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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