The Watchmen Files // The Christmas Edition // Chapter Five // Peace on Earth

Hey guys!

   Well, that was a rush. Chapter five, written today! As in, this morning. Yep, procrastination to the max. Plus we've been painting our bathroom (which is more then just painting, it's getting wall paper off and scrubbing walls), that's taken a while. But it looks good! We're not quite finished, but by next Wednesday we definitely will be :)

   But anyway... last Wednesday, I did something different, as you may remember. If you haven't seen my 'Bad Dreams' short story, click here if you like the Hobbit :)

So, here we go! Chapter Five of the Christmas Edition!

   Shopping parents, grumpy teens, and wailing children crowded the mall walkways tightly. Huge bags of presents hung from their arms, making it a challenge for Mason and Conner to find their way through it all.

   They scanned the crowd for any red suits, hoping for a breakthrough. Mason repeatedly whispered "No no no no..." under his breath, only stopping for the occasional "Get out of the way!"

   When he was on the verge of losing hope, Conner looked up to see a jolly (if you just mean by 'jolly' not happy at all, or fat) man rushing along the edges of the crowd.

   He shouted for Mason and quickly followed in pursuit. "Excuse me, pardon me..." Conner moved slowly through the mob, dodging the enormous bags hanging off of people's arms.

   "Outta the way!!" Mason roared, rudely shoving people to the side. They seemed to get the picture, and soon moved themselves out of his way as he made for the Santa. "Conner?"

   "Right here..!" Conner gasped, pulling away from the group.

   "Where'd he go?"

   Taking in the various people around them, they found that they had lost him. Again.

   Mason looked frantic. "This cannot be happening..."

   Conner was about to suggest someone look in the security cameras when suddenly, the tightly packed crowd of shoppers started screaming and turning the tides towards them.

    "What's going-Mason!" Conner stared in disbelief as a car (make that little red and black Mini Cooper, to be specific) drove right over the mobs toes, attempting a stylish escape.

   By the time it was visible passed the terrified shoppers, the Mini was nearly on top of them. Literally. It nearly hit Conner (who dove to the side just in time), but Mason wasn't letting them get away again. Jumping onto the hood of the car, he held tight and felt around in his pocket for his stun gun. But with Beardy swerving back and forth, it was difficult to keep his grip, much less shoot straight.

   Then the large glass front door to the mall came into view, with people pouring out of it. Mason had to get in, and do it fast.
   As they neared the exit, he heard a shout from above. "Let go Mason!"

   Without thinking, he did. Sliding down the top and then off of the trunk, he hit the ground and turned look back. The enormous, elaborately decorated Christmas tree fell onto the hood, jerking the car to an immediate stop.
   Conner scurried down from the upper level to find the car halted, airbags opened. Opening the passenger side, he pulled Ava out of the seat and quickly carried her to Mason, who held her tightly. "I'm so sorry Ava..."

   "Mason, we better go now," Conner warned, noting the police that had arrived (late). People were pulling out their cell phones, ready to get pictures of the crash and culprit.

   "You're right, let's go."

   "The big story tonight is the Macy's store Santa Clause attempting a child kidnapping earlier today." A man stated, dressed in a gray suit and reindeer tie reported through the TV screen. "The 'Crazy Clause' is in custody now, and the police aren't telling us much yet. They did say that the child was found unharmed, and that she was taken back by her family, who haven't come forward yet. A police press conference will be held early tomorrow morning-"

   With the click of a button, the light shed from the screen left the Harrison's living room dark. Turning the floor lamp on, Mr. Harrison reached down to the pile of Christmas books and started reading one.

   "Cough..." Mason cleared his throat, catching his attention.

   "Yep?" He replied, not looking up from the pages of his book.

   Plopping down on the couch, he flipped the TV back on. "Crazy day, huh?"

   Mr. Harrison nodded. "Ava is taking everything surprisingly well."

   "Yeah," Mason nodded. "Well, this has happened before."

   Mr. Harrison nodded again, still consumed in his book.

   "Peace on earth, huh?" Mason whispered to himself, watching the newscaster reported that a charity store had been robbed of all of its donation toys.

   Pulling his glasses off, Mr. Harrison turned to look at him. "What was that?"

   "It's just... why did they say peace on earth? You know, the angels or whatever?" He gestured to the TV. "Does this look peaceful to you?"

   "It's funny, I just read about this. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, as one of His many names. He offers peace from God to who receives His grace, He makes peace with God for those who surrender to Him in faith, and He brings the peace of God to them who walk with Him.
   Really, there has never been peace on earth since the fall, there have been wars and rumors of wars many times over. But what the angels so memorably proclaimed on that day was a two-pronged proclamation. First it declared the arrival of the only One who can bring a lasting peace on earth, which will be fulfilled in His second coming. But more significantly, they were telling us that God's peace is available for us. 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.' Many people forget that last part. God is pleased by the people that give their lives to Him. When the angles said, 'peace on earth', they were talking about a very personal, individual application of God's peace which is available for whomever accepts it."

   Mason nodded, his mind clearing. "Yeah, that makes sense."

   "Glad I could help," he smiled back, pulling his book back up. "Oh, and thank you for what you did earlier. You're a real Watchman."

   Mason blushed and shrugged with a smirk, "Thanks. She is my cousin."
  


 Okay, that's it for now! I hope you liked it :) Sorry it's taking a lot of time to get this thing over with, but really, I'm impatient for the next file too :)

And also, a lot of that talk about the Prince of Peace I got from John MacArthur's book, 'God's Gift of Christmas'. I found it very enlightening :)

Willow's going to try to get her next chapter up this week, we were peeling wallpaper off the bathroom walls last Friday, so she didn't have time to work on it.

Well, that looks like everything... thanks for sticking with me!

Always Watching,

Darrion