Memories in Black and White

"There you are," Rodney said as he walked into the locker room, seeing the object of his search waiting for him on the bench. "I've been looking for you all afternoon. You really shouldn't wander off by yourself that way."

He stopped for a moment, hesitating as he stepped over to the bench where the picture lay. He stared at it for a minute, then picked it up. The picture was an old black and white photo of himself, his sister Jeannie and their mom.

The picture was worn at the edges, and looked like it might fall apart at any moment. He usually kept it in his room in an old photo album, but he brought it out every Christmas and hung it up in his locker. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been as happy as the day his dad had taken that picture. Rodney was six years old, and in 1973 the old koda-chrome was the only camera his parents had at the time. The holidays were always rough for him. Remembering that Christmas was always the hardest. That was the year his entire world had been turned upside down.

1973 was a year of changes it. It was the last Christmas in the old house he had loved so much. It was the year his parents had told him that Santa wasn't able to afford the toy train which was the only thing he had asked for in his letter that year. That was also the year he stopped believing in Santa. And, he mused, that was also the year that he had realized he was so much smarter than all the other kids in his first grade class at school... and his teacher, and the principal, and the seventh grade teacher who had called him "impertinent.' Then there was the Superintendent....

It was no wonder he hadn't believed in Santa at that point, it didn't make any sense to continue to do so. It didn't make sense to believe that an old, fat, overweight man could drive a sleigh led by eight reindeer around the world and deliver toys to over half the worlds children. Then there was also the fact that all those reindeer were female, yet they had male names. Why, self-respecting first grader growing up in Canada knew that the only reindeer to hold their antlers well into the middle of winter are the females. Sheesh.

As Rodney stared at the picture, Carson walked into the locker room. Rodney clutched the picture to his chest, trying to hide it, as he turned at the sound of the door closing behind him.

"Oh, Carson, um, hi." Rodney stuttered, as he tried to un-scrunch the picture.

"You miss `em, don't you?" Carson asked, but he knew the answer already. He knew what Rodney was holding. They had talked about the picture last Christmas when Rodney had hung it up in his locker.

"Yes, I do. Its been a long time. But, that's life. We can't have everything."

Carson stood there for moment, contemplating the lost look on Rodney's face. "Yes, life happens, and sometimes we lose those we love. And other times, we are separated by long distances. But never forget, you do still have family... even way out here."

Rodney gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I know. Its hard to forget you sometimes, you're always under foot. Getting in my way, and ordering me around. If people didn't know better, they'd think you really were my brother."

"HA!" Carson laughed as he reached over and grabbed Rodney by the shoulder, shoving him in the direction of the exit. It was time they joined the Christmas party that John was throwing for everyone in the mess hall.

"Didn't I ever tell you about the time my dad and your mom…....."

Their voices trailed off as the locker room door closed behind them, with Rodney still clutching his picture.