly awaken by her father and gruffly ordered to carry out some drudging task. She remembered how the pain and hurt which she had always felt inside her seemed to triple in intensity during the holidays back then.

[Betsyraeduke]

Betsy-rae shook her head again, in a final attempt to clear the bad memories away. None of it mattered anymore. She was here now, with this wonderful family. She smiled to herself at that thought. She looked around the room once more, marveling at the bright, glittery decorations. Everything looked so perfect, maybe she would get that radio after all, she thought to herself. She yawned sleepily, and stretched out on the floor in front of the tree, unable to pull herself away from the beautiful glow of the brightly colored lights which adorned it. Just a few minutes later, she was sleeping soundly.........

Betsy-rae stretched and yawned, wondering how long she had been asleep. She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. It was 9:00am. She shook her head to clear the fuzziness from her mind. Then she realized that the house was unusually quiet for being so late in the morning. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. Suddenly, she gasped in alarm. She felt her heart rate quicken as pure dread rose inside her. The beautiful Christmas tree, which she had fallen asleep in front of, was gone. All the other Christmas decorations were gone as well. Worse than that, she wasn't even in the Duke household any more. Instead she found herself back in her parent's house. She had no idea how she had gotten there, but she had no intentions of staying. Desperately she ran to the door and attempted pull it open. She pulled with all her might, but to her dismay, the door wouldn't budge. Becoming more frantic by the second, she looked around for another means of escape. Spotting a grimy, broken window, she started toward it. She had taken just two steps, when she heard the door knob turn and the door slowly creaked open. She stopped in her tracks and looked back to the door. She cried out in fear. She wanted to run, but her legs wouldn't move. She watched, horrified as her dad stepped through the door. She felt hot tears brimming in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks as she spoke.

“Y-- yer supposed ta be in j-- jail.†She stammered.

“Jail?†her father sneered back at her. “Where'd ya git a lame brained idea like that?†He laughed an evil laugh and glared down at her.

“Git outside and git that pile o' scrap metal stacked!â€

“B-- but, it's C-- Christmas....†Betsy-rae started to protest. He father cut her off.

“Since when has that ever made a difference?†He asked coldly. He roughly grabbed her by the arm and escorted her to the door. He harshly shoved her out. He pointed to an extremely large pile of scrap metal.

“If ya know what's good fer ya, yous git ta stacking that and don't give me no more of yer lip!†He barked the order sharply at her.

Upon finding herself outside, Betsy-rae's first thought was to run. That thought was soon dashed when she realized that she was locked in the yard by a high fence surrounding the property. It briefly occurred to her that she had never noticed this fence before, but she shoved the thought away. It didn't matter. She was so hurt and confused that nothing mattered any more. What had happened while she slept? How had she ended up back here? Why was her father here, and not in jail, where he should have been?.....

Suddenly, she became overwhelmed with emotion. She couldn't face life here anymore. She simply could not go through all this again. She had to get away from here. She just had to! Filled with determination which was equaled only by her blind frustration, she ran. She ran as fast as she could toward the fence. Upon reaching it, she fiercely began climbing it, scarcely aware of the curses and bitter shouts of her father calling after her. She made it halfway up the fence when she felt a hand grab her arm.

“Betsy-rae! Betsy-rae you git back here!†Her father shouted angered

“No! Betsy-rae yelled back, trying to pull away from him. His grip on her arm was unrelenting. She continued to try and pull away. By now, she was sobbing hard and screaming, “No! No! No!â€, over and over. She could hear her father still shouting sharply at her. “Betsy-rae! Betsy-rae!.......â€

“Betsy-rae Duke! Wake up!â€

Hearing the sir name of Duke, attached to the end of her name did the trick. At last Betsy-rae awakened. She blinked and opened her eyes. Looking around, she seen the loving and concerned faces of Luke, Daisy, Bo and Uncle Jesse peering down at her. Quickly she sat up and looked around the room. Much to her relief, she found herself in the Duke living room, right where she had fallen asleep. The Christmas tree stood grandly in front of the window, just as it had the previous night. The mistletoe still hung in the doorway. Brightly gleaming tinsel still adorned the window sills and door frames. The presents were still stacked neatly under the tree and the stockings still hung gallantly. Betsy-rae breathed a sigh of relief. She was not her father's prisoner. He had not somehow gotten out of jail and taken her back to live with him, in that horrid house under his harsh and uncaring rule. It had only been a dream. A horrible, horrible dream.

[Betsyraeduke]

“What's the matter, Bets'? Ya was shaking and screamin' somethin' fierce.†Bo asked, slipping his arm around her.

“Nothing!â€, Betsy-rae smiled, “Nothing at all. I was having a bad dream, but it's ok now. Merry Christmas!â€, she exclaimed to all of them

Truly, everything was ok now. Filled with sheer joy and delight, she threw her arms around Bo and hugged him with all her might. Then, releasing him, she turned to Daisy, Luke and Uncle Jesse and repeated the action with each of them. She smiled broadly. She no longer cared rather or not she received a radio among her Christmas gifts. She realized that she already had everything that she had ever really wanted. She had the Dukes, a wonderful loving family that cherished her and that she cherished back in return. No radio could ever top that and nothing could be more wonderful!