The square was filled with lights and laughter.
Then I felt a slight tug on my coat. I turned around and found myself looking down at a boy. He could not have been older than eight, with huge brown eyes and an anxious expression on his face. He gripped a little keychain, his hand trembling.
“Excuse me, sir,” he began, his tone calm and polite. “I… I need some help. I can’t find my family. Haven’t seen them in days.”
The child looked down and shuffled his feet. “I’m not sure. I been lookin’ for a while, though. But… but please, sir, don’t call the police.”
“Alright,” I replied gently, laying my hand on his shoulder. “No police, I promise. We’ll just… we’ll figure this out. Okay?”
“Call me Dennis,” I said. “And what’s your name?”
“Ben,” he replied, clutching his keychain a little tighter.
I summoned my driver, and we waited in the cold while he approached the curb. Ben climbed in first, settling into the back seat. I followed, closing the door and looking over at him. “So,” I replied, attempting to initiate conversation, “what kind of keychain is that? “Looks pretty special.”
He gazed down, fingers encircling the little silver heart on his keyring. “It’s… well, it’s just a keychain they give you at this place I stayed at once.”
When we arrived at the address he had provided, I got out and walked with him up to the front door. He knocked once and again. Silence.
I looked back at the square, which had lights sparkling in the distance.
“Alright, Ben,” I said, kneeling down to his level. “Maybe we’ll give it some time. How about we head back to the square and enjoy a few things while we wait? Have you ever been skating?”
He gazed at me, his eyes brightening. “I haven’t! Can we?”
I stood up, smiling. “Sure. Why not?”
Minutes later, we were on the ice. Ben took off, wobbly at first, his small arms flailing. I wasn’t an expert, but I managed to remain upright. We slipped, tripped, and laughed. I felt lighter than I had in years.
After skating, we played one of the carnival games: throwing rings over bottles. He didn’t win, but he nearly knocked over the entire stand with his excitement.
“Can we get hot chocolate?” he asked, eyeing the stand nearby.
“Of course,” I said.
I barely knew this guy for a few hours, yet I felt a connection to him. And I did not want the night to end.
I eventually cleared my throat. “Ben, maybe… maybe it’s time to head back to the shelter.”
He looked up, astonished, and his expression sank. “How did you know?”
I smiled pleasantly and pointed to his keychain. “I recognized that keychain the second I saw it. They gave out the same ones when I stayed there.”
Ben’s gaze sank to the ground, and he slowly nodded. “I just… I wanted to feel like I had a family, you know? Just for Christmas.”
We strolled back to the shelter in silence, the warm evening air settling between us. When we arrived, a familiar person was waiting outside. It was she, the young woman who had run into me earlier. Her eyes widened with relief as she saw us.
“Thank you so much for bringing him back.” She let out a breath, then added with a tired smile, “I’m Sarah. I volunteer here. We’ve been searching for him since this afternoon.”
Over the next three months, I visited the shelter frequently. Sarah and I would meet there and spend hours talking and assisting one other.
By the next Christmas, everything had changed. Sarah and I were now married, and Ben was officially our kid. That Christmas Eve, we returned to the square, the three of us holding hands, surrounded by laughter and lights.
