Miracle on 34th Street

It was all over the News around the globe for wrong reasons. A week passed by, still my organization made headlines on most of the Prime time News.

Some say there is a political agenda behind this; some say my company has incurred lose to the magnitude that it has to start all over from the beginning, some say this is a new generation war waged against my country. In fact, none of that made any sense to me. I was just aware that my company has been hacked by hackers group and all our data was seriously compromised.

I am Kevin and I am a writer. I have contributed to scripts of some of the commercially and critically acclaimed films, TV Series. My position in company could easily be termed as a highly prolific and very competitive. I work for “The Modern Times” one of the majors in the Entertainment sector.

This is the worst time of the year, to have a problem of this kind. Christmas is just around the corner, celebrations are in full swing in town. I am not supposed to be here, I am supposed to be just preparing for my long planned vacation instead of being here waiting to meet my board of directors. I was not briefed about the agenda of this urgent meeting, the worst I can expect is to be asked to call off my vacation.

“Come in, Kevin”, my production head, Lenny said to me.

I regained my cognizance and went in.

“I believe by now you must be well aware of problem our company is facing and I am really sorry that I have some more bad news for you”, “We have credible information from our sources that your latest script “Persona”, which we planned to Air by mid next year will be released online by hackers within couple of days”, “Once it is out and people reads it, no one is going to be interested in watching it” he told me with a straight face.

This just jolted me, came as a huge shocker. Now I clearly understand what it means to be hacked and being data compromised. I kept my silence.

“We must be prepared for situations like this and I like you to write a new backup script”, “This will position us ahead of our competitors and any external threat”, “This will also help us elevate our morality and will give some leverage to our brand name in business”, “I know it is hard but I like you to complete the draft copy by mid of next month”

“So, does this mean I have to cancel my Vacation?” I plainly asked though I know exactly that’s what he meant.

“Sorry Kevin, I am afraid so, we all must stand together in times like this”

With no other options left, I took a leave. Once I strolled out of the room, the first thing crossed my mind was “How am I going to convince Vidia? She will be heart broke”. Though the important question here was “How am I going to get the inspiration to write a new Script?”

Writing is a highly creative process which will need lot of inspirations and an ample time to study the concepts or contents. But the lack of inspirations and time constraints, could seriously affect the output.  

Once home, somehow I was able to convince my wife Selina but I could not convince her to talk with me to convince our daughter.

“You got to do this alone, I cannot see her Cry”, Selina firmly told me.

“Ok I got it. I will do this alone”

Vidia is 9 years old, she loves Christmas. She waits whole year dreaming about this season. She loves to help me with Christmas decorations. To think that I have to break her little heart during this festive time made me feel real sad.

“Dear Vidia, I have some bad News for you. But we will talk about it later. How about we first go for little stroll inside Central park and have your favourite hot chocolate at your favourite place on 34^th street” I whispered to Vidia

She got all dressed up so beautifully, tucked cosily in her winter clothes and was wearing her favourite pink boots. We started walking from our home. It was getting dark outside and by the time we reached 34^th street, New York it become completely dark. This is one of the busiest places on earth.

On the sidewalks I saw a woman trying to talk to me. On any given day I would prefer to take my eye away from people like her and walk ahead. She was stout, with squint eyes; she also carried a walking stick to balance herself. She was wearing a filthy outfit, not made her hairs and had a voice that could easily scare a child.

“Don’t you dare to walk away from me, Stop right there!” She screamed, seeing me trying to walk away.  

For my daughter’s sake I stopped there, I did not want my Vidia to get scared. I did not want another trouble this night.

Pointing down she started talking in her grumpy voice “Sorry Mister, I don’t need money or something from you. I just need a phone call. This person here passed out here in front of my eyes” “He might be suffering a stroke or something, he is in emergency, I have been trying to talk some sense into people to help him and am being reject for the last 20 minutes” “He could be a very important person in someone’s life, he could be a father, a son, a husband, a lover, a friend” “Many people’s life might be dependent on him” “This person here needs help for heaven’s sake” “Would you please call an emergency number from your phone and report the situation?”

I Dialled 911 from my cell and services arrived much quickly than I expected, given the traffic conditions of this city. I decided to accompany that person to hospital and to wait for someone from his family to arrive. In the hurry, I forgot the woman completely, forgot to acknowledge how considerate that woman was to some stranger. I thought about her again only after reaching hospital.

Police was able to locate the address of the man and informed his family. After a brief time, I got assurance from doctor that he is out of danger.

Doctor Said “Since you brought him on time, we were able to save his life”

Before leaving hospital, I happened to meet his wife. She was very grateful and said to me “I cannot image what would have happened to Bob if you were not there to help him”; “I cannot bear to imagine raising my kids without father” “Thank you so much”.    

When I came out I realized how thoughtful that woman was.

All through this, my daughter was very calm and behaved so well. We went to her favourite place and I said her about cancellation of our vacation. She warmly received me and understood the situation. I was happy that we are done with it. We took a walk back to home.

Surprise! I saw that woman standing on crosswalk just a few feet away from where I met her earlier today.

“Hi There! Thank you. If it is not for you, I would not have helped that person” “He is doing well now and his family is with him” “Thanks again for talking some sense into me!” I laughed as I said that.

She grinned and appeared very beautiful to me now.

“People are very busy, no one has time to lookout for each other” “Nobody has time to stop and thank others, nobody has time to care, remember, love” “I could someday pass out and die in sidewalks, and it is the hard hitting fact that no one is going to stop and help me, just that thought makes me shiver inside. I just saw myself there when I saw that person passed out, I just showed him a little empathy and you took care of the rest”

I was taken aback completely, everything she said was true.

“Thank you! And Merry Christmas!” she said.

“Sorry, by the way, what is your name?” I said.

“I am Linda” She said

“What are you doing this Christmas Linda?” I asked her.

Before she could reply I said “I like to invite you to my home this Christmas Eve. You are cordially invited to my home for some fun time”, “My daughter will be very happy to have you around, Won’t You Dear?”

Linda just smiled and nodded.

“Merry Christmas!” I said and took a leave.

By the time we reached home, every odds of the day were completely vanished. And I was also happy that I got an inspiration for my next script.