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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