Sanders Sides Short Stories

Merry Christmas

Thomas was furious at himself. He couldn't believe he'd let himself wait until the last minute to get everything done. Only yesterday had he rushed out of his apartment pulling on a fleece jacket to buy Christmas decorations, presents for everybody including family and friends, the turkey for Christmas dinner and, as an afterthought, a mini artificial Christmas tree he could fit into the corner of the living room.

Thomas carefully wrapped the presents, trying not to remind himself of many past years where he'd ended up covered in the wrapping paper instead of the gifts. He hung a pretty snowflake he'd found in the shops on a hook he'd never bothered to get removed next to counter, and decided to decorate the tiny tree with some of his smallest decorations - Thomas even found a little toy star to put on top. Thomas was quite proud of it.

Satisfied that he'd done everything he needed to do, Thomas went up the stairs to his room with a spring in his step. As he closed the curtains he could just make out little snowflakes falling from the heavens and dancing in the darkness.

The next morning Thomas made his way back downstairs wrapped in his dressing gown, grinning with enthusiasm with that same skip in his step when he noticed a box he'd left by the door yesterday when he'd come back from town after he'd gone shopping. He still hadn't put out the Christmas decorations, and it was already Christmas day.

Obviously Thomas leapt into action. His first move was to hurry outside into the snow with his favourite light-up deer he'd bought last Christmas, set it up, went back inside and came out again to put fairy lights all over his front door. He did this all in his pyjamas and dressing gown at seven in the morning with horribly untamed hair, his teeth chattering in the cold.

Thomas shut the front door behind him, then opened it again to quickly kick all of the snow which had sneaked in while he was decorating. He couldn't for the life of him understand why he hadn't kept the door closed while covering it with fairy lights. At the very least he'd gotten everything done just in time.

He was about to settle down on the couch to watch The Office bloopers and admire his little tree when he happened to catch sight of himself in the mirror he'd recently installed on the wall. His smile of relief froze in place for a brief moment, before Thomas made a sudden beeline for the bathroom. There was absolutely no way he was going to let his friends see him in this state.

Once he'd showered, dressed and mostly tamed his hair Thomas thundered back down the stairs and collapsed on the couch. His eyes wandered to the time displayed on the TV.

"They'll be here soon," Thomas murmured to himself. He grinned when he though about all the presents he'd be getting. He had to remind himself that Christmas wasn't just about the presents, but also about spending time with his friends.

Not that he wasn't looking forward to the presents, as he was sure his friends would also be thinking. 

Minutes began to turn to hours. Thomas' excitement to see his friends slowly dwindled until it had become concern. What on earth was taking them so long? Perhaps they'd been held up by the snow - the weatherman had been adamant that there would be no snow this year. As Thomas looked out the window to the outside world beyond (or at least, what he could make of it through the weather) he privately thought to himself that they seriously needed to hire a new weatherman.

They were three hours late. Thomas was confused, and was beginning to think that he needed to find something else to watch. Maybe they'd turn up in the next hour or so.

Six hours. They were six whole hours late. The chances of them bothering to show up were looking pretty slim. With a heavy heart Thomas rose from the couch and went into the kitchen to help himself to one of the mince pies he'd bought yesterday. It didn't look like there would be anybody to share them with today.