Manchester England Christmas day 1982
Ted Brown raised a small glass of sherry high into the air and cried.
“MERRY CHRISTMAS DARLING.”
Ethel Brown gazing back into her beloved husband’s eyes and in return, also raised a glass of Harvey’s Bristol cream toward the man she married 40 years ago…
Linking arms, like lovers do, they both sipped from each other’s glasses whilst gazing into each other’s eyes and with the same intensity they first kissed all those years ago…
Ted paused after taking his sip of sherry and slowly, very slowly, tenderly kissed the one true love of his life smack on the lips…
Ethel, as always reciprocated in what was an annual ritual for Mr & Mrs Brown since the day they married..
Every Christmas day and at precisely 1pm, they both would stand in front of the fire place at no 23 Melville street and under the inevitable mistletoe, would perform this gentle act of unconditional adoration..
Then the great old Grandfather clock in the kitchen would strike 1 and signal the start of a ritual that had been going on for 40 years..
Just as Ted engaged the love of his life he felt something from Ethel, it was a kind of shudder and Ethel suddenly then clung hard onto her husband..
“MERRY CHRISTMAS DARLING.”
Ethel Brown gazing back into her beloved husband’s eyes and in return, also raised a glass of Harvey’s Bristol cream toward the man she married 40 years ago…
Linking arms, like lovers do, they both sipped from each other’s glasses whilst gazing into each other’s eyes and with the same intensity they first kissed all those years ago…
Ted paused after taking his sip of sherry and slowly, very slowly, tenderly kissed the one true love of his life smack on the lips…
Ethel, as always reciprocated in what was an annual ritual for Mr & Mrs Brown since the day they married..
Every Christmas day and at precisely 1pm, they both would stand in front of the fire place at no 23 Melville street and under the inevitable mistletoe, would perform this gentle act of unconditional adoration..
Then the great old Grandfather clock in the kitchen would strike 1 and signal the start of a ritual that had been going on for 40 years..
Just as Ted engaged the love of his life he felt something from Ethel, it was a kind of shudder and Ethel suddenly then clung hard onto her husband..
Ted responded instantly by holding onto his darling love and not realising what was actually going on held his beloved wife even closer to himself..
Then it dawned on Ted that Ethel wasn’t breathing, he knew this without even looking at her because he couldn’t feel her heart beating, like couples do when they’re in a very close clinch..
In seconds Ted lifted Ethel’s face up to his own and knew in an instant that the only person that mattered to him the most and always had, had in fact just died in his arms!!!
Christmas day 2012
Ted Brown was sitting at the kitchen table in his little two up two down terraced house at number 23 Melville street, he glanced up at the nearby grandfather clock standing solemnly in the corner…
The tick tocking of this great old clock seemed to get ever louder and particularly so on Christmas days and even more so as the hour hand inexorably headed toward 1pm.
It was 12.30 pm and Ted winced at the thought of the clock striking 1..
It had been 30 years since his beloved wife Ethel had collapsed and died in his arms and Ted to be honest had never recovered…
The coroners report had said Ethel died of a massive heart attack yet hadn’t had any history of a heart condition..
Granted Ethel was 65 and of course once reaching a certain age human beings are more prone and vulnerable to all possibilities of falling ill, life threatening or otherwise…
Both Ted and Ethel knew the day when one of them would pass away would inevitably come and had, like the majority of the human race accepted this fact..
But it still didn’t take away the fact that when the Great Reaper himself came a calling, death still takes some getting over , no matter who you are!!!
Ethel had been barren so the Browns never had children nor adopted any..
30 years on and with less than half an hour to go, the crushing realisation of what happened to Ted would once more fall upon him and again, just like every other Christmas since Ethel had departed planet earth, he would again receive a visit from Santa Claus, except that Ted knew it really wasn‘t the real Santa!!!
Santa, or allegedly Santa, first appeared to Ted on Christmas day 1992..
At first Ted thought he’d had too much to drink but with only drinking the odd tot of Brandy and of course the inevitable sherry and at the same time he had done with his wife when she had been alive..
