Christmas Crunch

Chapter 1
Christmas Crunch

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Chapter Description: Extended version: It is just a few days before Christmas, Rosemary finds just what she is looking for at the mall.

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Christmas Crunch

Starlene had four more hours in her final shift at the Mistletoe Junction attraction in the mall, she did not try to hide the dead eye countenance from her face as she stared at the infinite line of people trying to get the keepsake picture of their treasured snotty nosed tot with Santa. The mall was packed with shoppers bumping into each other with their rustling shopping bags in their objective to grab gifts that would probably be returned the following week. The air was heavy with the sound with the mutterings of the crowd punctuated with the shrill screams and plaintive whines of small overwhelmed children and the annoyingly hollow sound of ‘Merry Christmas’ being bellowed at the top of whatever shift’s white-bearded oaf was occupying Santa’s chair. On top of that, Starlene could not decide if the itch of the bedraggled felt from her pointed hood and cowl wrapped around her head and neck was worse than the ache in her feet from the curled up toes of the elf shoes that they forced her to wear.

The most bothersome element was not the absurd costume she was required to wear, it was the reason why she was stuck there risking her self-respect for a few extra dollars. Last month, she had been pulled into court by a lousy ex-boyfriend who wanted her to pay him for the old junker car he had given her. The judge was such a stupid prig, he couldn’t understand that her defense was that she worked it off in the bedroom and they should now be considered even. If that nitwit judge had not ruled that she owed the selfish jerk $900, she would not be scrambling for money right now. Normally, she would have put the touch on her mother for the dough, but since her mother passed away at the beginning of the year, that avenue of support had dried up. Ever since she was a teenager, she had always been able to milk some money out of her mother by laying on a guilt trip of how she had to grow up without a father. About five years ago, the old girl had married an old military man who did not bother to hide his disappointment at the caliber of Starlene’s life choices. The old pompous jerk believed that Starlene’s mother had been too lenient with her by handing the young woman money anytime she asked for it. He had told his wife many times that it was good for Starlene to deal with the consequences on her own. Starlene would mimic his righteous tone as he stated that dealing with life’s problems on her own would build character. When her mother kicked the can in the spring, Starlene was furious to find out that her batty old mother had left everything to her husband in her will. She screamed and threatened and cried in alternating order, all to no avail. She could not get one penny out of the old miser. She created such a scene that she was barred from ever entering the house again. Slipping a finger underneath the sweaty cowl, she scratched her neck and thought of how the old derelict must enjoy rolling around in the money that should have been hers.

A few minutes ago, the mall’s special events manager had just been by and lectured her about her attitude again. She was supposed to be filled with the spirit of Christmas, smile and engage the children so the sales of the Santa portrait packages would soar. In other words, act like a freaking fool for a few dollars an hour. ‘HA! Like I would ever do that willingly!’ she thought. It was not her fault that these little monsters were the most odious children to ever exist and it was quite obvious to her that the parents were the poisoned genetic well from which they had sprung. She could only bear so much before she began to take a malicious glee in the harrowing experience of visiting Santa was for some children. The day had already started out badly since it was going to be one of the busiest shopping days before Christmas. The mall management expected larger than normal crowds of last minute shoppers.

Earlier that day, the over-stressed special events coordinator had run up to her and the other elf on the first shift and stated that one of the elves scheduled for the second shift would be unable to come to work that day because of sick kids. He was desperate for one of the elves to stay for the next shift. Finally, the coordinator offered double pay for the second shift, an additional bonus of $200 and an extended dinner break to the person who would stay. When she heard the incentives, Starlene accepted the offer with relish, she could pay off the judgment and get her own life back.

Her job was to coordinate the flow of customer traffic through rope lined cattle shoot course and through the gate entrance to Christmas themed section. She dragged unwilling kids over to Santa’s chair and hefted the unbelievably corpulent children up to the incredibly lazy Santa’s knee. She ignored the reticent dragging feet of the children as she tugged them over to the display where Santa sat. The overweight bearded derelicts posing as Santa developed a diva complex and could not assist in lifting the two ton kids up on their knee. They would imperiously command the elf to assist the child and delightedly watched as Starlene grunted under the weight of the said kid. After the kid was deposited, she waited with her arms crossed over to the side while the inept guy playing Santa tried to initiate a conversation with the crying child. When Santa handed a small wrapped candy cane to the kid, it was her cue to pull the odious child down and shoo it over with its parents where the other elf was finishing up the big sales pitch on the Christmas portrait packages. Every once in a while, a whole family posed with Santa that Starlene thought was extremely pathetic. Talk about cheesy! ‘Who were they kidding?’ she thought with a grimace.

