‘No, of course. Not at all.’
Simone takes the box with her and walks off to the examination room.
The receptionist smiles over to me.
‘Would you like me to make you a hot chocolate to make you feel better? We have mini marshmallows. I got them in specially for Christmas for us all.’
My mouth feels parched after all the drama of the morning, so I gladly accept her offer.
Her name badge says Sally and she smiles at me kindly as she hands over the hot chocolate. It is frothy and filled to the brim with marshmallows.
‘This looks lovely. I never realised I could get such a nice hot chocolate in a vet clinic,’ I say after taking my first sip.
‘I used to be a barista. It never left me,’ says Sally.
I watch as the marshmallows plop further into the steamy hot chocolate, melting and frothing away as they sink.
‘Goodness, that is nice. Better than anything I make at home, that’s for sure.’
I have only taken a few sips when the vet returns with the box. I want to block my ears in case she says something terrible.
‘It’s good news. Little robin here is absolutely fine. Nothing wrong at all that I can see. A very healthy specimen, in fact.’
I look up at her in shock.
‘But… It was just there on the windowsill looking sorry for itself and very poorly. How on earth can it be okay now?’
The vet lifts a flap of the box. The robin looks at me and sends out a little chirp and hops about as though nothing has happened. It is as though the vet swapped birds!
‘What on earth?’
‘It might be that the bird had a fright over something. They can be stunned sometimes and shocked if something tries to attack them. I suspect that might be what happened, but he is definitely perfectly fine now, and no damage has been done.’
‘Oh, that is such a relief. Thank you.’
Poor robin, though. I hope nothing tried to attack him. Well, I will ensure nothing ever gets near him again on my watch.
I take a quick sip of hot chocolate and get up to pay the bill, but Simone stops me.
‘No, there’s no charge. It didn’t take me two minutes to check over this little one, and we’re trying to spread the Christmas cheer where we can. I mean, look at Sally here.’
Taking another look at Sally, I notice that she is also wearing a pair of elf ears that peek out from under her seasonal hat. Surely, she can’t be comfortable wearing those!
‘Thank you. You’ve both been so kind.’
I leave the vet with a smile as I carry the little robin towards the car. I want to get it home and back out into its habitat as quickly as I can. However, after all the Christmas cheer in the vets, I can’t help but stop outside a newsagent that has a sale of left-over advent calendars in the window. I suppose most people will have theirs by now. Only 99 pence for a chocolate advent calendar? A bar would almost cost more than that! How can I resist? I rush in to buy one, but it is purely for the chocolate, and certainly not because I am getting excited about Christmas.
Back in the car with the little robin, I drive home slightly faster than on the way in. The roads have thawed, and the sun is shining right down on us, which makes me feel a bit safer and happier.
The radio plays another Christmas song. This time, it is Slade – which was previously one of my all-time favourite Christmas songs. I sing along to it even though I hate myself for it. But how can anyone not sing along to this one? It is physically impossible. So, I figure it is like some kind of reflex action, like when the doctor bangs your knee, and not because I am actually enjoying myself.
When I arrive home, I help the robin out of the box, and it hops away immediately. I feel such relief as I see it hurry across the grass in search of a mid-morning snack. I look at my watch and realise that it is only 11 a.m. and I have achieved so much. I think I deserve a mid-morning snack of my own, so I put the kettle on and start opening the windows of the advent calendar. I have five windows to open at once, and it feels as though it was both mine and the robin’s lucky day. Goodness, it almost feels like… Christmas.
As I bite into the chocolate, I think what a nice morning I ended up having. It went from leaving home against my wishes to meeting nice people and getting a bargain on twenty-four pieces of chocolate! Not to mention the most delicious hot chocolate I ever had.
I settle down to read the latest book I had delivered, but I can’t stop thinking about my morning. I went into town and nothing drastic happened.
What if the story about robins carrying messages is true? What if there could be the possibility of a hopeful future ahead of me, if I am prepared to leave the confines of Willow River Mill?
