Something that plopped through my letterbox...

...and thought would be nice to share with you all.This was a little Christmas gift from a very good friend of mine. Bless her she had hand written the entire thing just for me *feels special*Anyway I e-mailed her and she hsa very kindly agreed that I can post it up here. So I have. *Exactly* as she wrote it, punctuation and all.Its a beautiful little story and soooo sweet.Usual disclaimers apply.Don't know, don't own, have no connection with and none of it is true. In the words of Mr Hayes when asked if he was going to audition for Esp III of SW - 'Duh!'Once upon a time there was a tale that had nothing to do with a ghost of Christmas past or a miracle on 34th Street; in fact there was next to no supernatural activity involved and yet what did happen was still enough to disconcert the cynics.Maybe what happened didn’t really have anything to do with Christmas perhaps it being the festive season when this occurs was just a coincidence but there is something in the air at Christmas that intoxicates us, don’t you think? A charged environment that buzzes and throbs and recharges our, most of the time, very depressed souls.We become a little happier and as a result a little more willing to believe in, dare I say it, miracles.A miracle – ‘a supernatural event’ hyperbolically, a marvel, a wonder. Now, I am that mentioning miracles is a direct contradiction to what I talked about earlier but people tend to label happy little chances with the word miracle. And this is really a tale about just that; a little bit of serendipity!Christmas is certainly not the best time to fall out of love, personally I feel he ideal conditions to fall out of love are mid-summer. However I digress.At Christmas the nights are longer, colder and involve far too many activities that are designed for two. The streets are so busy with nameless, pink faces trudging through the snow. Disgruntled fathers, giggling children staring with wide eyed awe at every toy shop window they pass and couples drifting through the bustle, protecting each other from Mr Frost’s crisp bite.Darren scoffed at all of them, he was in no mood to be among people and yet he had been blindly wandering the bitter winter streets for over an hour and his fingers and toes were numb, but that matched his mind so he didn’t really notice.His tear stained cheeks had long since frozen over making him look paler than ever. His eyes were raw and the air stung them. He was like a ghost; the ghost of Christmas ruined and those that did notice him pitied him but did not stop. He was an empty shell over which the warm spirit of Christmas had passed. As far as they were concerned no one should look like that on Christmas Eve.Darren didn’t even see them, he was replaying what caused him to be in this position over and over in his mind. Even when he stumbled through the orange glow of some random coffee house because his body was demanding to be listened to before the winter took over and Darren froze to death without even realising. *****Daniel was jamming in his favourite coffee house. It was his favourite because it was bohemian; full of starving artists who oddly enough have enough money for pens, paper, guitar strings and of course a bottomless cup of coffee.But best of all, to Daniel, absolutely no Christmas decorations.Outside it was Christmas, inside it never changed. And that was just the way he liked it.‘You know something,’ he began, looking at his permanently stoned friend Ben, ‘I wish one day I’ll get paid for doing what I love.’Ben stared blankly at the sandy haired musician; he hadn’t had a pupil in his eye for about seven months.‘What’s that?’ he asked innocently.With slight disbelief Daniel glanced pointedly at the old guitar that hung loosely on his long arms. A precious item.When the penny still hadn’t dropped Daniel offered with good humour. ‘playing my music you dumb stoner!!’After a moments silence both young men surrendered to laughter.‘Aw man, I hate to break up this party.’ Ben managed after the laughter had subsided. ‘But its Christmas Eve and I really should be with Alexis.’Daniel’s face dropped – Ben had obliviously reminded him why he hated Christmas – nine times out of ten he spent it alone.‘Oh well, go do what you gotta do man’ mumbled Daniel, returning his attention to he partner in crime who never left him, strumming its strings lovingly.Slinging on his coat and preparing to face the harsh night air he tousled Daniel’s already scruffy hair.‘Take it easy Jones…and Merry Christmas.’Daniel rolled his eyes cynically. ‘Yeah you too man’ he returned but really just referring to the take it easy part. *****The warmth from inside the coffee house hit Darren like a wall. He was so chilled that his skin looked like marble and his joints were stiff, like he was slowly becoming inanimate. It wasn’t until he registered the odd looks that he realised he had ran out without his coat and had been wandering around the streets wearing nothing but a black tee shirt and jeans; allowing jack Frost to have his cruel little way with him.Deciding not to care the broken, black haired man scanned the room of mis-matched arm chairs and couches for somewhere that was free – he usually avoided places like this, he found this type of forced bohemia quite pretentious but right now he really didn’t care.A tall spiky haired man smiled gently at him as he passed to leave.Darren barely recognised this small gesture of anonymous friendship.He also noticed for the first time that his head was aching; a dull throb like his brain was thawing or at least recovering from a severe beating, perhaps both.‘Black coffee please’ Darren’s voice was hoarse and he had to clear his throat several times in order to be audible. The small woman behind the counter seemed to have the coffee in front of him before he could even finish the sentence anyway. She flicked one of her long red dreadlocks away from her face and said surprisingly sweetly. ‘That’ll be a dollar thanks.’With a dawning of horror Darren realised he had left his wallet in his coat. ‘Shit’ he hissed under his breath as he padded the rear of his jeans in a desperate grasping at hope that it might be there – but no.‘Look.’ Began the penniless man although the woman already knew what was coming. Clocking the woman’s expression Darren attempted to jump to his next stage of grovelling but there was no need as a fresh dollar bill was dropped gently onto the counter.‘Here you go Zelda.’ Came the faceless husky voice.Feeling a tad bruised in the pride area Darren turned to firmly assure this presumptuous, albeit invitingly warmed voiced stranger, that he really wasn’t a charity case however found that there were words being formed in his mind yet dying on his lips.He was dazzled by the most intense green eyes he had ever seen.‘You’re new aren’t you?’Someone was making an attempt at communication – was it the owner of the emeralds?‘I…’ was all Darren could muster. ‘Fuck’ he thought ‘the cold must have severely numbed my brain. What the hell’s the matter with me?’‘Shit dude you’re frozen. Come on and sit down.’The voice was like honey. It warmed Darren instantly on its own. The before desired coffee was now obsolete. Then they were sitting down and this warm stranger was offering him his hand.It was like falling asleep at the helm of your body; things were happening and Darren wasn’t completely aware what. One thing he could see clearly however were those eyes.‘Whoa’ was the first thing Daniel had thought and it came unbidden. As did the moving from his chair towards the counter to rescue this creature, this stunningly beautiful creature. With a set of striking sapphires set in marbley skin.Being painfully shy usually forbade Daniel from walking up to a perfect stranger and introducing himself, least of all such an intimidatingly gorgeous one.However there was something agonisingly melancholy and vulnerable about this dark haired guy that told Daniel that he needed to be rescued even before the coffee incident.Daniel just knew that he was the only capable. Or he knew he wanted to be. *****‘So what brings you here on Christmas Eve?’ he asked.Regaining the grace of speech ‘I’m…I’m really not sure. The place really just found me.’This caused the handsome blond to smile; a smile that literally blew away all thoughts of Darren’s past and for a brief glowing moment he thought he saw his future. And it made him smile for the first time that night. *****It was almost midnight and for the first time in almost five years Daniel felt Christmas wasn’t so bad after all.He felt warm.He didn’t feel alone. *****And they may have lived happily ever after, although I doubt it as that almost never happens…but then you never know…it was Christmas…The End