Finally dinner break arrived as it was announced that Santa had to go feed his reindeer. After the sign that displayed that Santa would be back in hour was set up, Starlene walked inside the photo hut, where she removed her elf cap and curled toe elf shoes and put on her flats. She looked like a human again with the exception of wearing an odd green and red dress with a ring of dancing gingerbread men around the skirt over red tights. She didn’t care if she ruined the magic of Christmas to be caught outside the set in costume. If the kids recognized the elf costume and ruined the magic of Christmas, well, too bad for them, she shrugged.

.........

It was crowded in the food court and there were few seats available with the shopping throng. Starlene had managed to get an uninspiring hamburger, fries and diet soda. She happened to luck out and find a small table that was set on a bar seat with a series of tables. She set her tray down and sat down slowly as her knees announced that had not been bent for quite a while. She let out a small groan as she realized that she had been on her feet all day. She picked up her soda and placed the straw in her mouth to take a small sip. She closed her eyes as the coolness slipped down her throat, treasuring the silence. She opened her eyes and noticed a woman with three small children sitting nearby. A little boy in a red and white outfit, not over a year and half old beaming at her from a high chair sitting at the table, which made her roll her eyes. There were two slightly larger children sitting on the bench not too far away from Starlene. Looking away from the family, she picked up her burger between her fingers and took a bite.

“Your dress has cookies on it!” a little girl’s high pitched voice piped up from next to her on the bench.

Looking down to see a blonde haired little girl with her hair pulled back into a French braid tied up with a large mass of red and white ribbon at the end, smiling up at her with her discovery.

“Yeah, it does.” Starlene responded, unenthusiastically, hoping the kid would take a hint and leave her alone.

‘Those are ginjabedmen!” The little girl wearing a red corduroy overalls over a white turtleneck who had been studying Starlene’s skirt. She stood up on the seat and rocketed a finger at the skirt and announced loudly. “Mommy, look! She’s wearing cookies.”

“Christy, it’s not nice to point. Yes, I see the cookies.” A woman about thirty smiled over at Starlene. “You’ll have to excuse her. She gets so excited around this time of year.”

“Uh huh. Look I’m just trying to get a bite to eat. Could you maybe keep your kids under control?” Starlene made no effort to hide her distaste of the little girl’s attempted interaction.

“Oh, I’m sorry, she bothered you.” The mother’s smile slid off her face as the implied insult sunk home. She called out to the little girl with a strained voice. “Christy, come back over here and leave the lady alone.”

Starlene snorted with derision and turned her body slightly away from the family as she continued to eat her meal. She could hear the mind numbing conversation between parent and child going on next to her. The mother seemed to be at constantly to be wiping mouths and fingers as the children demolished the food in front of them. She heard the children squeal as their father appeared.

“Yah! It’s Daddy!” she mouthed silently as she mimicked the happy cries from the nearby table.

Suddenly, the little girl appeared on the other side of her with a little boy who looked to be about three years old, dressed identically to his sister. Oh, great a theme family, Starlene nastily thought. He had a finger stuck in his mouth and from the amount of drool shining on his chin, it appeared that it had been there quite a while. His big sister was holding his hand and had obviously dragged him with her.

“Can my brother see the cookies on your skirt?” Christy asked with uncomplicated directness of a child.

Starlene stared at the two children who had seemed to turn renegade to peer at her skirt. Casting her eyes to the ceiling, she grunted “Knock yourself out!” She reached for her drink that was behind her on the table and placed the straw in her lips as she watched the two children study her skirt.

Suddenly the voice of the mother cut through the air. “Oh My! I am so sorry.” She appeared to shepherd her children back to their table. “I don’t know how they got over her so quick. They’re just fascinated with your outfit.”

Taking a long pull of her drink, Starlene responded and picked up her tray to bus it. “Yeah, kids like stupid things.” She did

not bother to hide her snort as she walked away.

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Starlene went out to her car, since she was on an extended break, she had a bottle of bourbon stuck in the glove compartment. She thought she was going to need it to get through to the final hours of her shift. Walking over to the far section of the parking lot where the employees parked, Starlene climbed in behind the driver’s side of the car that was the reason for the job. After about twenty five minutes, she was half way through the small bottle of bourbon when she felt the car jolt forward.

