A Short Christmas Story About Angels

by Alan N. Canton

Once upon a time there was this tiny publishing company located in the
coastal empire called California. The little company was run by a jaded,
sarcastic, curmudgeon of a man who had had many bad experiences with other
publishers. Well, one day the man decided enough was enough and he embarked
upon a mission to meet some new faces in the publishing world. He hooked up
with a wonder of wonders called the Internet and started to correspond with
others located not only close by, but in the hinterlands, far, far away from
the tiny publishing company. He was sure the publishers in the foreign lands
outside California would not be very friendly or even understand the ways
and customs of the empire. “They are probably just like the New York
publishers. They will do business the same way,” thought the man. But he
corresponded with them anyway.

And lo, there he met a bevy of publishing angels personified by the
wonderful people who inhabited the online empire. They had kind voices and
good hearts and were able to do what no mortal single New York acquaintance
was ever able to do.. to convince the old man that there was empathy, and
understanding for the plight of the small publisher. “Surely, these
wonderful people cannot really be  publishers thought the man. So many
publishers in the evil empire (of New York) are mean, nasty, and intolerant.
These people could never be one of them!”

Yet the angels of publishing (because they were truly angels) understood why
the old man thought the way he did. They understood how he had been hurt and
abused by publishers in the past. They knew that the man had a good heart
that had been broken so many times before.

And they said to him. “We have come to make things right for you. We have
come to show you the light. We have come to lead you to the promised land of
publishing. We will lead and you will follow, and in time you will come to
understand the magic the happens in this foreign land of publishing angels.”

And the man was in awe. For not only did the angels keep their word, they
went beyond the call. They comforted the man during a terrible period of
personal strife. They never let the man forget that they were capable of
real magic, not mere smoke and mirrors like the New York publishers. And the
angels went to the time, trouble and (for some) the cost to send him a gift
which was more valuable than any gift he had ever received from any other
publisher (and he had received many.) For this was a gift of the heart. It
was a gift in the true meaning of friendship and fellowship. The man was
deeply moved and vowed to thank the angels of publishing for not only the
gift but for showing him their true sprit.

The man was perplexed. What could he get the angels? What do angels have
need of? “Surely there must be something they would want,” he thought.
Finally the answer came to him while he was out shopping. He knew what to
do. He reached into his pocket and donated some of the coins received from
his books and software… in the name of the angels… into the red
Salvation Army kettle. The man hoped that others less fortunate might
receive some of the warmth and spirit of the season that he had received
from the angels. “I know this is what the angels would want for the
holidays,” he said. “It should make them happy.”

And on Christmas eve the man stood by the window and looked up at the moon
glimmering behind the misty clouds, the same soft orb that bathed the night
in the foreign lands outside of California. He said in a whisper “Thank you
angels. May the holiday and new year bring each of you, and all the angels
that dwell in your lands, health, peace, and prosperity.”

He was quiet for a while. Then, for an instant, the moon emerged from the
clouds and glowed brightly, showering the man in a waterfall of yellow-gold
light. A soft smile came over the man’s face. It was Christmas eve, the
night of miracles.

He knew that the angels heard him.

The End

Alan N. Canton

[A contribution of $100 has been made by Adams-Blake Publishing to the
Salvation Army in the name of Pub-Forum and all of its members.]