Ted decided he would still perform their little ceremony, at 1pm on Christmas day, a sort of mark of respect if you like and this he did…
At precisely 12.55 pm there was a sudden drop in temperature and the lights in the small house would begin to flicker..
Then there would be, bizarrely, the tinkling sound of sleigh bells and a long train of what appeared to be vapour would come spiralling out of the fireplace…
On the first appearance Ted would just stand there, memorised, “I’m going out of my mind,” muttered Ted aloud as the ethereal type vapour would then reform into what could only be one person…
“Ho ho ho,” shouted the what was surely a figment of Ted’s imagination…
“You’re not, not real,” stammered an incredulous Ted and then pinched himself just to make sure…
The Santa, all six foot plus of him and decked out of course in his traditional red outfit and black boots, wearing the obligatory white beard would then boom out a reply…
“I’M AS REAL AS YOU ARE EDWARD BROWN.”
Santa, or what was purporting to be Santa then leaned toward Ted and gently prodded him, as though just to get the point across..
Ted still couldn’t get his head around what was going on and as such seated himself at the kitchen table, still in shock…
The big Santa then himself, lumbered around the other side of Ted’s kitchen table and plonked himself down upon a chair, Ethel’s chair….
Ted, still refusing to believe what was happening and knew he would awaken any minute just went with the flow…
“Do you mind, that’s my wife’s chair,” snapped an indignant Ted..
The big Santa then beamed a huge smile and replied by saying, yes he was quite aware of that fact…
“And it is because of your wife Edward that I am here this Christmas day 1992.”
Ted just stared in disbelief, what the hell was going on here?
But then realising it was all a dream just accepted that when dreaming you had to expect all kinds of bizarre notions…
Still, he asked what was surely an imaginary Father Christmas what did he mean by that?
“Well,” said the still beaming Santa…
“As you know I am renowned all over the world, especially to little boys and girls who “behave” of course, as the one who brings them gifts, gifts that they have either put in writing, or prayed for…”
“But that’s just a fairy story,” snapped Ted, “everyone knows Santa doesn’t really exist.”
At that point the big red suited figure seated facing Ted suddenly stopped smiling and said.
“Well if that’s the case, why did you write to me then Edward Brown of 23 Melville Street, Manchester England?”
Ted just sat back in utter amazement, it wasn’t so much what this being alleging to be Santa had just said, it was the letter he had now produced from within the folds of his crimson tunic and was now holding it aloft for Ted to see..
“If you don’t believe in Santa Edward, why did you write to me asking me for a specific gift, one that probably no one else on earth has ever received before?”
Ted Brown was horrified and dream or no dream could not believe that there, holding the very same letter he had written in drunken desperation one night was the man he’d written it too, allegedly..
The big Santa then carefully unfolding the note, read out aloud what had been scrawled upon it that night Ted had become over acquainted with a certain Mr Jack Daniels..
“Dear Santa
I know this sounds crazy and I know you only deliver presents to kids on Christmas day, but on Christmas day I lost the only person that has ever meant anything at all to me and I really want her back.
I have prayed to God, but as of yet nothing has happened, maybe Ethel is up there somewhere with the big man in the sky and he doesn’t feel like letting her go, not really sure..
I would ask the other guy, you know, the bad guy, but that would be just so wrong…
So if there really is a Santa and to be honest I don’t believe there is, then well, I thought I would give it a shot because I don’t think I can carry on much more without my darling Ethel..”
Yours sincerely..
Edward Brown
23 Melville street
Manchester
England
The big Santa then refolded the note and placed it back into the folds of his red tunic..
Shortly after he spoke…
“So now that your memory has been suitably jogged Edward Brown, shall I give a response to what is a somewhat unusual if not to say bizarre request…”
Ted, still sitting in a stunned state, slowly but surely formed a reply..
“But none of this” and at that point Ted waved both hands toward Santa and said, “you’re not real, this is a dream, I’m going to wake up in bed and then realise that weird vapour coming out of the fireplace and reforming into Santa Claus is all just a mad dream..”
At this point Ted became a little angry, “and a rather sick dream if I say so myself.”
