Noel Not an Angel

By Richard W. Kelly

Charlie has everything going for him. He lives in a great neighborhood, with a cool car, awesome job, a beautiful wife, and two adorable kids. But he hates both religion and commercialism, meaning, he hates Christmas. One afternoon a homeless woman saves his son. In return they bring her into the house during a terrible winter storm. Can she change Charlie's view on life? Is this woman an angel or a miracle that can make Charlie realize what he has? Noel Not an Angel is a Christmas tale about cherishing those important moments.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard W. Kelly
• Release date: Oct 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005217747

Richard W. Kelly

Richard William Kelly was born in Arlington, Texas in October of 1980. The second born and first son of Stephen James and Carolyn Ann Ferguson Kelly. He and his older sister Kerry spent their childhood in the suburbs between Dallas and Fort Worth. From an early age he had wild aspirations to become either a professional wrestler or a writer and imitated both.​Richard graduated from Martin High School in 1999. Throughout school he wrote as a hobby with a dream to one day become a writer, but not enough bravery to attempt it. While his sister moved out of state and his parents relocated to the Houston area, Richard moved to Denton, Texas and attended school at the University of North Texas. May of 2005.He worked various retail jobs while he studied. Always at a loss for a dream that seemed rational he majored in History, Political Science, Anthropology, Mathematics... He eventually graduated with B.A. in Economics in May of 2005.​He married his wife in July of 2005 and bounced back and forth between Houston and Denton. They had met in high school at a coffee shop in Arlington called Scared Grounds.​Unfortunately, college degrees lacked the guaranteed employment both were expecting, and they spent two years moving around and looking for work. Richard finally landed a job as an analyst in Katy, Texas in February of 2007, a career that is still growing today.In 2009 at Richard’s twenty-ninth birthday he set a goal to write a novel. On July 14, 2010 he released Testament. This, just like the college degree was not a guarantee of a career. Writing remained a hobby as he released books slowly as the years went on as he changed analytics jobs and Texas towns.In 2017 he relocated his family to Broomfield, Colorado. In 2019 he received his M.S. in Management and Leadership.Although he loved the atmosphere and slowed down pace of Colorado, he was no match for the high cost of living or the altitude. He and his wife now reside back in Texas.

Book preview

Noel Not an Angel

By

Richard W. Kelly

Published by Richard W. Kelly at Smashwords

Copyright © 2022 Richard W. Kelly

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Noel Not an Angel

THANK YOU

To all the creators of the great Christmas tales. I think of a Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens, Christmas Story – Jean Shepherd, How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Dr. Suess, and Elf – David Berenbaum. Hopefully this story warms a few hearts as those did mine.

December 15th

Ernie Sparks was proud of everything that his life had brought him. At thirty-five years old he had a wife, two children, a big house in the suburbs, the car of his dreams, a career that was skyrocketing, and a community that he played a big part in. But he still did not wake up every morning thinking of how lucky he was and how happy he was to be able to live another day in his perfect life. He, just like most people woke up feeling overloaded with responsibility.

It was December fifteenth. The snow had been falling for over a month, the streets were white although the banks of plowed snow were a bit greyer. Every morning when he would step outside for his morning jog the cold crisp air would give his lungs that alive feeling that he interpreted as the cold death of winter.

That morning was like all the rest. He woke up to the soothing sounds of waves crashing on a beach thanks to the modern technology that is the smart phone. He opened his eyes to the familiar ceiling and took a deep breath to prepare for another day of responsibility and endless work.

He leaned over and kissed Lizzy, his wife, on her forehead just gently enough to keep from rousing her from sleep. He slipped out of bed and put on his sweat pants that were conveniently stored in a pile on the floor next to the bed. Rising to his feet he stretched letting his back and neck pop as they aligned for a day’s work.

Ernie threw on a hoodie and headed downstairs to get his morning coffee and running gloves. He wandered through the darkened house as he did every morning first maneuvered by the various illuminated clocks shining 6:48 at him. But once he got to the kitchen and started his coffee it was the lights of the coffee maker that gave him the brightness to put on his gloves and get his running thermos.

He felt like everything was in preparation. Just getting up in the morning was preparing to work, getting downstairs was preparing to get his coffee which was preparation for his run. He wanted to feel like something was just for that moment. He pondered his own self-imposed depression when the little ding of the coffee maker snapped him back to reality.

He poured his coffee into his thermos and headed to the front door. He opened the door and the wave of crisp cold hit him. He took that deep breath he always did and cursed the cold in his mind. He contemplated why he did not live in Texas or San Diego.

He took a couple steps, closing the door behind him and looked at the beginnings of the sunrise over his neighbor’s house. The image was amazing, it belonged on a jigsaw puzzle, but he would not notice.

His mind went to his jog as he started heading down towards the sidewalk. Although he would never realize it, it did not matter where he lived, he would always dislike it. If he lived in Texas he would complain of the heat in the summer. If he lived in San Diego he would complain of the winds and the lack of seasons. He currently lived in Vermont and he was determined to complain about it.

The sun came over the houses as Ernie jogged through the neighborhood. It was his normal one mile jog up around the pond, through the park and back down his street. The ambiance was perfect, there was no wind to make things frigid, there was just enough light to appreciate the well decorated yards for the holiday, and the old-fashioned white picket fences that protected each of the northeastern style houses with the big porches with swings.

He did not care for the decorations as he was under the impression that Christmas was just a commercial holiday. He felt that society had foisted a day of high capitalism based around a day ancient people believed to be sacred. He did not believe in anything of the sort.

It was a jog that should have been the highlight of anyone’s day, but Ernie could only focus on his breath, his steps, and the idea that he did not want to be doing the jog at all. As he rounded the pond, he made sure his steps were solid, the dirt around the pond was the only place that tended to freeze into ice and he needed to make sure the spikes from his removable microspikes stuck into anything that may be ice.

He made his final turn away from the pond and into the park. He kept an eye out for the crazy lady that lived there. He assumed she lived there, just some poor homeless woman that always seemed to be hanging around their neighborhood park. She never really bothered anyone other than her consistent requests for money. But that was enough for Ernie to dislike her.

He jogged down the path that was randomly flanked by pairs of benches. The sun had fully risen over the houses turning off the streetlamps that nestled into the trees in the park.

He ran around the bend in the path when he almost ran into the crazy old woman. She was picking through the trashcan. Ernie hopped