“What will I tell my wife? She will not go back to that rat hole. It was an abomination. You did not see that place. She will not even entertain such an idea again.”
The Sandman shook his head,
“My Dear Frank, you really don't understand do you? Ellie will understand and she will go back. You underestimate yourself. And you will find that child the next time. I have foreseen it all. All you have to do is believe in what I say and it will happen. It's called faith. God sent me to you as a gift. Did he make a mistake? I think not. He has faith in your ability to see this through. Therefore, you must put faith in his beliefs. Now go upstairs and get some sleep.”
Frank stood.
“I have told her about you, you know.”
The old man smiled.
“I know. I can also tell you, she will not believe that I exist. Just trust your faith and everything will work out."
Frank nodded in agreement and turned to leave. He remembered about his boss. When he turned to ask, the sandman was gone. Only the box remained standing on its edge by the wall. He was amazed at the complete silence in which his withdrawal took place. He stifled a yawn as he noticed his fatigue and went up to bed.
Day 5
The next morning over breakfast, Ellie silently presented eggs and toast at their proper position on the table. Frank worked the fire in the kitchen cook stove. There was still a chill left over from night's air. Heavy steam rose from all the food. Frank's thoughts were focused on how he was to bring up the search for this imaginary child again. After stoking the fire for the last time he closed the door and crossed over to wash was his hands at the sink. All that could be heard was the morning bustle on the street below. They ate in silence for a while each picking at their plate. Ellie broke the silence first.
“Why was it so important you see every child's face?”
Frank played with his food for a second before answering.
“I …” He pondered a moment longer before he delved into the story about that wooden box in the parlor again.
“The gift told me told that a child was at that orphanage and he was specifically there for us to adopt.”
Confusion appeared on her face. What kind of trick was this? She thought.
“The box? Your dream? Who could of known we were trying for over a year and what kind of person could you trust after hearing such a thing?”
Frank kept his eyes in his unfinished breakfast fearful of what needed to be said.
“An angel of sorts has come to us. He is not what you might consider an ordinary type of angel, but he is someone I can trust. He told me where to go, when, and what the child looked like.” Frank's voice became more confident as he revealed more. “I went to see him again last night and…”
Ellie cut in.
“What do you mean, you went to see him?”
“In… our parlor.”
The confusion on her face was so great that it looked like all the distortions actually hurt. Ellie shook her head.
“No, this is not making sense. I don't understand. When we spoke about it the other night I thought you were working through your dream. A dream…”
She focused within her thoughts and withdrew from the response.
At seeing this facial pain Frank tried to explain again. This time he started at the beginning with getting the box as a gift at the party. He explained what the sandman had told him and his idea about his boss being the former recipient. Now it was their turn to get the gift. It took a little while to convince her to, somewhat, understand all that he was saying.
“I don't know. This is all too much to comprehend.” Ellie said at last. “Why haven't I seen him yet?”
This caught Frank off guard.
“I…I do not know.” He thought about it for a moment. “We will check right now.”
Frank took her hand and led her out of the kitchen across the hall and into the empty parlor. There against the wall in an upright position was his gift, alone and un-animated.
“I've seen him only at night. Maybe we will have to check later.”
Skepticism set itself on Ellie. This was too much to believe. Frank had said this the last time and had no one to show off.
“I wasted too much of the day and you're late for work. No more of this for now. We'll check tonight.”
Frank nodded in agreement. Ellie nodded back.
“Now go to work. You'll be lucky if you still have your job.”
Ellie pushed him to the front door. She handed him his coat, scarf, and derby and shoved him outside. Frank protested. He tried to tell her he had a few days off but then the door shut on him before any good words even passed his lips. Not knowing what to do next, he decided to go to work anyway.
Ellie stood with hands on her hips going over what was said. She walked into the parlor and studied the poor man's box from the doors threshold. She spoke out loud to know one but herself. “I never thought Frank to be a fool before this. We'll see tonight what this gentleman thinks he’s doing with Frank's mind. We'll fix this real quick.”
