It’s a Wonderful Night. Jaimie Admans

down.’

      Guilt punches me in the stomach. It makes me feel stupidly privileged to have a soft bed and a warm house to go home to tonight. It’s bitterly cold out here, my gloves are fingerless because I need my fingertips to create the pattern in the paint and I lost feeling in them before I even reached the end of my street. I know that when I get home, the central heating will still be on because my dad will have ignored my plea to go to bed and not wait up for me. Bernard feels guilty for taking a sandwich and a flask of tea on his way home to a sleeping bag and a wooden bench.

      Like Leo takes him something to eat and drink every day, I save anything we get donated to One Light that I think will fit him or be useful to him. Anything from gloves, coats, and shoes to a heavy blanket and a rucksack. He’s such a lovely guy who’s stuck in a vicious circle of not being able to afford rent and not being able to get a job, especially when everyone in Oakbarrow knows him as the local homeless man.

      ‘Can I do anything to help you?’ Bernard whispers, his grey moustache scratching the edge of the cup as he takes a sip of tea, visible steam rising from it into the cold night air.

      ‘No, you’re good, thanks. I won’t be here much longer. I only need to finish these trees and do some dots of falling snow. Just don’t tell Leo you saw me.’

      ‘Your secret’s safe with me, Clarence.’

      ‘Clarence?’ I say in confusion. Clarence is the angel who stopped George Bailey jumping off a bridge in It’s a Wonderful Life … does Bernard know more than I think he does?

      He falters for just a moment too long. ‘I’m sorry, it’s been so long since I saw the film. I meant your namesake, of course, Georgia.’

      I decide now is not the time to pursue it. If he did see something of Leo last night, then it’s not town gossip for us to stand here and discuss. I’m not going to mention it, and I know Bernard well enough to know he wouldn’t either.

      ‘Stay warm, okay?’ I say instead, even though I know it will be impossible in this weather. ‘Goodnight.’

      Bernard raises the flask of tea in an imaginary toast and I watch his back as he disappears into the darkness of the street. I’m glad Leo takes care of him too. I see how many people walk past him with a sneer and a look of disdain. I’ve always thought Leo was lovely to look at and lovely to talk to, but now I know he’s lovely on the inside too it makes me even more determined to make this window a good one. Leo is so important to this street. He deserves to know how different things would be without him. Maybe I am a bit like Clarence here. I’ve already stopped Leo jumping off a bridge. Maybe now I can show him how different life would be if he wasn’t here.