“What the hell!” Starlene screamed as she tumbled out of her car door, the open bottle of booze still in her hand. She looked back to see a newer model car had caught the corner of her bumper, crushing it in on one side.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” The driver began immediately apologizing as they exited their vehicle.

“Hey, it’s you, again! Are you crazy? What are you doing? You crashed into my car!” Starlene yelled as she waved her arms dramatically, the bottle of bourbon sloshed as it was flung around. “You have some sort of vendetta out for me?”

“I am so, so sorry. This is totally my fault. Don’t worry, my insurance will pay for your repairs.” The mother from the family inside walked around the front of her car.

“You bet you’re going to pay!” Starlene grunted. She reached up to place a hand behind her neck as she announced. “I hope you haven’t given me whiplash!”

“Oh, no! You, poor thing! Maybe you should sit down while I call the police. Do you think you’ll need an ambulance?” The young mother dithered as she dug through her purse on the seat of the car for a phone.

“I don’t think we’ll need to bring the authorities into it. Why don’t we just work it out between ourselves?” Starlene calculatedly proposed as she studied the high-priced vehicle currently wedged into the corner of her already abused car.

“What do you mean?” The woman looked up from her purse with a quizzical look.

“It’s Christmas and everyone’s pretty busy. You could just pay me right now for the repairs and possible injury.” Starlene shrugged as she placed a hand on her hip.

“I don’t know. I mean my husband usually takes care of these things. I was supposed to get the car and pick them up at the mall entrance.” The woman wavered as she looked back over to the mall.

“Why let this little accident ruin your Christmas. We don’t need to get anyone else involved. I think $2000 would about cover it.” Starlene used her best logic as her eyes shone at the proposed windfall.

“$2000! I don’t have that much on me. I only have $600 on me.”

“I’ll take it because it’s Christmas and all.” Starlene snapped as the alcohol was beginning to fuzz her thinking.

“Oh, okay, but I think I need you to sign something for me the money.” The mother responded slowly, clearly not comfortable with the situation.

“Sure. Whatever. Fine.” Starlene slurred as she leaned back on her car, the bourbon beginning to also take effect on her balance.

“Here, I grab a piece a paper and pen.” The woman responded helpfully and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from her car.

Placing the piece of paper on the roof of her car, she wrote out a simple contract that Starlene would accept the $600 in cash as total reparation for the accident. The woman slid the sheet over to Starlene and held the pen out toward her. Starlene leaned clumsily against the car and set the bottle of bourbon on the hood. The bottle began a slow slide over the curve of the hood. Starlene tried to catch it but her reflexes were too slow. She pawed at the sliding bottle but could not stop it. Luckily, the other woman was quite a bit more coordinated at this point and easily caught the bottle.

“Why don’t you let me hold it while you sign the paper?” The woman offered as Starlene nodded and began to slowly scrawl her signature on the piece of paper.

Once done, the woman passed the bottle back to Starlene as she took back the pen and paper.

“Well, I guess that’s done. Cheers!” The woman intimated with a nod. “Now, I just need to give you the money.”

Starlene picked up the bottle and took a big swig as she watched the woman go back to her driver’s side door. It had turned out not to be that bad a day after all. She wasn’t about to waste this money on fixing this old clunker. With this $600 and the extra money from the second shift, she had the judgment paid off, her life was her own again. She took another big swig from the bottle to celebrate. By the time the woman appeared again, now holding a number of bills in her hand, Starlene was feeling the effect of the liquor quite profoundly like she never had before.

“My! You don’t look well. Why don’t you sit in my car for a minute? Is there anyone I should call?" woman stated with obvious concern as she moved froward to keep Starlene from sliding to the ground.

Starlene shook her head as she tried to fend off the woman’s well-meaning assistance.

"You mean, there’s no one who’s worried about you?" The woman sounded shocked, but almost hopeful to Starlene’s ears.

"Look, lady, I’m just fine on my own. I don’t need you or anyone in my business." Sharlene groggily snarled at the woman.

"Well, I just can’t leave you here if you’re hurt or unwell. Just allow me to make sure you’re okay." The woman grasped Starlene’s elbow faster than she anticipated.

The voice in Starlene’s head wanted to tell the woman to go to hell, but since the money hadn’t been transferred ownership yet, so she held her tongue. She could be as compliant as needed until she got her hands on that money. She simply nodded in agreement as she wanted to wrap her hand around the bills as soon as possible. She allowed the woman to guide her over to the back seat of her expensive car. She felt the padded upholstery cradle her body just before everything went black.

……….

