I ran down the stairs, Christmas! The grin on my face was
hard to hide. I love Christmas. Always have, always will. Turning the corner to
the front room, I’m hit with a sickly sweet smell made up of a mixture of, cinnamon,
cranberries, baking bread, the tree and my mum’s perfume. I was knocked back a
step by the pungent aroma. I take a few deep breaths to get accustomed to it. Breathe,
in, out, in… There it was. The picture perfect Christmas. The tree lights were
on, glistening delightfully, their glow bouncing off the silver presents
underneath. At either side of the tree stood a massive sack of presents, one
for me and one for my brother. From ‘Santa’. There’s something odd. I can’t put
my finger on it. I scanned the room and tried to see what it was. Then it hit
me. My mum and dad were there. Together. Stood by the warm fire, still lit from
the night before, and looking at me with eager eyes. They were holding hands. Wait,
What? Why were they holding hands? I heard the gentle thump thump thump as my
brother ran down the stairs to join us, everything suddenly becoming so
animated. We all sat on the floor, my brother and I diving into our present ‘sacks’.
We pulled out present after present. The room was soon full of open gifts and
silver scraps of paper, it was everywhere. Oddly enough, my parents just
laughed at us, my mum got out the camera and snapped up a shot of me and my
brother, buried in this mountain of foily paper. The smell of baked bread was
now hard to ignore, it filled the house and made everyone’s tummy grumble. Mum
shuffled off to the little kitchen and brought back some fresh made bread,
lightly toasted with tonnes of butter, chocolate spread and jams. We all dived
in, not caring about manners, loving the warm deliciousness of it. This was
such a picture perfect Christmas. The family are coming around for a meal
later, more presents. Mum and dad stole a quick glance at each other before
opening the presents they got the other, giggling at their own inside secrets. Such
a lovely Christmas…
My eyes opened, Christmas Morning. It’ll never be the same…