The Town of Hidden Christmas Lights
A town has an unusual place for its best Christmas lights and every visitor gets into the mystery.
Middletown has such simple Christmas lights on its Main Street, but it is famous for placing their most dazzling lights in an unusual and secret place.
The hidden lights would be revealed on the evening of December 23rd, so the Jackson family arrived two days ahead of that on December 21st to try to solve the mystery.
As they unpacked in their downtown hotel room, they reviewed what they had learned from their online research.
Mom and Dad found out that Middletown was once a mill town and there were large buildings along the river that were unused. Maybe the light displays were inside one or more of those buildings.
Brianna found out that there was a woods at the top of a ridge just outside of town. Kevin found that there was a big cave in the hillside that led up to the ridge. The family couldn’t wait to start investigating in person in the morning.
The morning of December 22nd came and they had a big breakfast at the hotel restaurant. So many sausages were eaten along with the pancakes that were preferred by the guys and the French toast that was preferred by the girls. The Jackson family met a couple other families at breakfast who were also there to search for the mysterious lights.
After breakfast, one family hopped into their car and headed for the water tower just outside of town. Another family headed to the old mill. The Jacksons hiked up the side of the ridge to look for the cave.
The Jacksons were excited for a moment because they saw a large Nativity set at the entrance to the cave. But they did not see any strings of lights around the Manger or inside the cave.
At dinner in the hotel restaurant, the Jacksons could tell that the other two families were also not successful in their searches. The Jacksons talked briefly with the other families, but no one wanted to share their ideas of where to look next.
On the morning of December 23rd, each of the families got an early start in their cars. There was an unusual amount of traffic on the streets of Middletown. The Jacksons decided to follow a pickup truck that looked like it had Christmas decorations in its back. But the truck just stopped at the grocery store.
They saw another truck with Christmas stuff in the back and followed it. It looked like it was headed out of town up to the ridge, but it made a turn and circled back into town to a gas station.
Little did the Jacksons know that the people of Middletown were carrying many decorations to the secret place. But when they saw an unfamiliar car following them, they would change direction. The whole town was in on keeping the secret.
Many vehicles on the road seemed to be playing games with all the visitors from out of town. This went on all day long and as darkness was approaching, none of the visiting families had any clue where the amazing lights would be in just a few hours.
Finally, at about 8:00pm, three giant spotlights lit up the skies. They came from three different locations around the outskirts of Middletown. Their powerful beams would move here and there—sometimes crossing each other.
The Jacksons drove to the source of the spotlight up on the ridge. Surprisingly, they arrived at a cemetery. All the trees there were evergreen trees and each one was fully decorated with colorful lights. Even more surprising, each of the tombstones was strung with Christmas lights. The entire cemetery glowed with the lights of Christmas.
The Jacksons could not believe their eyes as they got out of their car. They all looked up and around. The children raised their arms while twirling and skipping through the cemetery amidst all the lights. Some of the people of Middletown were there waving and smiling at the Jacksons.
“We never would have guessed!” said Mrs. Jackson to the townsfolk.
“Christmas is for the living and the deceased!” exclaimed one of the townsfolk. “It is for all souls. On the 23rd, we celebrate with those that came before us. On the 24th and 25th, we celebrate with our living relatives.”
“What about those other two spotlights?” Mr. Jackson asked.
“Go and see!” cried the townsfolk.
The Jacksons hopped in their car and sure enough there were two smaller cemeteries that contained those spotlights. They were decked out in the same way with decorated evergreen trees and headstones all aglow.
The Jacksons saw carolers walking through one cemetery bringing the Christmas spirit to these normally quiet and dreary places. The Jacksons also saw the other visiting families who now were singing and dancing with the townspeople. The Jacksons joined in.
You could not help but dance and sing. This festival raised everyone’s spirits until you felt that you were experiencing a slice of heaven.
The next morning was the 24th and the Jacksons packed to return home for their own family Christmas celebration. The hotel manager asked each of the visiting families to maintain the glorious secret because the joy was magnified by the surprise. All of the families agreed.
Back home, the Jacksons only told their friends and family that the Middletown Christmas Mystery was the most amazing event they had ever been a part of and they encouraged everyone to travel to Middletown next year to see it for themselves.