Walt had managed to navigate the double stroller holding the boys while holding on to Christy’s hand through the network of ropes that led to the Mistletoe Junction attraction in the center of the mall rather successfully. Luckily, the children had been fed and were reasonably clean when he picked them up from Rosemary at the food court so they were in good moods before going to see Santa Clause. Walt kept Christy busy by asking her about her list for Santa Clause while the two boys chewed on two of new plastic toys they had picked up earlier that day. It was getting close to their turn as they went around the final bend and there was still no sign of Rosemary.

Finally, when there were just three families ahead of them, Rosemary appeared. She had a white crocheted blanket laying across her shoulder which disguised something that she held preciously to her shoulder.

“Did everything go okay?” Walt asked as he looked from his wife to the small bundle in her arms.

“You wouldn’t believe how easy it was.” Rosemary replied, and then blushed as she added. “I hate to tell you but I might have put a little dent on the fender on the car.”

“I’m sure it was worth it.” Walt responded as he looked at the small lump under the blanket.

Rosemary nodded as she pivoted the bundle in her arms. There was a tiny month old girl dressed in a tiny onesie placed into a Christmas stocking. She was sound asleep wearing a little stocking red Santa cap on her head. She was a tiny delicate thing, her skin a lovely ivory color with a wisp of dark hair on her forehead, her rosebud mouth pursed in sleep.

“Yes, it was.” As she beamed into her husband’s face. “I expect with the amount of liquor she imbibed, she shouldn’t give us any trouble through the transition.”

“Daddy, Daddy, it’s almost our turn!” Christy bounced on her tiptoes, her concentration had been solely directed on the upcoming visit with Santa.

A few minutes later, it was their turn as the special events coordinator stood at the gate where Starlene had usually stood. He opened the gate to allow the new family of six access to Santa. The adults wanted to be in the picture, so everyone was arranged around Santa. Walt held Ben in arms while Santa had Johnny and Christy on each knee while Rosemary held the new baby. With the exception of the sleeping infant, they all smiled at the camera as the elf pressed the button.

Starlene began to wake up to the irritatingly familiar noise that had surrounded her all day. That bourbon must have had a greater kick than she had thought. She was absolutely wiped out. She could hardly move. Her head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. The last thing she could remember was she was about to get an easy $600 for another dent on that pile of junk she called a car and then nothing. She must have gotten drunker than she thought. That lame job must have really gotten to her. Now, she was even dreaming about it, why she could even hear the crowds and the stupid oaf of a Santa emitting the traditional “HO, HO, HO!” over the clatter. She was determined to ignore the whole thing and go back to sleep until she could move again. Suddenly, a bright flash caused her whole body to jerk in response.

She opened her eyes. Where was she? She could barely focus her eyes and could only make out things about three feet in front of her. She had never been this wasted before. When did she become such a lightweight?’ she asked herself. She had the oddest feeling that she was suspended above the ground. She closed her eyes and thought ‘God, was she drunk! Wait a minute! The money! She still had to get the money!’ She opened her eyes and could hazily make out the woman face just above her. Good, the lady hadn’t gotten away! Things were finally turning her way! She closed her eyes and went back to sleep as a small smile pulled at her mouth. The thought that things were finally going her way for a change.

The special events coordinator was anxiously dashing around the background, asking if anyone had seen Starlene as the new family paid for the photo package. Finally breaking from her Santa fugue, Christy noticed the new addition and tugged on her mother’s sleeve.

“Who’s that?” Christy asked, pointing at the baby in her mother’s arms.

“It’s your new baby sister.” Rosemary knelt down and pushed back the blanket so the little girl could peer at the infant.

“Oh, what’s her name?” Christy asked as she stared at the tiny face.

“Her name is Noelle.” Rosemary responded. “She’s our little Christmas present.”

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The sound of adult voices punctuated with the excited exclamations of children against the annoying background music that sung by big band singers in the 1950’s was the first thing that Starlene noticed as she battled her way back to consciousness. She rocked her head slightly as she wondered just how that little bottle of liquor had totally gotten her wasted. She seemed to be sitting in some kind of deep seated chair. She smacked her lips as she tried to remember the weird dreams she had had while she was out. She seemed to have these fuzzy images and sensations of being carried and cuddled as if she had become suddenly tiny. It must have been the cheap booze she decided. It had been a long time since a single small bottle of booze had made her black out. It usually took a lot of hard partying before she was down for the count. Now, here she was, feeling like she had gone on a week bender…Maybe she was getting old. Anyhow, from the noise and the music, it seemed that she was still at the mall and that stupid job.