The big red clad Santa began to boom out the trade mark laugh accompanied with the usual HO HO HO and then began to speak in earnest..
Then it dawned on Ted that Ethel wasn’t breathing, he knew this without even looking at her because he couldn’t feel her heart beating, like couples do when they’re in a very close clinch..
In seconds Ted lifted Ethel’s face up to his own and knew in an instant that the only person that mattered to him the most and always had, had in fact just died in his arms!!!
Christmas day 2012
Ted Brown was sitting at the kitchen table in his little two up two down terraced house at number 23 Melville street, he glanced up at the nearby grandfather clock standing solemnly in the corner…
The tick tocking of this great old clock seemed to get ever louder and particularly so on Christmas days and even more so as the hour hand inexorably headed toward 1pm.
It was 12.30 pm and Ted winced at the thought of the clock striking 1..
It had been 30 years since his beloved wife Ethel had collapsed and died in his arms and Ted to be honest had never recovered…
The coroners report had said Ethel died of a massive heart attack yet hadn’t had any history of a heart condition..
Granted Ethel was 65 and of course once reaching a certain age human beings are more prone and vulnerable to all possibilities of falling ill, life threatening or otherwise…
Both Ted and Ethel knew the day when one of them would pass away would inevitably come and had, like the majority of the human race accepted this fact..
But it still didn’t take away the fact that when the Great Reaper himself came a calling, death still takes some getting over , no matter who you are!!!
Ethel had been barren so the Browns never had children nor adopted any..
30 years on and with less than half an hour to go, the crushing realisation of what happened to Ted would once more fall upon him and again, just like every other Christmas since Ethel had departed planet earth, he would again receive a visit from Santa Claus, except that Ted knew it really wasn‘t the real Santa!!!
Santa, or allegedly Santa, first appeared to Ted on Christmas day 1992..
At first Ted thought he’d had too much to drink but with only drinking the odd tot of Brandy and of course the inevitable sherry and at the same time he had done with his wife when she had been alive..
Ted decided he would still perform their little ceremony, at 1pm on Christmas day, a sort of mark of respect if you like and this he did…
At precisely 12.55 pm there was a sudden drop in temperature and the lights in the small house would begin to flicker..
Then there would be, bizarrely, the tinkling sound of sleigh bells and a long train of what appeared to be vapour would come spiralling out of the fireplace…
On the first appearance Ted would just stand there, memorised, “I’m going out of my mind,” muttered Ted aloud as the ethereal type vapour would then reform into what could only be one person…
“Ho ho ho,” shouted the what was surely a figment of Ted’s imagination…
“You’re not, not real,” stammered an incredulous Ted and then pinched himself just to make sure…
The Santa, all six foot plus of him and decked out of course in his traditional red outfit and black boots, wearing the obligatory white beard would then boom out a reply…
“I’M AS REAL AS YOU ARE EDWARD BROWN.”
Santa, or what was purporting to be Santa then leaned toward Ted and gently prodded him, as though just to get the point across..
Ted still couldn’t get his head around what was going on and as such seated himself at the kitchen table, still in shock…
The big Santa then himself, lumbered around the other side of Ted’s kitchen table and plonked himself down upon a chair, Ethel’s chair….
Ted, still refusing to believe what was happening and knew he would awaken any minute just went with the flow…
“Do you mind, that’s my wife’s chair,” snapped an indignant Ted..
The big Santa then beamed a huge smile and replied by saying, yes he was quite aware of that fact…
“And it is because of your wife Edward that I am here this Christmas day 1992.”
Ted just stared in disbelief, what the hell was going on here?
But then realising it was all a dream just accepted that when dreaming you had to expect all kinds of bizarre notions…
Still, he asked what was surely an imaginary Father Christmas what did he mean by that?
“Well,” said the still beaming Santa…
“As you know I am renowned all over the world, especially to little boys and girls who “behave” of course, as the one who brings them gifts, gifts that they have either put in writing, or prayed for…”
“But that’s just a fairy story,” snapped Ted, “everyone knows Santa doesn’t really exist.”
