Guest Writer 
Josh is getting ready to attend church for Christmas. He is unsure about going because it is his first time attending mass without his family. His mother is still preparing food for Christmas. His grandmother has fallen ill due to arthritis, and even his brother is off hanging out with friends. He feels like a total loner. He often plays video games and watches Anime and K-drama for his own amusement. But there is one event that he is looking forward to, and that is Christmas Day.
During his childhood, he kept tagging along with his grandmother to church on the night before Christmas and saw the wondrous Christmas lights surrounding the church and the happy cheers of the church-goers talking joyously to each other about the event. That inspires him, and that’s why he wants to attend mass every night before Christmas.
“Alright, it’s time to go.”
He ties his shoes, locks his room, and goes downstairs. He sees his grandmother watching some late-night television show, and his mother is still cooking in the kitchen. He goes ahead and kisses his grandmother’s forehead and goes straight to the front door.
“Josh, wait,” a voice calls him to stop right as he is about to leave. It is his mother, Rizalia, holding a white envelope.
“Here is the offering for the mass. Be on your best behavior,” Mother Rizalia hands Josh the white envelope and gives him a pat on the head.
“I know, Mom. I got to go now.”
“Alright, dear. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Mom.”
He opens the front door and walks a few blocks until he reaches the church. It is bustling with people, and children are playing tag. It’s like he is witnessing the spirit of Christmas itself. He begins to reminisce about the time when he first attended with his grandmother. Then, all of a sudden, he feels nauseous, and a picture of a girl is shown in his mind, but he can’t make out the face because it is pretty hazy. He sits on a nearby bench and breathes deeply.
“Who… is she? It feels like… I met her before.”
As moments pass by, he finally recovers and goes inside the church. The scenery of Christmas lights and spectacular decorations displayed all over makes him lighten up a bit.
“Well, if it isn’t Josh. Merry Christmas!”
A person with the same age as Josh approaches him. He is wearing a white polo shirt and jeans, black eyeglasses, and he smells like lavender. The person’s name is Vincent Corazon. He is Josh’s only childhood best friend and a devoted person.
“M-Merry Christmas…”
“You are shy as ever. Why don’t you sit beside me? And where is your grandma?”
“She’s sick. She won’t be able to attend today’s mass.”
“I see. I am very sorry to hear that. Well then, let’s pray for her recovery.”
Vincent lets out an enthusiastic smile which makes Josh smile a bit. Vincent is very kind and charismatic. He sees that the world is cruel, but regardless, he believes that everyone will change because we are all children of God.
“Thanks, Vincent.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for. Now, let’s sit down. The mass is about to start.”
They both sit down and listen to the opening of the mass. As the priest begins to walk to the altar, everyone starts to stand and sing the opening chant. After a while, the homily starts, and the priest begins relaying his message.
“Good evening, my brothers and sisters. Today is the day we celebrate the birth of our God and savior. Today is the day that we are filled with love and joy because God wants us to be happy, to be with someone you love, and live your life to the fullest!”
Everyone gives a hand of applause. As time passes by, Josh hears a quote from the priest that could change his life.
“God has made his plans for all of us. For those who are in need of a relationship, don’t rush yourselves. Don’t be impatient, or else, you will be hurt. Patience is the key. Be patient, and God will give you the fate of meeting that special someone.”
At first, Josh doesn’t understand anything of what the priest has just said, or maybe he just doesn’t relate to it. After the mass, the two start to go outside the church, and when they finally get out, everyone begins to shout.
“3! 2! 1! Merry Christmas!”
A barrage of fireworks flies off into the sky and lets out a continuous bang. The picturesque display is in the air for everyone to see. Vincent lets out a joyous expression, and Josh just stands and continues looking up at the fireworks. After the firework show, numerous falling stars begin gliding through the air – a meteor shower. Everyone is mesmerized by it and takes out their phones to take pictures. As Josh looks up at the meteor shower, he sees a hand reaching out to the sky, and he looks to where that hand originated and sees a young teenage girl. That face has the same feature as his deja vu earlier.
“The meteor shower is amazing, isn’t it? What a way to celebrate Christmas!”