Later in the afternoon, Ellie was walking home down the main street carrying some groceries for their evening meal. An overcast sky threatened snow again with a cold wind nipping at her cheeks. Looking down to brave the cold, she didn't watch where she was going. She bumped into someone and it startled her. To her surprise it was an old school friend. They chatted briefly and the woman asked about Frank's brother, who was a friend of hers from years back. Ellie shared that he and his family went to Europe on business in March and were due back at Christmas. They said their good bye’s and wished Christmas spirits between them. Using her gloved hand to shelter her face from the cold wind, she went back to the day's chores.
That night after dinner they sat without speaking in the parlor with expectant fear in their hearts. Once again the room was quiet with anticipation. Frank feared that his sandman wouldn't show.
Ellie feared that if he did arrive, by whatever way possible, her husband never knew how it happened, would she believe such tall tales? They sat many hours without saying more than a few words. When both of them started nodding off Ellie stood groggily.
“I can't believe I wasted my whole night again waiting for this tall tale of yours to come true. I should of trusted my instincts. You can stay here but I'm off to bed.”
Angrily she turned and slowly shuffled her feet off to their room. Frank followed her to the stairs but couldn't bring himself to say anything in his defense. What was he going to do? He watched her ascend the stairs second guessing himself. He turned back to the parlor to pick up the empty mugs of tea they left behind and to extinguish the lamp. When he crossed the room to get his mug from the table near the window he realized that he passed Ellie's mug without picking it up. He turned to grab it and the sandman was sitting in the same chair Ellie had not moments before.
“Hello Frank. I was wondering when she was going to go to bed. Boy it's nice to sit in a warm chair once in a while." The Sandman shifted his bottom to gain a better position. His box lay flat under his feet like a very short ottoman.
“Do you know how long it's been that since I’ve even been this close to warm? Of course, there was that time when I was too close to that fireplace back in 1249. That was a hot one. But that's another story for another time. Come, sit. Let's talk.”
A disgusted look spread across Frank's face. “Why didn't you show up just a few minutes before? Now she thinks I'm crazy!”
He plopped himself into the seat he occupied a few minutes ago, mug still in hand sighing heavily.
“Frank, Frank, Frank. As I had said before, she will not believe you. You shouldn't have told her just yet. In time all things will be understood. This is no different. God's gift was given to both of you but my box was to be revealed to you and only you. No one else can see me or hear me. Therefore, God wants you to carry out the task at hand because he feels you're strengths are what's needed, and that you are capable of seeing it through. Faith my boy, have faith. Tomorrow afternoon you will return to the orphanage….”
“No.” Frank shook his head. “I can't. Ellie will not hear about going back after all this. This is not like getting a pet where I go out, pick one up and bring it home as a surprise. She has to be there and I can't put her through that pain again."
The old man sat in silence at the statement. He could not believe what he was hearing. Frank was going to give up. He was finding it too hard to do what was right. The old man looked up beyond the ceiling to a higher place. He closed his eyes.
“Are you refusing God's gift?” He asked with his head still looking up to the heavens and his eyes closed.
“No, but I can't hurt Ellie again.”
“Then you would let this child die because she would hurt for a few hours? How does one balance such loss against a little pain without showing selfish reasons? In every life there is pain Frank. I can promise you, payment for that little pain will be so bountiful that it shall be forgotten minutes afterward. Faith Frank, have faith in what I say. Go tomorrow afternoon and be rewarded. This is God's wish.”
Frank looked him in the eyes.
“Alright, I’ll try.”
“No Frank, there is no try. If you believe and follow my direction then you will succeed. Now go off to bed. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow.”
Frank stood and his eyelids grew very heavy.
“Okay.” Frank said. He crossed to the door, mug in hand pausing.
“Sleep. Yes, very sleepy.” Frank reiterated before he went off to bed.
The sandman continued to sit in his warm seat.
“Yes, get some sleep. I'll stay here awhile and warm up some more.” He adjusted his bottom again.
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