At that point the big red suited figure seated facing Ted suddenly stopped smiling and said.
“Well if that’s the case, why did you write to me then Edward Brown of 23 Melville Street, Manchester England?”
Ted just sat back in utter amazement, it wasn’t so much what this being alleging to be Santa had just said, it was the letter he had now produced from within the folds of his crimson tunic and was now holding it aloft for Ted to see..
“If you don’t believe in Santa Edward, why did you write to me asking me for a specific gift, one that probably no one else on earth has ever received before?”
Ted Brown was horrified and dream or no dream could not believe that there, holding the very same letter he had written in drunken desperation one night was the man he’d written it too, allegedly..
The big Santa then carefully unfolding the note, read out aloud what had been scrawled upon it that night Ted had become over acquainted with a certain Mr Jack Daniels..
“Dear Santa
I know this sounds crazy and I know you only deliver presents to kids on Christmas day, but on Christmas day I lost the only person that has ever meant anything at all to me and I really want her back.
I have prayed to God, but as of yet nothing has happened, maybe Ethel is up there somewhere with the big man in the sky and he doesn’t feel like letting her go, not really sure..
I would ask the other guy, you know, the bad guy, but that would be just so wrong…
So if there really is a Santa and to be honest I don’t believe there is, then well, I thought I would give it a shot because I don’t think I can carry on much more without my darling Ethel..”
Yours sincerely..
Edward Brown
23 Melville street
Manchester
England
The big Santa then refolded the note and placed it back into the folds of his red tunic..
Shortly after he spoke…
“So now that your memory has been suitably jogged Edward Brown, shall I give a response to what is a somewhat unusual if not to say bizarre request…”
Ted, still sitting in a stunned state, slowly but surely formed a reply..
“But none of this” and at that point Ted waved both hands toward Santa and said, “you’re not real, this is a dream, I’m going to wake up in bed and then realise that weird vapour coming out of the fireplace and reforming into Santa Claus is all just a mad dream..”
At this point Ted became a little angry, “and a rather sick dream if I say so myself.”
The big red clad Santa began to boom out the trade mark laugh accompanied with the usual HO HO HO and then began to speak in earnest..
“Edward, believe me this is not a dream and when I have departed I will leave proof of that.
Now,” at this point Santa sat back a little, cocking his head slightly, almost sort of scrutinising the person sat facing him.
“I can actually deliver what you have asked me to do!!”
Ted lifted both hands into the air and wailing a little said, “but you can’t, she’s dead and it was a stupid idea to even think for one second anyone, even God himself could bring anyone at all back from the dead.”
The smile on Santa’s face intensified now and leaning a lot closer toward Ted he whispered..
“There is one being can do this, one being alone and all you have to do in return is say you believe in him!!”
Now,” at this point Santa sat back a little, cocking his head slightly, almost sort of scrutinising the person sat facing him.
“I can actually deliver what you have asked me to do!!”
Ted lifted both hands into the air and wailing a little said, “but you can’t, she’s dead and it was a stupid idea to even think for one second anyone, even God himself could bring anyone at all back from the dead.”
The smile on Santa’s face intensified now and leaning a lot closer toward Ted he whispered..
“There is one being can do this, one being alone and all you have to do in return is say you believe in him!!”
Whilst the big man in red had been making his proposition, Ted, elbows propped upon the kitchen table, placed his bowed head between both hands..
Ted looked up at the now staring Santa.
“Believe in who?” Said Ted.
Santa, still leaning very close to Ted and staring ever more intently, spoke again.
“ME Edward, you have to believe in ME and when you do, I want you to shout it from the roof tops that YOU, Edward Brown from no 23 Melville street Manchester England, believes in SANTA.”
“That’s all I have to do, say I believe in Father Christmas and you’ll bring my wife back from the dead and we’ll both live happily ever after?”
Santa at this point dropped the smile, only for a second though and then said…
“SANTA Edward, not Father Christmas, SANTA, that bit is absolutely vital.”
I don’t understand,” said Ted, “Santa, Father Christmas, St Nick, Kris Kringle, its all the same man.”
