I know this is really short, but it's meant to be inspirational.  so read
and enjoy!  Merry Christmas!

                             The Christmas Giving
                    By: Danielle (janelane25@hotmail.com)
               MTV’s Daria does NOT belong to me yadda, yadda…


Trent and Jesse sped down I 90.  They wanted to get home before 6:00 AM.
The snow came down hard, hitting the windshield so Trent turned on the
wipers full blast.  The ice crusted the doors and the tops of each window.
But it didn’t matter because there were no handles to roll them down anyway.

Suddenly a small Mercury came speeding down the highway, right toward the
Tank!  Trent swerved the wheel all the way to the right but the car smashed
right into his side.  The metal crunched in gripping his lag in a deadly
snare.  The glass scraped across his skin and he yelled as the steering
wheel flew up and hit him hard in the face.  When Jesse came to he looked
over at Trent and shook him.  “Man are you alright?” Then Jesse turned Trent
over and after wiping the blood from Trent’s nose, eyes and mouth, he called
911 on his cell phone.

Jane and Daria sat contentedly watching the Christmas special of Sick Sad
World.
“Could Christmas turn any more commercial?” Daria asked flipping once around
the channels.
“Hey, at least little children don’t run up, ring the doorbell fifty times
and then complain when you give em one tootsie roll!” Jane said.
“And what is it with the Christmas spirit?” Daria asked.
“ Well it’ll pass, thank god!” Jane said snatching the remote from Daria’s
grip and turning it back SSW.
The phone rang twice and Jane picked it up.  “Hello?  Yes… this is his
sister… what!?  Yes I’ll be right there!”  Jane hung up.  “Trent’s in the
hospital!”  Without a word the two ran out and slipped into Jane’s old BMW.
Once at the hospital Jane and Daria waited and then Dr. Phillips came out.
“Hi Jane, Daria.  Well there’s some bad news.”
“What?” Jane asked with a desperate plea in her eyes.
“Well Trent was thrown into a comma from the accident.  We don’t know when
or even if he’ll come out of it.”
“No,” Jane whispered with tears in her eyes.
“Some Christmas,” Daria mumbled putting her arms on Jane’s shoulders.
“I wanna see him,” Jane said.
“I’m sorry Jane,” Dr. Phillips turned and walked away.

Later, Jane was able to go into Trent’s room.  He laid motionless.  Jane
began to cry, “I can’t stay, I can’t see him like this!”  She ran out.
Daria sat down on the hard metal chair next to his bed.  She put her hand on
his.  Then something amazing happened.  Trent’s hand moved a little and
squeezed her fingers ever so lightly.  She slowly opened his eyes and in a
hoarse voice said, “Janey?”
“No it’s me Daria,” Daria said.  She hit the call button and Dr. Phillips
came in.
“Trent?!” Dr. Phillips began, “How do you feel?”
“Alright, where’s Janey?” he said.
“I’ll go get her,” Daria ran down to the café.  Jane was sipping a Mocha
Latte.  Daria pulled her upstairs and when she saw Trent she ran and wrapped
her arms around his neck.
“So I guess now I can go home?” Trent said looking at Dr. Phillips.
“Well that’s the other bad news, we took some x-rays and it shows that your
spinal cord is being pinched by the bone plate.  We’ll need to operate right
away, but that’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to walk ever.”
“But, when did you schedule me for the operation?” Trent asked.
“Tomorrow morning at 7 am.” Dr. Phillips left.
“Well I have to get home but I’ll be here tomorrow at 6.” Daria walked out
leaving Trent and Jane alone with their thoughts.

The next morning Daria rose an hour and a half early.  She was supposed to
be at school so she left a note saying she’d went early.  Then she walked to
the hospital.  Trent was in La-La land.  They had given him a sedative.  So
he was telling the truth right and left.  Jane left to get some coffee to
keep her awake and Daria came in.
“Hi Daria,” Trent said.  “You think I could get some of this stuff in pill
form?”
“Um yeah Trent,” Daria said sitting next to him.
“Daria,” Trent looked at her.  “I’m scared.”
“There’s no reason to be Trent, Dr. Phillips knows what he’s doing.”
“But what if he screws up?  I’ll never walk again!”
“Me and Jane will be waiting until you come out.  And I’ll even pray.”
“Daria, you’re one of my best friends.  So I want you to have this.”  He
handed her the red pendant hanging from his neck. Daria was taken by
surprise.  She put in on her neck and looked down at him.
“I’ll see you when you get out,” Daria let the two men come in and put Trent
on one of those wheeling things.  Daria and Jane went into the chapel on the
first floor.  A while later Dr. Phillips found Daria and Jane asleep, so he
awoke them and walked them to the recovery room.  Daria took his hand and he
woke up and smiled at her.

A few days passed and Trent still couldn’t get out of bed.  So he would use
a wheelchair to get around the hospital.  Jesse stopped by with the band
every once in a while.  But Daria and Jane would come by every day.  One
night on Christmas eve Daria walked to the hospital on the dark road.  She
looked up, trying to find the star of Bethlehem.  Christmas this year was
horrible.

Once at the hospital Dr. Phillips had just told Trent that the x-rays showed
that the chances of him walking ever again were very slim.  So Trent stared
at the snow falling out the window.  Daria came in silently and said, “Hi.”
“Hi,” Trent said.
“Did you try again?” Daria asked.
“Yeah it doesn’t work!” Trent said.  He was so frustrated.
“Well let’s try now, maybe we’ll experience one of those Christmas
Miracles.”
So Trent put all of his weight on his arms on the two bars.  Then he fell.
Daria sighed.  She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.  But Trent
pulled himself back up and tried again.  Then something amazing happened!
Trent took a baby step!  Daria jumped up and down laughing all the while.
Dr. Phillips came rushing in and called Jane.  Trent took physical therapy
for a month and was back to his old self.  And Daria always said, It was a
miracle of Christmas.  She turned it into a short story called ‘The
Christmas Giving’

                               The End