On the 15th Day of Christmas Damhnait Monaghan gave to me… Chloe said, “I’m ready to post my letter up the chimney, Grandma.” “Let me read it first,” said Ruth. “But I licked it.” Before Ruth could reply, Grandpa Jim took the envelope and chucked it on the fire. It was Chloe’s first Christmas without
On the 14th Day of Christmas Edward Ahern gave to me… “I don’t like turkey.” Sarah made shushing noises. “Phil, it’s Christmas. Pretend it’s veal. Or pork.” “It tastes like greasy cardboard. I’ll tell my brother I’ve gone Vegan.” “They’ve been to your cookouts. They already know you scrape vegetables off your plate.” “Yeah, but
On the 13th Day of Christmas Hannah Storm gave to me… Today my four-year-old found the Lord in his lunchbox. Tucked between the apple slices and the yoghurt tubes, Charlie might have missed the miracle, but fortunately for him and the future of faith, his form teacher Miss Angel was on hand. I had feared
On the 12th Day of Christmas Judy Darley gave to me… I watched her emerge through the gleaming glass doors and hurry through snow to the bus stop. With a flick of my ear, the electronic sign glitched, showing false news of buses running late. She pursed her lips, and settled on the tilted plastic
On the 11th Day of Christmas María Mercedes Romero Day gave to me… Christmas was scorching hot in this corner of the world. The only white was the shimmer of the water as they lazily floated around the swimming pool, looking up at the cloudless sky. The kids only crawled out of the cool embrace
On the 10th Day of Christmas S.B. Borgersen gave to me… This story begins at first light on Christmas morning. Fingers of silver-grey pierce the spaces between the branches of the leafless maple she watches through her bedroom window. ‘Has time stopped?’ she wonders. There is no movement. No sound. No jingle of bells. Arlene
On the 9th Day of Christmas Lucy Goldring gave to me… On balance, it’s better that he didn’t notice me. Invisibility might just be my new superpower. Being in here – bass a distant drub-drub-drub, fellow ‘freshers’ a drone of bullshit – offers vodka-clear perspective. I will ignore the rat poison pellets squealing annihilation (too
On the 8th Day of Christmas Alexis Wolfe gave to me… The air was thick with cigarette smoke outside my back door. It was the Big Supermarket delivery drivers’ Christmas party. Except, Big Supermarket didn’t give its delivery drivers a Christmas party and the drivers weren’t allowed any time off work during December, so actually
On the 7th Day of Christmas Rich Glinnen gave to me… “Now they notice us,” Elm guffaws, simply stunning in an afro of violet, “all year long these people just coast on by, picking their noses.” The nearest trees grunt in agreement. “What did Elm say?” “A little louder, please. Some of us aren’t spring
On the 6th Day of Christmas Andrew Boulton gave to me… When summer came and the skies bulged with a sticky mist, one wasp made an error of judgement. Sugar-drunk and oblivious to consequences, this wasp found himself trapped inside a freezer. And slept. Now it’s Christmas morning and the freezer is, for the first