Santa, only for a split second, though it was enough for Ted to notice changed his mood entirely…
“I think you’ll find Edward and at some time in the not too distant future, that there is only ONE OF ME.”
At that point the big beaming smile returned and Santa once more repeated his proposition..
Ted just sat back and folded both arms, paused for a few seconds and then said and rather loudly…
“I’LL THINK ABOUT IT.”
Santa, again momentarily lost the trademark joviality you would normally associate with the big man from the North Pole and getting up from Ted’s kitchen table said..
“So be it Edward Brown, but mark this, I am a busy man and dealing with erm, other shall we say, more needy “souls,” I can only return every ten years, so the next time WE,” Santa pointed at himself and then Ted at this stage, “ meet, it will be in the new millennium, farewell Edward Brown and think on what I have said to you.”
As an incredulous Ted watched this bizarre vision of Santa turn back into a weird kind of smoky vapour, Ted heard the words echoing from the chimney through the big open fireplace..
“Remember Edward, all you have to say is that you believe in SANTA..”
Ted awoke with a start about an hour later and immediately remembered what he had just dreamt about…
“I knew it,” muttered Ted softly to himself, “ I knew it was all a bloody dream,” then he saw something on the other side of the table…
Ted couldn’t move, in fact it took him a whole five minutes to regain his composure and reach out a hand to pick up what was a crumpled piece of paper on the table in front of him…
Ted nearly fell off his chair when he realised the crumpled bit of paper was indeed the very same note he’d sent to Santa all those years ago asking if he could have his wife back…
Ted looked up at the now staring Santa.
“Believe in who?” Said Ted.
Santa, still leaning very close to Ted and staring ever more intently, spoke again.
“ME Edward, you have to believe in ME and when you do, I want you to shout it from the roof tops that YOU, Edward Brown from no 23 Melville street Manchester England, believes in SANTA.”
“That’s all I have to do, say I believe in Father Christmas and you’ll bring my wife back from the dead and we’ll both live happily ever after?”
Santa at this point dropped the smile, only for a second though and then said…
“SANTA Edward, not Father Christmas, SANTA, that bit is absolutely vital.”
I don’t understand,” said Ted, “Santa, Father Christmas, St Nick, Kris Kringle, its all the same man.”
Santa, only for a split second, though it was enough for Ted to notice changed his mood entirely…
“I think you’ll find Edward and at some time in the not too distant future, that there is only ONE OF ME.”
At that point the big beaming smile returned and Santa once more repeated his proposition..
Ted just sat back and folded both arms, paused for a few seconds and then said and rather loudly…
“I’LL THINK ABOUT IT.”
Santa, again momentarily lost the trademark joviality you would normally associate with the big man from the North Pole and getting up from Ted’s kitchen table said..
“So be it Edward Brown, but mark this, I am a busy man and dealing with erm, other shall we say, more needy “souls,” I can only return every ten years, so the next time WE,” Santa pointed at himself and then Ted at this stage, “ meet, it will be in the new millennium, farewell Edward Brown and think on what I have said to you.”
As an incredulous Ted watched this bizarre vision of Santa turn back into a weird kind of smoky vapour, Ted heard the words echoing from the chimney through the big open fireplace..
“Remember Edward, all you have to say is that you believe in SANTA..”
Ted awoke with a start about an hour later and immediately remembered what he had just dreamt about…
“I knew it,” muttered Ted softly to himself, “ I knew it was all a bloody dream,” then he saw something on the other side of the table…
Ted couldn’t move, in fact it took him a whole five minutes to regain his composure and reach out a hand to pick up what was a crumpled piece of paper on the table in front of him…
Ted nearly fell off his chair when he realised the crumpled bit of paper was indeed the very same note he’d sent to Santa all those years ago asking if he could have his wife back…
More to the point however was that it now proved beyond all doubt that this what Ted thought was a dream really wasn’t and that fellow purporting to be Santa actually did come to Ted, one way or another..
Santa returned again ten years later and again the same proposition, but Ted, though this time a little more prepared, still said he wanted to think about it..