The girl says to him, and then a sudden headache befalls upon him, making him collapse into the ground. Vincent notices him and runs to his aid while calling out his name.
“Josh! Stay with me! Wake up!”
It was sunny outside. Josh in his teens is walking through the convent to find his grandmother after he got separated from her.
“Mommy! Where are you?”
He calls his grandmother’s nickname again and again, but to no avail. He then sits under a tree at the center of the convent.
“Mommy… I’m scared. Where are you, mommy?”
As his voice begins to quiver, and his eyes are about to shed tears, he hears a voice. A voice of a little girl weeping from behind the tree.
“Papa… where are you? Don’t leave me alone… papa.”
It was the girl with pink hair, and she wore a pink dress that fitted the color of her hair. Josh is hesitant to get near her. But he does it anyway. He approaches the girl.
“Excuse me, are you okay?”
“Huh?”
The girl is quivering in fear, and her face is flowing with tears. It feels like she’s crying a lot. She backs away from Josh. He knows the situation and tries to slowly approach her bit by bit.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”
The girl looks at Josh, and bit by bit, she calms down.
“There you go, it wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
Josh lets out a warm smile. The girl blushes to see his innocent smile.
“Are you okay? Grab my hand.”
He reaches his hand towards the girl, and the girl at first hesitates. But after a bit of hesitation, she grabs his hand, and a ray of light shines over the tree, illuminating a light to the two kids.
Josh wakes up in his room and sees Vincent reading his manga volumes. He notices Josh waking up.
“Great! You woke up! What got into you, collapsing into the ground like that and on Christmas day no less? “
He looks around the room and lets out a long sigh. Vincent just finishes up reading the final volume of his manga collection.
“Sorry for making you worry.”
“It’s fine. Like, I can relate to you. Of course, someone will pass out due to being squashed by a crowd of people during Christmas eve.”
Vincent lets out a hefty laugh and walks towards the door.
“Anyway, I need to get going. My mom will kill me if I haven’t made it back from church during Christmas. You need some rest, and I will tell both your mother and grandmother that you are okay.”
He opens the door and waves at me before going out and closing the door.
Josh was staring up at the ceiling for moments after moments, thinking about why he passed out and what his dream was. His deja vu from earlier? Does it have to do anything with Christmas? All of these questions made him tired, and he closed his eyes.
Everything went black. He can’t move every inch of his body. It feels like he is having sleep paralysis. He begins to panic and opens his eyes. But to no avail.
“Help me! Mom! Grandma! I… can’t move my body!”
He keeps repeating these words and receives no response. He begins hyperventilating, and nerves get to him. He was about to scream until.
“Do you still remember me?”
“Huh?”
A voice echoed all around him.
“Have you forgotten about me?”
“Who are you? What do you want from me?!”
“Please remember… 7 years ago…”
“7 years ago…? What do you mean?”
“We met for the first time… In the convent… the 25th.”
Then flashes of fragmented memories flow through him like traveling at the speed of light. He then sees the clear picture of a girl from his deja vu.
“What about now… Do you still remember me?”
Then a flash of light flashes in front of him, and he wakes up abruptly. He takes deep breaths and cold sweat dripping from the pores of his face.
“It was just a dream.”
He gets out of bed and changes his clothes. He looks at himself in the mirror and sees his haggard face.
“What an odd dream.”
After that, he goes downstairs and sees his mom prepping in the kitchen.
“Good morning dear, your breakfast is ready.”
“Thanks, Mom, and… Merry Christmas.”
“Aw, advanced Merry Christmas to you too!”
“Mom, today is Christmas. You don’t have to say the word advanced.”
“What do you mean? Today is December 24th. Tonight is the mass.”
He is dumbfounded by his Mother’s words. He thought that today is December 25th. He grabs his phone and turns it on. To his surprise, the date on his phone marks December 24th. He is shocked and sees the local news on their TV, and it is still December 24. The day before Christmas began. He runs towards his room processing this bizarre event.
“It’s like I am in a loop. Like something is preventing me from advancing to Christmas.”
