Page 105 of Christmas at the Movies
Nora and Simon were there, with their daughter, Charlotte, who used to babysit Holly and Nick.
‘Thank you for the book,’ called Holly, waving to them.
Roger and Omar had come too. Omar looked gaunt, following months of chemotherapy, and had lost all his hair. ‘Joyeux Anniversaire,’ he wished her through his face mask.
Holly’s face lit up as she spotted her grandmother’s little red Toyota. ‘Thanks for the trainers, Grandma,’ she shouted, holding up one of her feet so Geraldine could see them through the car window. ‘They fit perfectly.’
Grandma blew her a kiss.
Holly wished she could give her grandmother a hug, but they had to be very careful not to make her ill again.
An announcement instructed the audience to tune their car radios to a specific station and thenLittle Womenbegan to play. Holly hurried back into the car to eat her pizza and watch Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, snuggled under one of the fleece blankets her mum had packed. It starred Florence Pugh and Saoirse Ronan, two of her favourite actors.
‘Hot chocolate?’ Mum asked, handing out steaming cups of cocoa she’d poured from a Thermos flask.
‘I love happy endings,’ said Nick, as the girls’ father returned home from the Civil War, to be reunited with his family for Christmas.
Holly nodded. ‘Me too.’ Her heart was filled with love for her own family. They might be annoying sometimes, but they were also the best family in the entire world. She still couldn’t believe they had done all this, just for her.
As the credits rolled, everyone tooted their car horns again in a final birthday salute.
‘That made me feel really Christmassy,’ remarked Mum as they drove home.
‘It was nice when the Little Women gave up their Christmas breakfast for the poor family,’ said Nick. ‘But I’m glad we didn’t have to give up Holly’s cake this morning. Can I have another piece for dessert when we get home?’
‘Of course,’ said Mum.
‘It feels good to do nice things for other people,’ said Dad. ‘That’s why we run the Christmas film festival.’
Later that night, Mum came upstairs to say goodnight to Holly. She sat on the edge of the bed and tucked theduvet around her, the way she used to do when Holly was little. ‘Who is your favourite March sister, Hols?’
‘Jo,’ Holly answered without hesitation.
‘Mine too,’ agreed Mum. ‘She’s part of the reason I wanted to be a writer.’
‘Youarea writer,’ said Holly.
Mum sighed. ‘I suppose so. I thought I would be able to work on my screenplay during lockdown, when the cinema was shut. But home-schooling and Grandma being so ill made that tricky.’
‘I’m glad she’s better now,’ said Holly.
‘Me too,’ said Mum.
Holly glanced at the birthday badge Nick had made for her. He was really good at art. Lockdown had been so boring, she’d written a few plays for her and Nick to stage in the living room. Nick had spent hours designing the programmes, even though the audience was only Mum and Dad (and Jonesy of course – although he normally wandered off before the curtain call).
‘I liked how in the movie Jo wrote plays for her sisters to perform,’ said Holly. ‘Like me and Nick.’
Mum stroked Holly’s hair. ‘My star in waiting.’
‘What if the theatres never open again?’ Holly wanted to be an actor. It was the only job she could imagine herself doing when she grew up.
‘Theatres were shut for years during Shakespeare’s life, because of the plague. You just need to be patient – the world will open again eventually,’ Mum assured her.
Holly sighed in frustration. She was sick of life being on hold. Of waiting for things to happen to her.
‘Oh, honey, I feel for you,’ said Mum. ‘I was thirteen too, once, believe it or not. I remember how hard being a teenaged girl is – and you’re having to go through it during a global crisis.’
‘It’s scary,’ admitted Holly.
