Life — December 21, 1928 — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

SKIPPY’S Dear Sooxy: It’s two below zero Percy L. up here an the lake's , Ughter than a drum. It’s Crosby 2 ood thing we all shut the water off cause during the night it went to fifteen below zero. I asked Grand- pa how cold that was an he said, “Tweren’t no time for honeysuckle.” There’s a stove in my room so before I went to bed, I put in a big piece o’ wood. For a long time I just lay awake lookin at the firelight suck up the shadows in the room. Only Grandma was up, gettin her last minute knittin done cause tomorrow was Christmas. Every- thing was so quiet that I could hear the train whistle far off an it made me wish that Pop would come then instead of the next morning. The church is only a short distance from the house, an I could hear the organ playin, “O Little Town of LETTERS Bethlehem.” As soon as the people started singin, warm little shivers chased up an down my back. I got up on my knees an looked out the window—the light from the church tickled the snow with gold. I kept starin over the steeple at the mountains far, far away, waitin for Santy Claus an his reindeers to whiz across the sky. I must have been blinkin a long time cause the music stopped. All ya could hear was the pines swishin with the wind, an moanin cause they couldn't go places. The organ started again an then a woman sang, “Silent Night, Holy Night.” It was so much like my mother’s voice that I almost stopped breathin—I could have sweared that she was callin me, only the words was way, way off, an yet like they was bein whispered in my ear—“All is calm, all is bright—” She'd say it any- way, I know her that well, but every- —_= thing ain’t all bright cause why a here an not in my own house? Last Christmas was so different. Mom an Pop tucked me in bed an stood over me until I rattled off my Prayers, they always kept the light burnin low in case robbers got the drop on me. Now nobody cares whether I keep the light up or not— kerosene lamps, the disgustful, iggily things. Who cares if I say my prayers up here? No wonder I owes an owes. Some- thin must be the matter, cause all supper talk is spelled out whenever I get to listenin. Maybe it was the organ, makin me so sadful, but while I was on my knees | thought I'd catch up on prayin—before | knew it, I dropped on eh bed an blub- bered like a kid—me, no less, can you imagine? I was afraid Grandma would come in any minute an catch me, right away I jabbed the corners of my cyes as fierce as I could. When I looked up, the moon was over the mountain, like a mouth laughin silver all over the sky. It even giggled up the stripes of the carpet IT got to wonderin — supposin the full moon was a coin an I bought a million dollars worth o” jelly beans, how much change would I get, an if I didn’t get any, how would I know I wasn’t cheated? Tt got me so roused up that I couldn't sleep. T started makin change an my head got so full of noughts that I must have fell asleep cause I dreamt of haloes. It seemed I was walkin through rooms of silver an gold an they was so big there wasn’t any walls, an if there wasn’t no walls, how could there be a ceilin—so ya can see how big a place I was in. | got skatin around the clouds an who do ya think I ran into — the guy that was drowned last summer. I said, “Where did ya cop the chicken feathers?" I no sooner made the crack than an old man with a white nightgown an wings yells out, “Here, here, none of that talk up here!” An his voice bumbles an bumbles all over the sky. Wherever I sailed, I could hear him thunderin after me, “Tell your dog these haloes are not dog-collars.” All of a sudden I went bustin through empti- ness an I must have punctined through a cloud cause I could feel the rain in my face. It woke me up an there was my dog lickin me on the nose. I let him come under the covers only he tunnels down to my toes an starts sippin away at them. He's only a pup an too young to get learned better. Anyway he knew it was Christmas morning an I ought to be up an doin. The next minute I was down the banisters an divin into all my toys. Pop came stampin in just when the m T up comicbooks.com