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.
James returned to Sharpington for the first time in twenty years after his
brother Alex lost his wife and he found it very welcoming so as he was divorced
and his son was living in America he decided to move back to the old family
home and as he had independent wealth and plenty of time on his hands he took
to doing voluntary work.
After he
parted company from his siblings he made his way to Jubilee Park which was
playing host
to Santa’s grotto in the pavilion.
When he
first walked in a week before, he found the place in disarray as a group of
volunteers were putting the grotto together and his eyes were drawn to the
throne in one corner where jolly Santa Claus would be sat next to his sack of
gifts.
James had
always been fascinated by the genesis of Santa Claus.
St.
Nicholas was a Bishop in 4th century Turkey and became a giver of
gifts to orphaned and poor children and James liked that such a wonderful
tradition had begun as acts of kindness.
The second
thing he noticed in the “work in progress” grotto, was the diminutive figure of
a pretty middle-aged brunette called Charlotte Morley who was to be his Elf in
chief, and when she turned and smiled at him he was hooked, and he wanted to
get to know her better.
And he got
to know her very easily because when she turned and smiled at him she liked
what she saw and set her little pixie cap at him.
Because she
was to be Elf to his Santa they worked closely together and apart from their
mutual attraction they bonded over their dislike of the “Overlord” of the
Grotto operation, Sharpington Council employee Amanda Rawlings, who was an
officiously obnoxious control freak, which would have been ok, had she been any
good at it.
During
their first week they were beset with problems while they were getting ready
for the big event there were problems everywhere.
Some of the other expected volunteers were no shows due to illness, the donated
gifts were late, and were unwrapped and they were all feeling the pressure of
being massively behind schedule.
Then, a day
before his debut as Santa they discovered a problem with the throne which
necessitated getting in a carpenter at great expense which was the last straw
for James, so when Amanda walked in moments later dressed as an Angel and
holding a Christmas Tree he snapped.
So when she
said cheerfully,
“Isn't this
a lovely tree? Where would you like me to stick it?”
James
looked first at Charlotte then turned to Amanda and said
“Up your
arse”
Charlotte
laughed as Amanda stood open mouthed and added
“Well that
is the tradition isn’t it? To have an angel
on top of the Christmas Tree”
They didn’t
see much of her after that which suited them down to the ground because with
her absence everything began to run like clockwork.
But on the
day he walked in to Sharpington with his brother and sister things took an
interesting turn.
The grotto
opened to the first child at 11 o’clock and there was a pretty constant stream,
almost non-stop until 3 o’clock and then the visits became more sporadic as the
weather had deteriorated and heavy snow was falling.
With James
wearing his red suit sitting on his throne, Charlotte was dressed as an Elf and
escorted the excited or apprehensive child in from the ante chamber.
The child
would then climb up on to Santa’s lap and while Santa had a quick chat with
them and gave them their gift, and a man called Owen would take a photo.
Charlotte
then escorted the happy child back out to their parents and this well-oiled
machine kept operating like that for the duration of the day and when Charlotte
escorted the final child back to their waiting parents, Owen followed them out.
James sat
on the throne and gathered his thoughts before he got up and changed and just
at the moment he prepared to move the lights went out.
“Oh bugger”
he exclaimed and then the door opened, spilling light into the room and a
figure appeared but disappeared again when the door closed.
But he
heard footsteps in the darkness which grew louder with every step and when they
stopped the owner of those steps sat on his lap and kissed him.
It was a
long and lingering kiss and when it was over he said
“And what
would you like for Christmas little girl?”
“Some more
of that would be nice” Charlotte replied
After an
unhurried passionate embrace they left his chair with the intention of going
for dinner with the prospect of more kissing to follow.
But when
they left the darkness of the grotto they found the rest of the building was
also in darkness.
Whereas
Charlotte had plunged the grotto into darkness for her own ends, the other
volunteers had assumed it to be empty when they left, which they did promptly
because of the snow.
Charlotte
turned on the lights and they soon realized they were locked in, all the windows had bars on
them and the doors were padlocked and chained from the outside
“Well it looks like we’re here for the night” she said and James thought
about being stuck in the
grotto with an Elf ten years younger than him and he said
“Happy
Christmas”
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