‘What time is it? I’m got to pull myself together and get back to work. Ugh! I probably have to apologize to that irritating event manager. He is probably going to give me the stink eye and a stupid lecture for the rest of the shif.’ Wrinkling her face at the thought.

Taking a deep breath, Starlene reluctantly opened her eyes a tiny bit and immediately closed them again as the light from the room seemed to pierce her brain like daggers. With a groan, she pulled up her hands to her face in response to block out the elements that seemed to aggravate her hangover. She did not move for a moment as she tried to re-gather herself for another attempt. As she lay in the chair, she noticed that there seemed to be something covering her hands. It did not feel like gloves, it seemed like a loose flowing material was covering her hands. She would have held her hands out in front of her, but she did not have the strength. This hangover was going to kill her, she thought. She slowly slid her hands down her face till the rested at the base of her neck. She rocked her head as she carefully opened her eyes again a tiny bit and blinked as the lights assaulted her senses.

“Uh Oh!” A nearby overly loud little girl’s voice chirped. “I think she is waking up!”

Starlene wrinkled her face and shut her eyes again in reaction to the abrupt sound. She would have cursed the dumb whore out for making such a racket, but that would have to wait until she felt better. After a moment, Starlene once again opened her eyes to see just where she was. At first, the only thing that Starlene could make out was the myriad of colorful lights of a nearby Christmas tree. It seemed to be huge and the lights were a blurry kaleidoscope of colors to her bleary eyes. Oh, great, she had found herself at the Mistletoe Station with its oversized Christmas trees. From the way she was sitting, she must be in Santa’s chair. She had somehow must have made her way in from the parking lot and passed out in the Santa display, she was going to be so fired. She braced herself as she listened for the predictable screaming and chaos that an unconscious woman found in the family friendly exhibit, but nothing happened. To be honest, she expected for the special events manager to be yelling for security by now and insisting that they forcibly remove her from the mall by now. Only that didn’t happen, which seemed to be puzzling and oddly foreboding to Starlene.

Something was definitely not right. Scrunching her eyes closed several times to clear the blurriness, Starlene tried to focus on what was around her. Her sight seemed to be oddly limited, nothing would come in focus. ‘Oh, God! That cheap rock gut must have made me blind!’ She let out an involuntary whimper as thought made her panic. She had begun to shake a little as she remembered that she had heard about the use of cheap grain alcohol could pretty much poison a person, make them blind, have a stroke or even kill them. Now, she was going to be just another sad statistic because she always chose the cheapest alcohol on the shelf.

“Help! Help! Somebody help me! I can’t see! I’m blind!” She began to call out desperately and raggedly. She began to struggle against the chair that seemed to be holding her so firmly. She tried to sit forward, but her body did not seem to be reacting to her demands. She wailed at the top of her voice. “Oh, my God! I’ve had a stroke. Someone call an ambulance!”

Suddenly, two immensely large hands seem to appear out of nowhere and coming straight for her. It was the most incredible sight that left Starlene stunned. She then redoubled her efforts to get help. She twisted her body but it seemed to be pinned in the chair. She screamed as the hands immediately went to her chest as she did her best to wrest her body away. The fingers curved around the large plastic buckle that seemed to be centered on her torso. Starlene saw that she was being held down by a network of straps as she watched the hands. A moment later there was the sound of a click and the strapping was pulled away from her body.

Now, was her chance to get away, she thought. Starlene willed her body to leap up and flee while she had the chance. Her body’s only response was the slight jerk of her legs and arms as she remained in the deep seated chair. The hands now moved to slide under her, one went behind her head while the other scooped under her bottom. They lifted her as easily as a casino elevator and Starlene was struck silent as she felt her body shoot up in the air.

In the next instance, Starlene found herself nestled against a flat masculine chest as strong arms wrapped around her. For the first time in her life, she somehow felt safe in this person’s arms immediately. It was the most incredible feeling she had ever experienced. It was something that she had desired and been denied her entire life. In a matter of seconds, she had gone from being in the depths of despair to finding a place of belonging. She felt small pats against her back as a gentle bounce rocked her body. In one moment, all her terror and belligerence that had characterized her life has been washed away by these gentle actions. She felt safe, cared for and treasured as she released the sad person she had been in favor of this new and wonderful existence. As she felt the bitterness leave her soul, Starlene, in one last action, turned her eyes upward to see who this hero was who had entered her life.

“Yeah, all you wanted was your Daddy, wasn’t it?” Walt whispered softly to his new baby girl who looked back at him with huge worshipful eyes.

 

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