Page 64 of It Always Snows on Mistletoe Square
I wander into the store and pause in front of a large sign telling me where all the various departments are situated.
Maybe Angela would like something for the kitchen? I wonder. No, I can’t buy her that. It’s like I’m emphasising that’s how I see her. Hmm … what about a nice piece of jewellery? Angela is always wearing bright, colourful accessories.
Confident in my idea, I head up the escalators to the fashion floor. In the accessories department I pick out a shiny, bold necklace in the shape of a rainbow – perfect. I can just imagine Angela pairing it with one of her retro outfits.
Now for Estelle … Goodness, what do I buy for her? She has so many precious things around her home already. Many of the items are memories of the people who have lived there before her. What can I possibly buy that she might appreciate?
Estelle always dresses in a very traditional, classical way – matching dresses and cardigans with pearls or small delicate pieces of jewellery. Nothing I could buy for her in here would complement any of the antique pieces she favours.
I think about all the photos and paintings she has dotted about of her friends and the past residents of the house. What about a nice photo frame? Perhaps we could all take a photo by the Christmas tree and I can get it printed out for her to add at a later date to the frame. Yes, I like that idea. So I head upstairs to Home Accessories and pick Estelle out a beautiful silver frame with an Art Nouveau design that I’m sure she will like.
Happy with my choices, I purchase the gifts for Estelle and Angela. As I’m walking towards the exit of the shop I pass through the toy department. It’s decorated with even more Christmas decorations than the rest of the store. There are huge displays of Lego, next to houses full of Barbie dolls. Alongside those, shelves stacked high with games, cars, jigsaws and just about any toy you can think of, all waiting hopefully to be purchased for a lucky child’s Christmas stocking. But the display that really catches my eye is a huge pyramid in the centre of the department stacked high with teddy bears. Some of them wear brightly coloured bows around their necks, some full outfits, but what they all have in common are their inviting smiles and friendly faces.
I walk over to the display to take a closer look. The bears I am drawn to feel soft with realistic-looking fur, and their arms, legs and head are all fully jointed so they can move. These bears in particular all have the most beautiful dark eyes and a friendly stitched-on smile. I pick one up. This is exactly the sort of teddy bear I longed for when I was young. The sort every year I hoped to find in whatever small pile of gifts might be at the end of my bed on Christmas morning – never under the tree, there was never a tree.
There’s a Santa sitting in a grotto next to the display of bears, with some children queuing up to see him, and I can’t help overhearing what he’s saying behind his white beard.
‘And what would you like for Christmas this year, Ailsa?’ he asks a young girl in a burgundy coat and black patent-leather shoes.
‘A doll that eats and drinks, and then poops real poos,’ she says innocently.
The Santa smiles. ‘Yes, I know just the one. If you’ve been a good girl this year, Ailsa, then perhaps Santa will bring you one. Now what about your brother?’ he says, turning to a slightly younger boy standing next to her. ‘What’s your name, young man?’
‘Alfredo,’ the boy says.
‘That’s his name, but we call him Alf,’ his sister says matter-of-factly.
‘I want to be Alfredo,’ the boy insists.
‘Righty ho,’ the Santa says, smiling beneath his white beard. ‘Alfredo it is. And what would you like for Christmas?’
‘I’d like my family to all be together,’ Alfredo says in a mature-sounding voice that belies his apparent age. ‘My dad is in the army overseas. I just want him to come home.’
I can literally feel my heart strings being plucked one by one.
‘That is a very special thing you’re asking for,’ the Santa says. He sounds calm, but I can tell by his eyes he’s been moved just as much as I have by the boy’s wish. ‘I’m sure if your father can come home, he will. All families should be together at Christmas, but I’m afraid it’s not always that easy.’
The Santa glances across at me watching all this with interest, so I hurriedly pick up one of the bears and pretend to be thinking about buying it.
‘Why isn’t it?’ Alfredo asks. ‘Christmas is a time to be with the ones you love. They said it on the television the other day. In the advert break.’
‘I see.’ Santa nods. ‘And they’d be right. You should be with those you love at Christmas, and often those you love are not just family, but friends too. But sometimes it’s not quite that simple, I’m afraid. It doesn’t mean those people love you any less, though, just because you can’t be together.’
Alfredo shrugs matter-of-factly. ‘All right, if I can’t have my dad home, then I’d like snow, please.’
‘Don’t be silly, Alf,’ his sister says. ‘It never snows at Christmas.’
‘Doesn’t mean it won’t this year,’ Alfredo says. ‘Does it, Santa? Can you make it snow?’
I can’t help smiling as I continue to listen.
‘I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do my very best. Now you look after your sister and hopefully your dad will come home for Christmas. But if he doesn’t, I want you to be a brave boy and have lots of courage, because your dad is doing a very important job in the army. He’s looking after lots of people who need taking care of, and by doing that he’s helping to protect us here too.’
Alfredo nods.
‘Now, before I move on to the other children waiting, is there anything else I can bring you?’
I turn away from the Santa to put the bear down, but, before I do, I see a familiar face peeking through the display of bears.
