Toying with Christmas

1 | THE LETTER

"Good morning, folks! You'd better remember it's the second of December, meaning you only have twenty-three days left to buy your loved ones that perfect gift! Now today's Christmas song on our countdown is 'Merry Christmas Everyone'. Take it away Shakin' Stevens."

"Snow is fallin', all around me." I smacked my alarm clock, imagining the blissful peace that its silence would bring me. It always felt like those few extra minutes of sleep somehow made everything easier. "Children playin', having fun." My alarm clock faced another bashing. I perfectly knew that if I didn't wake up, I would most likely lose my job, but surely it wouldn't matter if I was a few minutes behind schedule...

"It's the season, love and understanding..." It faced one last blow as it hurtled to the ground; landing with a loud crash. "Merry Christmas everyone!" I heard it whisper before it silenced, the red lights that had once shown 6:00 am dimmed as it gave up its efforts to wake sleep's biggest admirer, Madison Adams. This was the twentieth fighter who had collapsed in a beating from my fist.

I yawned, rubbing my eyes as my feet were devoured by the warmth of my slippers. Groggily walking through my apartment, I opened my door to find a measly pile of post on my doormat. To my luck, no Christmas cards were in sight, however, like every first Tuesday of the month, there lay the Oakhampton Gazette. I had been unwillingly signed up to it last year by my mother. When it first bombarded my doormat, I had bothered to read the tedious articles; but now it had become a regular guest of my recycling bin. The front page blurted everything that somehow slipped into the 'Christmas' category; it was as if they had saved all their budget for only their Christmas Edition. Did they not realise that some people didn't find the glitter and multi-coloured lights favourable?

I threw it down the hallway and watched as it landed on my neighbour's doormat. We had never spoken, but I was sure that she would enjoy it far more than the bottom of my bin. I sifted through the remaining bills, searching for something that didn't scream boredom and came up empty handed. As I was just about to turn away, I saw a small sliver of an envelope peeking out from behind my doormat. As I dislodged it from its position, I instantly recognised the handwriting and within seconds the letter was released from its confines.

My dearest Maddi,

I assume that if you are reading this, I have already left you to join your sister in heaven. My darling granddaughter, in my last days you were always in my thoughts. I thought about how you had such great courage to venture to the city and to follow your dreams. I am astonished that you still remembered to call your Grandma whenever you could. I cherished our conversations so much, especially after poor Samantha disappeared.

This may be a surprise to you, my dear, however with much confidence I leave you with my shop. I understand that you haven't had the time to visit it in a while but I trust that you will look after it so that my legacy can continue through the generations. As well as this, please look after Daniel and his daughter. Even though I assume that you have only met once or twice at Samantha's funeral and possibly at my own funeral, I hope that you treat them with the kindness that you treated me with throughout your life.

Never forget how much I love you,

Grandma Margaret

I was overcome by emotions. I couldn't believe that she would entrust her inheritance to me; however, this was short-lived. How could I, a digital marketing manager who lived in the middle of the city, ever manage a toy store? Ever since I moved to the city, I had never returned my home town. However, my Grandma had now given me something that would force me to revisit those memories and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing. The whole concept sounded like absolute hell, why would I want to visit the town that I had always linked with bad memories. A town that openly proclaims their love for Christmas in the most outrageous fashion!