I'd done the best I could. It wasn't like I'd known who they was. They
looked like everybody else except maybe that business with the light all
about 'em.
What's that, you say? Do I have different standards for different folks?
Of course not. We know the law. No discrimination. First come, first served,
and all that. Still, looking back at it, there was something special about
that night, not that I noticed it at the time. A bright star. And a kind of,
well, hopeful feeling.
But that's the way you feel whenever a baby's about to be born, isn't it,
that the whole world's gettin' to starting all over again, and how this
time, by God, we just might get it right, ya know?
Maybe that's why I had such a good feeling when I saw the baby. Cutest thing
you ever saw. But they all are at first, don't ya know, before the world
gets to 'em. And to all of us, I guess. I didn't figure the kid would turn
out any different, but you never know, there was a special kind of glow
about Him. Good health, I suppose. They say his folks came from good stock.
You never know who you're gonna meet on the road. No tellin' what a boy like
that could become.
But it wasn't just the baby, it was something in the air that brought
everything out. That sky. That star. The moon. And a kind of, I don't know,
music. Like the angels were singin' or something. Probably just the night
wind. It'll play tricks on you this time of year. Unseasonable, the weather
was. Like it is right before a change. Before a storm comes through and
changes everything. Makes you kind of uneasy, like something's about to
happen any minute. Like the whole world's waitin' for something.
Maybe I'm imaginin' it, 'cause I didn't notice anything special at the time.
That's how things go in this business, ya know, you get so busy, what with
the fresh linens and touchy customers and tryin' to find good help, that
before you know it, it's all over, and it's only when you're lookin' back at
'em that you see how things really were at the time.
When something's actually happening, you can miss out if you're not looking
real close. There's no Signs and Wonders and all that unless you're lookin'
for 'em. Hey, who knows, maybe something's happening right now we should be
paying attention to, huh? Whaddya think?