On Christmas Day in the Morning – At Reg’s!

The sky was heavy. Even though the morning was particularly dark, Reg could see that the sky was full. Snowflakes the size of rose petals were falling gently, effortlessly and extremely heavily. They were settling on the ground, quite deep, quite crisp, and in some places quite even.

Reg noticed a particularly odd mound at the bottom of his garden. The mound was moving. Moving towards the bungalow…

The grandfather clock chimed out five times, and then stopped. Reg looked at his watch, it was eight o’clock, on Christmas Day, in the morning. He was expecting to hear three more chimes come sounding in, when the grandfather clock chimed a further three times as if in response. It had a habit of catching up any seconds lost or gained at eight o’clock for some reason. Morning or evening – but always without fail. Well, it does tick twice and then tocks, so it has to keep up somehow.

‘Ding Dong Merrily On High’ suddenly sounded out – it was the ring tone on his mobile phone – Reg had changed it from his favourite ring tone ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’ as the winter days were more dark and less bright. He would change it back within a week or so.

Reg answered the phone, it was Lord Nowell the First, from the Manor House at the end of Bridge Lane. Lord Nowell wanted to know if Reg was still going for his Christmas dinner, as he’d also invited Reg’s next door neighbour Mary as well, and her son (who was a drummer) and he wondered if Reg would walk along with them. Reg never knew the son’s name, as he was always referred to as the Boy Child, but Lord Nowell soon announced it was Gabriel; as he asked Reg to pass on a message to him, thanking him for decking the halls at the Manor a few days earlier. Reg wondered why the lord couldn’t have thanked Gabriel himself, but said he would anyway. He also said he would walk with them, past three o’clock that afternoon.

He looked back to where the mound had been in the garden, but it was gone. A trail led out of the gate and Reg presumed whatever it was had gone down to the forest that was behind the bungalow. Yon Forest it was locally referred to, and it was a very haunted and spooky place. Reg loved it!

“The friendly beasts of the forest will look after whatever it was,” thought Reg, who suddenly realised that it may have been the spirit of Frosty the Snowman. He wasn’t actually Frosty, that was just his nickname, but ‘Frosty’ was a ghost who appeared around Christmastime to have some fun. He was a very mischievous ghost, and liked to make people see him – but only in the corner of their eye. Apart from Reg. He’d known Reg for quite a few years now, so always tried different ways to try to shock him… none of which worked.

Reg heard a bell ringing and looked around to see both Shawns, Belle and the kittens all walking into the room for their breakfasts. He’d given Belle a collar with a bell on it, and this was the first time he’d heard the bell on Christmas Day. He was sure Belle loved the bell; she was walking proudly, and she had a definite smile. He served them their breakfast, and decided to go for a walk to Yon Forest.

The wind whispered through the trees ‘do you hear what I hear?’ and Reg wondered as he wandered if it was Frosty playing yet another trick, trying to frighten him. He was sure that the ghost knew he was a vampire, but he never let on. The ghost wouldn’t believe him anyway, if he didn’t know, with Reg’s ability to walk out in daylight.

“See amid the winter’s snow,” a lady’s voice called out from behind Reg. He turned to see, through the darkness and snow, candlelight. Carole, his eccentric neighbour from over the road was walking her dog Ben, and she said a cheery good morning to Reg. Ben was more like a little donkey than a dog, as he was actually taller than Carole herself, but very well behaved. After Reg returned the good morning, they all went their separate ways, with Reg returning to his bungalow.

“Let it snow…” thought Reg, as he went back inside and sat by the fire in his living room. His tree was decorated in the corner with twinkling lights. The fire was casting a radiant glow all over the room, with the unwrapped presents beneath the tree appearing to glow brighter themselves as though to bring attention to the fact that they were unopened. Belle jingled as she trotted into the living room, and sat down beside Reg, purring loudly. “Christmas is all around me,” Reg smiled, looked at Belle, and said “Merry Christmas!”