Ruby and
Billy rushed to the living room to find a modest pile of Christmas presents
under an artificial Christmas tree.
Mummy and Daddy followed, smiling wearily. It had been a tough year.
The children
started with their stockings, each contained a novelty pencil, a tangerine and
a tennis ball. They looked at each other
and continued; surely the bigger presents would be more exciting. But Grandma had given knitted jumpers and
hats and Nanna had provided painting sets.
The last hope was the present from Mummy and Daddy. Ruby thought she remembered there had been
more than one each last Christmas. Billy
opened a cheap looking trainset and could barely hide his disappointment. For Ruby there was a baby doll with no house,
accessories or cot to go with it.
They turned
to glare at Mummy and Daddy. At that
moment the front door was knocked down.
Mummy and Daddy turned, mouths falling open and the children whooped
with delight. In he came, red coat and
black boots, white fur trim and long flowing beard. He carried no sack though and gave no cheery
hohoho. “Mummy and Daddy!” he cried, “Billy
and Ruby wrote to me at the beginning of December. Billy wanted a bicycle. Ruby wanted a princess palace. They both wanted an X-box. This pile of crap here, what is it? Jumpers, tangerines? They’re not presents!”
“We’re hard
up,” Mummy whispered.“And where’s your presents to each other, Mummy and Daddy? Has the romance gone? And what is there for dinner?” Santa marched through to the kitchen and opened the fridge; the children ran after him and clutched at his red coat.
“What the hell is this?” demanded Santa, “turkey, potatoes and carrots? Is that ALL? Where’s the stuffing? The sausage meat wrapped in bacon? The WINE?”
Mummy burst into tears and Daddy put his arm round her; “Look ...” he began.
“I can fix this,” Santa interrupted, “the children needn’t remember anything. I’ll put the clock back to early December. You can get this right.”
“Do you want us to skip a mortgage payment or something?” demanded Daddy, “Jesus!”
Santa became very still, his face went as red as his coat and his eyes flashed a demonic shade of green; “Don’t say that name to me! He isn’t what Christmas is about! It’s all about me! I say that how much you love your children shows in how much you spend on them - the amount of presents and the quality of those presents. It’s about gorging your faces with luxury food and drinking your fill of wine! Now, do you want me to turn back the clock or not?”
“Yes please!” cried Billy and Ruby.
Mummy and Daddy nodded.
Ruby and
Billy rushed downstairs to the living room to find an enormous pile of
Christmas presents under a beautiful pine Christmas tree. Mummy and Daddy followed, smiling wearily. The stockings were crammed with toys and
sweets; there was Billy’s bicycle, Ruby’s princess palace and an X-Box. There were DVDs, dolls, books, puzzles and Lego. Mummy got her favourite perfume and Daddy a
Breitling watch. Waiting in the kitchen
was a sumptuous turkey feast to be served with champagne or red wine when the
rest of the family arrived. The day was
one long party, although Mummy and Daddy were at times quiet. On Boxing Day; the children played with their
bonanza of toys, while Mummy and Daddy whispered furiously at each other in another
room.
The day
after Boxing Day, Mummy went out, taking Daddy’s watch with her. The children played with Billy’s bike in the
garden and the postman called. Billy was
doing wheelies and wanted his father to watch.
“Daddy!” he called. There was no
reply. Then, from inside the house there
was a crash and an audible crack. The
children ran in to find Daddy hanging by the Christmas tree, a letter from the
bank under his feet.