DECEMBER 16, 1960
White Christmas Blacks Out
"I only asked for an airplane," the boy thought to himself. "I asked them for an airplane like George's, only they said I was too young. Well, I'll show them I'm not too young-I'll show my father. I did show them, didn't I? When I opened my presents and there wasn't any airplane like George's.
The boy was walking sulkily along a very dark and dirty street. He had been crying, had mixed his tears with the falling snow, and his clothes, although very expensive, were not adequate to ward off the all-pervading cold. He had run for some time after leaving his house, then had slowed to a sobbing walk, not caring where he wandered to. Indeed, he had unwittingly cried his way into the very worst section of town - down by the river. Even here, among poverty so apparent that the very houses seemed emaciated from hunger, 'there was Christmas. The lights shone differently in the windows where holly hung. And little children, although they went to bed hungry, knew that Santa Claus would leave them some small present. The little boy was told where his presents came from. He knew nothing of Santa Claus, only that his father did not buy him the airplane like George's. He did not notice the lights, or see the holly. He saw nothing but his own sorrow until he heard, "What're you doin' here, punk?"
There were two large teenage boys standing over him. They were dressed in rags and did not look friendly. "I said,
the silver dollar his father had given him for luck. Then they tossed the coin in the air, laughing. The little boy, finally heartened by his anger, protested, "Hey! that's mine!" SMACK!! The blow resounded in the desolate street as the bigger hood slapped him. Then the ruffians grabbed the young boy and, Splash!, threw him in the icy river!
The young boy screamed and struggled violently. Just as he was almost exhausted from thrashing in the icy water, his hand touched an object. It was the piling of a dock! He had reached the side of the river, and next to the piling was a small ladder. Uncaring even if the hoodlums were there, he exerted his last bit of heroic energy in climbing to the dock. There he fainted, face in the snow.
The lights in the hospital were white and glaring, and outside one could see the snow falling peacefully. Three people stood in the bare room. An officer, who had found the young boy on the dock, was with the boy's parents. A doctor entered silently, walking on sponge rubber soles. "He will live, but both legs were frozen badly. We may be able to save his arms, but we will have to amputate the legs." The young boy's father tightened his grip on the object he carried, and a small yellow airplane went crashing to the hospital floor.