She snuggled down beneath the warm soft blankets, with the fireplace glowing through the darkness. It seems almost impossible to believe that one little girl could have traveled such a far distance in only a year. But she did, and she is here, living much like a fairytale princess in what she refers to as her, crystal palace.

Grams and Gramps Winklemann have become the Grandparents she never knew, nor even dreamed of ever having. They give her everything a storybook princess could ever hope of having. Closets filled with the finest of clothing, toys upon tons of toys. Private schools, and dance lessons, music lessons, travels taking her to the furthest tips of the globe.

Carla remembers the bite of Winter in that makeshift cardboard home she slept in, only a year ago. As a matter of fact, she still has the dark wool blankets that covered it's ends, to hold out the snow and ice. She has always kept them folded on the end of her bed. When she is feeling lonely she holds them in front of the fireplace, and reads from the book that her Mother used to every night, until she would fall asleep.

The next thing she knew, there was a voice as soft as the feather bed she was in, calling her name. "Miss Carla, wake and come see the new snow." It was the voice of Missy, Carla's Nanny. She had opened the long pink drapes, so that the morning light could find the room.  Carla stretched her body, and yawned, and stepped out onto the dark marble floors, moving sleepily to her third story window for a look see. The balcony outside her window, was covered in the whitest snow she'd ever saw. Not one footprint or track of any kind had flawed it, and it was a winter wonderland transformed overnight.

Carla's eyes lit up and she sighed from the awesome wintry sight. Brightly colored cardinals caught her attention, in the frozen treetops. They reminded her of Christmas ornaments, swaying in the breeze.

Missy announced that her bath was ready. Reluctantly she pulled herself away from the window, and headed into the bathroom. After her warm bath, she dressed and down to the dining room, she went. Grams and Gramps was already there, having coffee and toast. Gramps was reading the newspaper, as always and Grams had her paper and pencil, checking her daily events calendar.

"Good morning, Princess," they both said at almost the same time. Gramps never lowered his paper when he asked if she would like to take a ride with him downtown this morning. Carla always rode with him, so that she could visit with Hubert. Hubert was now the maintenance man in one of the buildings that Gramps owns. He has an apartment, on the first floor, so Carla visits with him while Gramps goes from door to door gathering the monthly rent.

She stepped out onto the ice covered sidewalk, in almost the exact spot where she had been, the day that she had given Gramps that swift kick in the shin, that sent him to the ground with a bang. She blushes every time she thinks about what she had done, but Gramps just chuckles, and refers to her as, 'Bruiser'.

There was a whole lot of faces that she didn't recognize as the regulars going in and out of  the building, and they were carrying lumber and work tools and wearing thick heavy belts that were weighted with smaller tools, screwdrivers, pliers, measuring tapes and such and there were many of them, not just one or two. They all spoke or nodded as Gramps stood in front of the steps leading up to the doorway. He stopped one man, and asked him where he could find the foreman, and the man told him he was on the third floor at the far end of the building.

Gramps leaned down and gave me strict instructions not to leave the first floor for he didn't want me to get hurt in any of the construction. He said if you get hurt the Misses will have my head! He patted me on the back and headed upstairs.

Carla took a stroll down the sidewalk where she knew it would take her to where her Mother and her had stayed just last year. As she rounded the corner, she noticed a box just like the one they had, except a bit smaller, but it too had the ends covered with blankets, dark heavy wool blankets, to keep out the snow and ice.

A woman's voice came from behind her calling her by name. "Carla!," the lady yelled..."How have you been?" Carla immediately turned in her direction to see a smile as big as all the city lights. It was Rita. She remembers Rita helping her Mother learn how to 'make it' on the streets. She taught her how to panhandle money from passersby, and which dumpsters had the 'freshest' scraps, and which stores would sometimes give handouts to the homeless. But what she remembered most about Rita was that she had always referred to me, as Mom's Ace in the hole. She said, that when most wouldn't give anything to a homeless adult, they would nearly always give to a woman with a child. I knew that Rita was always around, somewhere close.

Rita bent down on one knee and hugged me really really tight, and told me how she missed Mom. I too missed Mom, but I also knew that she was with Daddy, and they were happy. Or I wanted to believe that, either way, she was no longer freezing on the streets and having to beg for food and handouts to feed me, and that was worth a whole lot.

We talked for a bit and others that I knew began to gather around the fireplace, which was a .55 gallon barrel with burning garbage in it, to warm their hands, and talk. I stood among them, as they drilled me for information about the reconstruction of the building down the way. I couldn't tell them anything for I was as in the dark as they seemed to be.  Just as the conversation went silent, I looked up to see Gramp's car pulling to the curbside, and I bid them all goodbye and gave hugs and into the backseat I climbed.

Gramps took my hand and  remarked about how cold I was, and gave directions to the driver to stop and get us some hot
chocolate. As we were waiting on our refreshments, Gramps was on the phone ordering supplies and making arrangements for their delivery.  "What are you doing with the building, Gramps?" He just smiled and told me it was a surprise, and  that real soon I would see. Adults were so secretive at times, and confusing to kids, so I just sipped on my chocolate and pretty much pushed his answer out of my mind.