This time though the beg red clad Santa said that the next time he came would be his last and that Ted would have missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to once again set eyes upon the woman he truly loved more than life itself..
Back to the present
By this time Ted was of course well into his 90s and though social services had done their level best to put him in a home for elderly folks, he just wouldn’t go, in fact on more than one occasion Ted had beat them off with an old yard brush..
The reasons were many, if Ted were going to pass away soon it would be here in the house where he and his ex beloved Ethel had enjoyed so many happy moments together and it would be here where Ted would finally meet his maker..
Ted glanced back up at the great clock in the corner now and slowly, but inevitably, the large minute hand tick tocked toward 12.55pm..
Instantly the room chilled and the lights began to flicker, as well and as on the two previous visits came the accompanying sound of sleigh bells…
Then just like twice before, the strange vapour type mist came pouring out of the fireplace and reformed into the great man himself…
“HO HO HO..”
Santa, again just like before, seated himself down facing a now very old Ted, a very tired Ted, a Ted that looked like he had finally had enough…
Santa smiled and if Ted had been able to see clearer, he would have seen Santa wasn’t quite who he was supposed to be..
Santa also knew Ted’s sight was now impaired with old age and HE also knew that Ted would most likely now give in to his request and THAT, would be THAT, so to speak..
Gently, Santa reached toward the now very frail and elderly Ted Brown and asked him once again did Ted actually believe in Santa?
Looking slowly upward and gazing toward the big man in red, Ted said six words..
“Why are there two of you?”
Santa smiled, though if one were to look closely at Santa, it wasn’t one of mirth, it was one of revulsion, loathing, one of pure hatred for anything at all to do with humanity and it wanted one thing and one thing only, a human soul that had purity no one on else on the planet had…
TED BROWN’S SOUL
S.A.N.T.A = S.A.T.A.N
Santa/Satan smiled again, he had been using this trick for centuries and depending on which soul he was after it usually always worked and this time would be no different..
Every ten years on first point of contact with the target soul and in three attempts, those were the rules and Satan would now cash in, at Ted’s expense..
He had no intention of producing this old fools wife or anything else for that matter…
It was so easy, once human’s saw the red suit and heard the sound of sleigh bells they were hooked and once they said they believed in him it was too late…
THEY WERE HIS….
Satan was just about to ask what did Ted mean by there being two of him, surely the stupid old fool had become demented, when he saw Ted raise a frail old arm aloft and point toward the fireplace…
The big red clad being now known as Satan suddenly recoiled and hissing, threw back its hood and now revealed itself for what it truly was..
There, slowly heading out of the fireplace was a bright light and it was becoming brighter by the second..
Then this light, just like the strange vapour from Santa/Satan, formed into a being too…
This figure was also dressed in the same red outfit Santa/Satan was, the difference being this particular Santa appeared to be female…
The female hooded figure pointed a long slender hand at the Devil Santa and spoke just a few words…
“BEGONE DEMON KIND, THIS SOUL WILL NOT TRAVEL WITH THEE THIS DAY, THIS SOUL IS HIS AND HIS ALONE..”
The being pretending to be Santa but really the devil himself, then threw himself into a terrible rage and howled in a way surely no human had ever witnessed, seconds later it combusted into a fiery orb and then disappeared through the fireplace, up the chimney and gone…
The now what was obviously a female being headed over toward a Ted Brown who thought he’d seen everything but in fact hadn’t…
Leaning over a now heavily lidded Ted, the female clad Santa gently caressed his face and once again said just a few words..
“Come with me darling, time to leave this place once and for all.”
Looking slowly up into the female clad Santa’s eyes, Ted was suddenly overcome with joy.
“Is that really you Ethel, that other Santa tried to kid me, but I knew he wasn’t real, please tell me you’re real.”
At that precise moment the great old grand father clock struck one as it always had since 1942 and once again and probably for the very last time, Ethel Brown held her husband close to her and kissed him full on the lips….
Shortly after that, two bright shining lights headed toward the old fireplace and ascended up the chimney of number 23 Melville street and into the night sky…
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY……
THE END
This time though the beg red clad Santa said that the next time he came would be his last and that Ted would have missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to once again set eyes upon the woman he truly loved more than life itself..