He ponders himself for hours, thinking of something on what to do to face this looping situation. Until he realizes something.
“The deja vu, the hazy girl from my hazy memory. I must experience this again so that I may find answers on how to get out of this.”
After hours and hours, at exactly 9:28 pm, Josh stops at the place where his deja vu began. He hesitates,and then takes a step forward. A sharp pain echoes throughout his head. And then it flashes. But this time, it is a different vision from the first one. The first vision was the mass, the homily, and the priest’s words.
“God has made his plans for all of us. For those who are in need of a relationship, don’t rush yourselves. Don’t be impatient, or else, you will be hurt. Patience is the key. Be patient, and God will give you the fate of meeting that special someone.”
The second vision depicts the two kids under the tree illuminated by a bright white light at the convent.
And the final vision depicts the meteor shower, and the date on his phone that reads December 25.
After seeing those visions, he finally made it back to reality, clasping his right hand to his head and maintaining deep breaths in order for the pain to subside.
“Is this a message? At the convent. The priest’s words. The date of Christmas. And… I remember now.”
He stands back up on his feet and runs towards the church. As he runs, he stumbles upon Vincent.
“Merry Christmas, Josh! Why are you in a hurry all of a sudden? If it’s the seats, don’t worry. I got them for you.”
Vincent then grabs Josh’s shoulder and drags him inside the church. While Josh, on the other hand, continues to struggle.
“Come on, don’t be like that. You can do what you want after the mass. It’s Christmas after all.”
During the mass, Josh listens to the same words from the priest’s homily, and then all of a sudden, everything goes white. He is alone in this empty white space. And yet, it feels warm and comforting. He then hears the sounds of children laughing and playing, the Christmas carols, and the feeling of sharing love and joy with their loved ones. That is the essence of the spirit of Christmas. When the church bell rings, he finally gets back into reality. As the mass nears its conclusion, the people sing the song “Joy to the World,” and Josh leaps out of his seat and runs towards the direction of the convent. Vincent notices this and ignores it because he knows what his best friend is up to. He too sings enthusiastically.
He runs and runs until he sees a courtyard at the convent. An old grown tree is present in the middle of the courtyard. He walks towards it and sits down under it as leaves begin to wave from the breezing winds.
“This is where we met. 7 years ago.”
He closes his eyes and hums the song. While humming, he hears someone humming in sync with his song at the back of the tree. He stands up and sees the girl in a beautiful pink dress, and her lips are scarlet pink, and her beautiful silky pink hair blows through the breezing winds. They both look at each other, and she smiles.
“It’s been 7 years. Thank you for cheering me up.”
The girl says and smiles with signs of blushes. He is at a loss for words, and he too blushes.
“Look at you, blushing, are we? It’s nice to finally meet you after so long.”
The girl reaches out her hand towards him just like what he did to her 7 years ago. He hesitates at first. But, he reaches out for her hand. As they begin to touch each other’s hands, the fireworks display goes off, leaving behind a white light illuminating them throughout the night. It is now December 25th. It’s Christmas.
“Cristina Aguilar. Remember that.”
“Josh Michael Dela Cruz. It’s nice to finally meet.”
They finally met after 7 long years. This is the fate of Christmas Eve; they are now fated to be reunited once again as they looked up at the meteor showers. They began holding hands and Cristina reached her hand up to the sky, wondering if she could catch one.
He heard the sound of an alarm clock and he then woke up. He sees the date on his phone. It was December 25. He got off of bed, changed his clothes, and went downstairs.
“Merry Christmas, sweetie! Have a seat with your grandmother, while I am preparing for breakfast.”
He sat at the dining table and kissed his grandmother by the forehead.
“Merry Christmas, Mom, grandma.”
His grandma smiled and both continued feasting on the food. After eating, he then washes the dishes and cleans the table. Then, a doorbell rang. He went ahead and opened the door. He saw both Cristina and Vincent wearing their Santa hats and holding their gifts. They both began to yell.
“Merry Christmas, Vincent!”
“Merry Christmas, everyone.”
Josh then smiles and invites them inside his house to celebrate pure joy, love, and bliss on the day of the Lord.
