In March of 2020, Covid-19 brought the Big Apple to its knees, but Henry Madison's kids want Great-Uncle Santa Claus to bring Christmas early by gifting the world with a cure. There are some rules, however, that not even Father Christmas can break...
That very night, when New Yorkers took to the rooftops to applaud the heathcare and other essential workers who bravely took care of them and their city, they noticed something astonishing. Sheets of many-colored lights shimmered over the city. Santa brought the Aurora Borealis. Only those with love and hope in their hearts could see them. This was what Chris had suggested, and both Helga & Santa agreed that such a thing would not break any rules. The same phenomenon was seen in cities and towns across the world.
The next morning, Alice asked all of her friends to hang a sparkly ornament in their window, so neighbors could look out and see sparkles up and down an entire building. She had them make ornaments for their neighbors who might not have them and leave them in front of their doors. She brought the idea up on her daily International Chat session, and the idea spread.
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Chris organized small groups of bike messengers who had been laid off to work as delivery staff for local food banks, taking supplies to the elderly and those unable to go outside. The Sweet Riders had been a great help in spreading the word among NYC's bicycle community. He also – surprised that he hadn't thought of it sooner – found foster parents among his classmates' families to take them in, at least until formal paperwork could be signed and legalized.
Snickerdoodle organized the elves to make PPE masks. It was their off-season, she reminded Santa, and they could pretty much do whatever they wanted. (Seems the elves do get downtime after all!) She visited a few clothing makers who were always on the naughty list and reminded them that donating some now-unpopular fabrics as materials would be in their best interest – and be a nice write-off. To add to the surprise factor, the elves would replenish an already open box of masks when no one in the hospital was looking.
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Vanilla Gorilla and the Fa-La-Lolas received special permission from the mayor to perform a PG-rated, non-religious selection of popular holiday songs around the 5 boroughs, providing they social distanced. They were a palpable hit, even among the stodgy 5th Avenue hoi-polloi. A documentary feature is in the works for Netflix (or so Vanny claims.) Vanny and Bitcha Bi-Golly's over-the-top PPE masks were auctioned off online to incredible financial success, all proceeds benefitting housing for the homeless.
Henry and Pete continued baking cookies for hospital and healthcare workers, thanks in part to a generous GOFUNDME account that was Anitra's idea. Laid off from her job as a Box Office Manager, she jumped at the chance to help them, and their city. She used her formidable roster of theater contacts – six degrees of separation rules! – to get some big-name big donors to contribute. Not stopping there, she worked with local restaurants to make new sales plans and delivery options to keep them going.
Tom, laid off from his work as a cab driver, made meals for Meals-On-Wheels, and continued to care for Alice and Chris while Henry worked at Sweet Surrender. He also would spend Sundays with Klaus Nicholasson, because this Christmas...
Well, that's another story. Stay safe, social distance, and wash your hands. Hold hope in your hearts, do good unto others, and you might just see those lights in the sky.