Back to the present
By this time Ted was of course well into his 90s and though social services had done their level best to put him in a home for elderly folks, he just wouldn’t go, in fact on more than one occasion Ted had beat them off with an old yard brush..
The reasons were many, if Ted were going to pass away soon it would be here in the house where he and his ex beloved Ethel had enjoyed so many happy moments together and it would be here where Ted would finally meet his maker..
Ted glanced back up at the great clock in the corner now and slowly, but inevitably, the large minute hand tick tocked toward 12.55pm..
Instantly the room chilled and the lights began to flicker, as well and as on the two previous visits came the accompanying sound of sleigh bells…
Then just like twice before, the strange vapour type mist came pouring out of the fireplace and reformed into the great man himself…
“HO HO HO..”
Santa, again just like before, seated himself down facing a now very old Ted, a very tired Ted, a Ted that looked like he had finally had enough…
Santa smiled and if Ted had been able to see clearer, he would have seen Santa wasn’t quite who he was supposed to be..
Santa also knew Ted’s sight was now impaired with old age and HE also knew that Ted would most likely now give in to his request and THAT, would be THAT, so to speak..
Gently, Santa reached toward the now very frail and elderly Ted Brown and asked him once again did Ted actually believe in Santa?
Looking slowly upward and gazing toward the big man in red, Ted said six words..
“Why are there two of you?”
Santa smiled, though if one were to look closely at Santa, it wasn’t one of mirth, it was one of revulsion, loathing, one of pure hatred for anything at all to do with humanity and it wanted one thing and one thing only, a human soul that had purity no one on else on the planet had…
TED BROWN’S SOUL
S.A.N.T.A = S.A.T.A.N
Santa/Satan smiled again, he had been using this trick for centuries and depending on which soul he was after it usually always worked and this time would be no different..
Every ten years on first point of contact with the target soul and in three attempts, those were the rules and Satan would now cash in, at Ted’s expense..
He had no intention of producing this old fools wife or anything else for that matter…
It was so easy, once human’s saw the red suit and heard the sound of sleigh bells they were hooked and once they said they believed in him it was too late…
THEY WERE HIS….
Satan was just about to ask what did Ted mean by there being two of him, surely the stupid old fool had become demented, when he saw Ted raise a frail old arm aloft and point toward the fireplace…
The big red clad being now known as Satan suddenly recoiled and hissing, threw back its hood and now revealed itself for what it truly was..
There, slowly heading out of the fireplace was a bright light and it was becoming brighter by the second..
Then this light, just like the strange vapour from Santa/Satan, formed into a being too…
This figure was also dressed in the same red outfit Santa/Satan was, the difference being this particular Santa appeared to be female…
The female hooded figure pointed a long slender hand at the Devil Santa and spoke just a few words…
“BEGONE DEMON KIND, THIS SOUL WILL NOT TRAVEL WITH THEE THIS DAY, THIS SOUL IS HIS AND HIS ALONE..”
The being pretending to be Santa but really the devil himself, then threw himself into a terrible rage and howled in a way surely no human had ever witnessed, seconds later it combusted into a fiery orb and then disappeared through the fireplace, up the chimney and gone…
The now what was obviously a female being headed over toward a Ted Brown who thought he’d seen everything but in fact hadn’t…
Leaning over a now heavily lidded Ted, the female clad Santa gently caressed his face and once again said just a few words..
“Come with me darling, time to leave this place once and for all.”
Looking slowly up into the female clad Santa’s eyes, Ted was suddenly overcome with joy.
“Is that really you Ethel, that other Santa tried to kid me, but I knew he wasn’t real, please tell me you’re real.”
At that precise moment the great old grand father clock struck one as it always had since 1942 and once again and probably for the very last time, Ethel Brown held her husband close to her and kissed him full on the lips….
Shortly after that, two bright shining lights headed toward the old fireplace and ascended up the chimney of number 23 Melville street and into the night sky…
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY……
THE END
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