Ho, ho, ho

'Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,' the doorbell chimed.

'Who the bloody hell is it at this time of night,' Sarah wondered, awakened from her sleep as the television showed one of its endless repeats.

'Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas,' a jolly voice shouted as she walked towards the front door, seeing a silhouette fill the glass pane.

Only moving to this area two months ago, she had no one to share the holiday season with. Christmas was never a nice time to be alone, but all her family lived in other parts of the country, and she didn't want to infringe upon them.

The warmth of the hallway engulfed her, before she let in the cold air by opening the door.

'Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas.' A hulk of a man stood on the pavement with his back towards her. When he turned, his face sported a big white beard and upon scanning him, she saw he was wearing a Santa suit. If she had been a child, she would have thought Santa was paying her a special visit. 'Ho, ho, ho,' he repeated, turning to face her.

Sarah squinted to take a closer look as to who it may be, trying to look past the beard.

'May I come in?' the figure asked.

Sarah went to close the door without agreeing to his invite.

'Don't you want a visit from Santa?' the visitor asked.

She shook her head. 'Go away, leave me alone,' she urged the stranger.

'Oh, but Sarah...' he begun.

Her own body froze as she remained motionless when he spoke her name. How could he know? No one in this area knew her, unless someone had been spying. 'Who are you?' she asked. 'You can't know me. I haven't been living here long enough for anyone to get to know me.'

'I know everyone,' the visitor replied, stepping one foot into her home.

'Who put you up to this joke?' Sarah was full of questions and desperately tried to keep the intruder from her home.

He shook his head. 'Oh, dear Sarah, you really don't believe, do you?'

She shook her head in alarm, still trying to close the door.

'Your name is Sarah Marshall, and you used to live at 318 Adams Street until you were twenty years old.'

Sarah took a moment to think. It may have been a long time, but that address would always be remembered.

'You've never married, and have moved back to your birth town to try and recapture the youth you once had. The only difference is, this town has moved on, and no-one here knows you.'

Her grip on the door lessened and as she moved back, the visitor pushed himself in, closing the door.

'Who put you up to this?' she repeated.

'No one. This is my job,' the visitor replied, walking across the passage, pushing Sarah back as he went. 'Don't you remember the night you saw me, all those years ago.'

Sarah let herself be pushed, her strength not as strong as his build, and he had caught her attention.

'Sarah Marshall, most years you would be such a good girl and believe in me. If anyone tried to tell you otherwise, you would scream to convince them I existed. You believed until you entered your teens. Once you found boys, you were too pre-occupied to want to believe.'