Just then Carla glanced out the dark tinted window to see a huge plastic sign with big red bold letters announcing that Santa Claus was arriving that day. "Gramps! Gramps!", Carla squealed. "Can I go tell Santa my Christmas wishes?" He thought about it for a second, and then again instructed the driver to pull over, and almost in an instant we were standing in a line behind others wanting to make sure this Christmas would bring them their choices of toys and dreams.

As Carla got closer she could hear some of the children, telling their secrets, and Santa's, Ho, Ho, Ho's, as they slid down the slide into a pile of stuffed animals and overstuffed pillows. Then as they left, the elves would hand them peppermint canes and take their pictures if the parents wanted.

Then it was Carla's turn. She proudly walked up and placed herself on his comfortable knee, and before he could ask, Carla had already started. "Santa," she said quite timidly at first, "I'm not here to ask for new toys, or even clothes, for I've plenty, actually more than I could have ever dreamed of asking for. But I do want to thank you for giving me so much last year, and wanted to know if it was okay with you if I donated what I have to boys and girls that were like me before Jesus gave me to Grams and Gramps. You see? Mama always taught me it was rude to get rid of gifts that others had given me, and I didn't want you to think I didn't like them 'er nothin'. They are all still like brand new, and I know that I would have loved to have had them before." Santa's cheery voice, cracked as he assured Carla that he would be proud of her, as she was showing the true spirit of what Christmas was really about.

As Carla started to jump down, she hesitated and then kissed Santa on his rosy cheek, gave him a hug and then whispered something in his ear.

"We'll see what we can do, Carla," said Santa, and down the slide she went. When the elf tried to hand her a candy cane she politely refused it, saying that peppermint really wasn't her favorite.

For the next few weeks leading up to a week before Christmas morning, Carla spent most of her time going through her room full of toys, sorting and wrapping them before placing them in their respective pile. Some toys were okay for either boy or girl, but of course her pile for girls seemed to be stacking higher than the boys', but she seemed to think that was okay too.

Grams and Gramps had told her that when she was through, they would see that her donation was delivered to the place where they would be well received. Finally she had reached the bottom, and was tying her last ribbon, when out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her special Christmas Bear, laying on her pillow. She reached and got it, and hugged it tight, assuring her soft stuffed friend that she'd not part with him. Carla knew that Mr. Bear was the last thing she had wished for before her Mother passed away, and she could never ever let him go.

It was Christmas Eve, and the day started out like most any other, but it seemed to have a magic floating in the air. The snow was falling and piling up heavily, and everyone had their colorful array of lights reflecting on Winter's ground cover. Carla knew that evening's time would be filled with many things. Dinner at Auntie's house, and opening gifts. Then all would go downtown and watch the Christmas parade, and the lighting of the tree. Sing Christmas song and then watch as Santa and his reindeer took off to deliver the toys. Or so she thought....

Missy, helped Carla in picking out a special dress, fixed her hair with red and blue ribbons to match, and then escorted her downstairs where the Mr. and Mrs. awaited her.

"Come Carla," said Grams, we have a special night planned just for you. A gift that we believe you will remember forever.

Now Carla being an eight year old, had no idea what a gift such as they were describing could possibly mean, but she was all for learning, and so out the door and down the road they went.

All the time they were in the car, Gramps kept telling Carla that he had talked with Santa, and he knew what she had whispered in his ear that day, and that her wish had been granted.

Carla suddenly became very confused, for what she had whispered was she had told Santa that she just hoped that Mama and Daddy were both warm and happy and of course, together.

The car came to a stop in front of the downtown building, where previously all the construction workers were busily working. This time though, there were no workers, and when she looked up, she saw a new set of steps covered with a bright red carpet, and big beautiful clear windows and doors.

With Gramps on one side and Grams on the other, they took Carla by the hands and led her up the steps. Once inside Carla's eyes begin to fill with tears, for the first thing she noticed was a large painting of her Mother and Father, just like the one that she kept on her bedside table. Beneath it, was a sandstone replica of the cardboard box complete with the wool blankets made of puter. On the side of the stone were these words:

"MAY ALL OF SOCIETY SEE HUMANITY AND GOODNESS
AS THROUGH THE INNOCENT EYE OF A HOMELESS CHILD"

and beneath the inscription was the bronze face of Carla, just as they had found her the day they had rescued her from the streets.  As they walked on down the now beautiful hallway lined with many faces that she knew, on the wall beside another entrance way, was yet another plaque that read:

"CARLA'S CRYSTAL PALACE"
"Shelter for the Homeless and Unfortunate"

She stepped inside to find everything in that old run down dingy building wiped completely away. From top to bottom all was new and bright. Huge tall towering Christmas trees with loads of presents and then Carla noticed some that looked very familiar to her. Yes! They were the gifts that she had donated. They too were beneath the tree to be given to the children. She helped serve dinner, beside Grams and Gramps to those that otherwise would be gathered  around a barrel just trying to stay warm. But this Christmas they would have a warm shelter, a soft  bed, and a hot meal they didn't have to retrieve from a dumpster.

This night Carla would find what the real magic of Christmas really is. The gift of giving, each and every day of the year.