Thursday, December 22, 2011

Still Managing It Solo

Good grief, there must be something I'd like for Christmas.

I'm sitting at the writing desk in the drawing room, trying to think of things to put on my letter to Santa. It's rather late to send one, but I'm hoping the big man will cut me some slack as we helped him out last year.

But man, I'm stumped.

Socks? Do I need socks? I expect so, I never seem to have any.

Underpants? Hmmm, probably. These ones are developing a hole at the knee.

I write them down and consider my options.

Belief is a marvellous thing
This is always tricky. As a single guy, if I need something, I tend to go and buy it. I realise that this is usually the excuse I hear married couples give as to why they never buy each other things at Christmas. And I'm managing it solo.

Bravo, Roth, you’re an idiot.

I notice that I've misspelled underpants.

Oh, this is hopeless.

Suddenly, an urgent furore outside draws my attention to the front door of the house. Standing, wondering if it's festive carollers, I instead hear the key turn in the lock, and a colossal growling, singing and roaring enters the house. It's clearly not drunken, just happy.

I reach the hallway as the door bursts inwards.

Roooooth! comes the cheering bellow of voices.

It's a horde of my companions. First comes my best friend iDifficult, bearing a tray of steaming mince pies and coffee. Next comes Bear, ducking under the doorframe with a Christmas tree tucked under one arm. Yavin the badger, a deep coil of glittering Christmas lights round his neck, follows behind. The young badgers Hoth and Sollust then hurry in, lugging a heavy bucket of soil into the room between them, placing it in the corner. Finally, King the resident lion and my beautiful neighbour Abbey stroll in, arm in arm, with bags of decorations in their spare hands.

In less than a minute, the tree is planted, and the sparkling lights (that are somehow lit without power) are draped around it. The young badgers quickly decorate the lower tree with baubles, while Abbey and Bear deal with the upper half. And all the time, a wonderful many-voiced melody fills the room.

Silence falls expectantly, and I glance towards the door.

Dantoo, Yavin's youthful niece, in a sparkly red-and-green Christmas dress, shyly steps into view with Bear's girlfriend Clarice. The little lass is bearing a shiny pair of Christmas bells. I give her my best smile, and she runs over to be picked up.

I move us to the tree, and she carefully places the bells at the top.

Everything looks perfect.

The coffee and mince pies are arranged on the table now, and I notice a crate of what looks like ginger fizz has somehow materialised under the table. Hoth and Sollust busy themselves with a bottle opener, and we all raise a cup.

My lifelong friend steps over to me, and pumps my hand enthusiastically.

Happy Christmas, old boy! he grins, and another cheer goes up.

To all of us, such as we are.

So, this is Christmas.

I return my attention to my Christmas letter to Santa on the desk. I fold it carefully, a lopsided grin on my face, and drop it into the bin by the desk.

I don't need to write a letter.

I have everything I need.



Merry Christmas everyone! Indigo

This blog entry is protected by copyright © Indigo Roth, 2011

17 comments:

  1. Yes. To all of us, such as we are.

    MAN but I like that.

    Merry Christmas, Mr. Roth. :-)

    Pearl

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  2. He who is blessed with good friends has need of little else. Merry Christmas!

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  3. Very lovely. A toast for the ages: To all of us, such as we are. Merry Christmas, Indigo.

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  4. Here's tae us! Wha's like us?

    Damn few - an they're aw deid!

    Merry Christmas Indigo {and chums}

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  5. meanwhile, back at the coffee house, 4,000 pounds of carefully selected coffee beans spell "happy holidays!" in the snow...

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  6. Hey Pearl! As ever, the words came randomly from somewhere in my head, and looked right. Somedays you just get lucky. Merry Christmas!

    Hi Vanilla! Welcome to my blog! And thank you for those wise words; we might all live by them. And a Merry Christmas to you, Sir!

    Hey Blissed-Out! That random bundle of words seems to have hit the spot! Thank you, and a very Merry Christmas to you too, Nancy!

    Hey Alistair! Are you channelling John Laurie there? Hope you'll be having a rare old time north of the border this Christmas? Please raise a true Scots toast for us all at Hogmanay!

    Hey Eolist! We commandeered a satellite to check, but we could damned near see it without magnification! Merry Christmas!

    Thanks one and all! Indigo

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  7. Soap on a rope? A tie?

    Have a very merry Christmas!

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  8. Friends, food, drink. Sounds like a trifecta of holiday spirit.
    Merry Christmas, Mr. Roth.

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  9. Happy Christmas, Indigo!! Sounds like a perfect holiday :) xoxo

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  10. Hey Lass! Soap? How well you know me! It's the friend-maker, or so I'm told.

    Hey Joshua! I had to stick to the ginger ale for one reason and another, but friends and food were very much part of the scene.

    Hey Ms. Fin! Thank you, it was pretty spiffy! But when there's badgers about, life is always good.

    Thanks one and all! Indigo

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  11. He who has friends is rich indeed! Happy to know you, sir!

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  12. Hey Kitty! I'm a tad late replying, but thank you! I hope 2012 is fabulous for you.

    Hey Boom-Boom! The same to you, m'dear!

    Thanks to you both! Indigo x

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  13. This was wonderful Indigo....so endearing and heartfelt and just beautiful!

    XOXOXOXO

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  14. Hey Kato, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm so very lucky to have good friends x

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  15. And so that was Christmas, eh? It does sound like a good one. Happy belated Christmas and new year!

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  16. Hey 'beck! Thanks matey, it was rather a good one. I hope yours was equally peaceful and fun! Indigo

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