The
traditional seaside resort of Sharpington-by-Sea with its Victorian Pier,
seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, well maintained gardens,
promenade, theatre and illuminations, has all the usual things to have a great
time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington
Fun Park and 55 year old triplets, Alex,
James and Jenny Wardle live together in the huge house they grew up in, in the
grand neighbourhood of Granite Hill, which in a nod to San Francisco, the
locals had nicknamed Nob Hill.
“So it’s
Christmas time again” Alex said as he looked out the window.
“As if
anyone could fail to notice” James added as he and Jenny joined him at the
drawing room window.
Even
without leaving the house they could see more than half a dozen houses
decorated to the hilt.
Every coloured light imaginable, Santa's on the roof or climbing a ladder,
sleighs, elves, snowmen, bells, stars, baubles and last but by no means least
standing almost four feet high that perennial favourite Winnie the Pooh.
Alex was taken aback, what the hell did Pooh have to do with Christmas? And
later as he and his siblings walked down to the seafront he noticed that every
other house seemed to have one, there was even one on the pier so he guessed
there must be something in it.
He didn't recall mention of him in the bible and in all of the many nativity
plays he had seen over the years Winnie the Pooh was conspicuous by his absence
and although there is a donkey in the story it wasn’t Eeyore.
The stable did not house Piglet and the wise men did not travel from the east
with Tigger bearing gifts of Huney.
Nor in any of the Christmas traditions around the world is there a single reference
to Pooh as one of Santa's helpers, there was Black Peter, and the Jolly Elf,
there was even the devil figure Krampus, but no Pooh, but it appeared to him,
that the people of Sharpington were giving him pride of place on their lawns
that Christmas.
As they turned left onto the promenade the early winter sun broke through
the mackerel skies exposing patches of the bluest sky and if he had had any
remaining doubts that Christmas was coming to Sharpington they were soon
dispelled as the promenade was decked in its Christmas garb.
Inflatable Santa’s climb the walls of the Fun Park and
the pier was draped in LED icicles.
Then when they passed the Seaview Hotel they saw what
looked like a cheery red-suited burglar hanging from one of the balconies and
they all laughed before they went their separate ways.
Alex was the only one of the three who had lived his
whole life in Sharpington, having married a local girl with whom he Managed the
Palladium Ballroom and raised two children and with both children married and
settled he and Natalie looked forward to their retirement together but it
wasn’t to be, as she had a massive heart attack only two months before their
leisurely life was to begin.
He considered himself very lucky that he had his siblings
to support him in his hour of need and they had helped him when he didn’t want
to leave the house, when he couldn’t see a future, when he couldn’t function.
But two years later he went out, in fact he went out
often and he began to enjoy life again and part of that enjoyment was being
with James and Jenny and another part was Tracy Whitehouse.
He had known Tracy since he was at school but she was
Tracy Gurney back then and he had reconnected with her at a bereavement group
at the Jubilee Community Centre.
When he parted company with the others he didn’t have any
definite plans he just set out to enjoy the respite in the weather.
That was until he caught sight of Tracy going into the
café and he decided there was something better to do than enjoy the weather so
he went to the café to join her, even if it meant he would have to have
breakfast number two of the day.
It was busy in the café with lots of chatter and he hears
Tracy order a bacon sandwich and a coffee above the hubbub, so he ordered the
same and walked over to her table and said
“Do you mind if I join you”
“Oh yes that would be lovely” she said when she turned around for the
first time.
“So what are you up to today?” he asked
“Nothing much” she replied “I’m just enjoying the winter sunshine
before the rain rolls in again this afternoon”
“So what about when the rain does come back?” Alex asked
“Back home I suppose” she said “What about you?”
“Well there showing “Shop Around The Corner” at the Tivoli” he said
“Oooh I love James Stewart” Tracy said
“Why don’t you join me then” he suggested
“I’d love to” she replied and smiled
So they finished their breakfast and then they stepped outside and went
for a walk in the sunshine, firstly on the beach and then as the clouds began
to gather they walked along the pier because there were plenty of places to
shelter should the rain arrive early.
As it turned out the rain held off but the temperature dipped so they
spent a lot of time out of the wind keeping warm and they lost track of time
and had to forgo lunch or miss the start of the film so they pigged out on
popcorn instead while they watched the classic film.
By the time they left the theatre the expected rain had
turned to snow and there was quite a lot of it.
“Oh dear I wasn’t expecting this” she said
“It’s just like the film” Alex said
“It is rather” she agreed
“Although Sharpington isn’t quite historic Budapest”
“No that’s true but it has its pluses” he said looking at her, and
made her blush
“And in the film the girl got her man” she said coyly
“Well I’m game if you are” he said and took hold of her hand
“Life imitating art”
“I think that would be rather nice” she replied blissfully unaware of
the bustle of film goers around them.
But she was very aware of Alex kissing her gently on the lips.
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