It's Christmas Eve, and Aaron Tannenbaum, President of the Tannenbaum Toy Company, is enroute to preside over the annual Christmas Eve Employee Luncheon he celebrates with his production staff at the company factory several hundred miles south of Corporate Headquarters. A dedicated pilot, though now less actively so because of his advanced years, he continues to fly to the event, but lately seated in the cockpit of the company plane for just some of the trip and only as co-pilot. For the remainder of flight time he relaxes in the passenger compartment along with his memories of earlier times including when, as a boy, he once greeted Christmas with fellow celebrants in a grim warehouse many miles away, a practice he's continued annually ever since, though now, along with his employees, also many miles away, in the toy company's warehouse made joyously festive for the occasion. This year, however, a small but compelling event upon his arrival at the airport in the distant town takes him much farther afield than ever before in both time as well as place, and the distinction between past, present and place is blurred as enlightenment and personal fulfillment capture the radiant glory of the season along with its promise of the Future for himself, his employees, and most particularly for a little boy, for it is through the little boy, who also seeks to fly some day, that Aaron Tannenbaum, himself childless, is this day able to punctuate at last a personal fulfillment he comes to realize he's long awaited, and now, in the form of a very personal favor granted by him is, in turn, granted the favor of a transcendent Christmas he's long sought.
About the Author: R.M Catton is a Psychiatrist who lives with his family in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Born and reared in New Orleans, he attended Tulane University and subsequently the LSU School of Medicine. A period of military service included Residency Training in Psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., following which he studied at the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute. Now in semi-retirement, he formerly divided his professional activity between private practice and teaching. His literary effort draws readily upon his clinical experience, civilian as well as military, in attempt to frame telling moments of the human predicament encountered along the way. Previous works of fiction by R.M. Catton include "Midnight Clear: An American Christmas Carol" and "By Desperate Appliance." Available also through Amazon.com is a nonfiction work by R.M. Catton and S.W. Catton: "Barack Obama and the Road to Bondage: A Case Study".