Free Lonely This Christmas by Krissie LaBaye

assembly hall at the 1974 Christmas disco. Back then, Judy was a bright and happy teenager with her whole life ahead of her. Lost in her own world, Judy failed to realize that the song was coming to an end, and if it hadn’t been for the sound of Elaine’s voice, she would have carried on daydreaming.
    “Well, look at you two love birds. Should I be making my own way home tonight?”
    “No, don’t be silly; we came here together, we’ll leave together.”
    For the remainder of the evening things were much more light hearted. It seemed that coming here tonight was a cathartic experience for Judy; she wasn’t scared of the school bully any longer, and she had coped well meeting Ian again. Judy and Elaine had even remembered the old dance routines, and exhibited their talents to a packed room a few hours later.
    Although the trio had recognized a few faces, most people had changed a good deal, and the years plus life itself had taken its toll on many. The tacky name badges had certainly helped to identify a lot of them, and so had served a useful purpose after all. It was great fun catching up with old classmates and finding out what they had done with their life. Ian, Elaine, and Judy learnt that some of their class mates hadn’t even lived to reach their 50th, and this poignant fact led all three of them to acknowledge that they had a lot to be grateful for.
    By the end of the evening nothing could dampen the mood in the reunion hall; and as Judy and Elaine said their goodbyes Ian slipped a slip of paper into Judy’s hand. Seizing the moment, Ian kept hold of her hand and leaned in gently to whisper in her ear.
    “Text me the time and place to meet up tomorrow, and please don’t stand me up again.”
    Slightly taken aback by this last remark, Judy didn’t quite know how to respond. Lost for words she simply nodded and smiled, and watched as he turned and left the room alone. Judy suddenly felt the urge to run after him, but she resisted, knowing that tomorrow they could meet up and she would have the opportunity to finally release the demons that had haunted her for so many years.
    When he’d left her decades earlier Judy had reproached herself, blaming her plain looks, her skinny shape, and unremarkable personality. It took a long time to rebuild her confidence which had been shaken to the core, but time and meeting Bruce increased her feelings of self-worth. She had been through so much in her life since then and she would speak her mind tomorrow.
    It had already been decided that the taxi would drop Judy off first as she lived closest. Elaine talked nonstop in the cab, and when Judy waved goodbye as the taxi pulled away, her face tingled from the cold night air, and her ears rang with the abrupt silence. Putting her key into the front door, Judy was suddenly overcome by dreadful feelings of solitude and couldn’t wait to climb into her warm bed.
    When she finally settled down for the night, Judy had plenty of time to reflect on the evening. She was surprised at how much of her anger had subsided, and it was clear to her that Ian still had the same hypnotic effect on her. Judy had always found it almost impossible to stay mad at him for long, and although she had really wanted to vent her spleen and tell him how he had broken her heart, something had stopped her. Perhaps there was a good reason why Ian had left, and she would finally find out tomorrow. For tonight, she just wanted to remember the good times; so closing her eyes she took herself back to New Years Eve 1976, a night she would never forget.
     

Chapter Eighteen
     
    It was 1976, it was Friday, it was New Years Eve, and Judy had decided that tonight was going to be a night that she would never forget as long as she lived. She had just recently celebrated her 2 nd anniversary of going out with Ian, and it was now time to take the next step.
    Judy’s parents, Catherine and Ronald, were spending New Years Eve as they always did. Aunty Ruth was