“Siiiiilent niiiigght….Hoo-“
“I told you to shut up already.”
“Don’t be such a scrooge. It’s the holiday season.”
“I don’t care; nobody wants to hear your singing.”
“What about this one? T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house,” the jovial man recited making his voice baritone to mimic the Temptations version of the popular song.
“SHUT UP!”
“Hey, what do you want for Christmas? Were you naughty or nice?”
“What difference does it make to you?”
“Hey, I told you earlier, Christmas is my favorite time of year. Everyone should be happy. I grant wishes during this time.”
“How?”
“Well, look who’s being nosey now. Just tell me what you want most.”
“None of your damn business.”
“Aren’t you a grumpy old man.”
“Aren’t you a drunk old Santa.”
The officer peered at the inebriated man through the bars of the cell slumped on the bench with a dribble of dried vomit on his white beard and he grimaced in disgusted. His costume was dingy, the white barely visible, looking another color all together. One of the pockets was torn, the hat that sat on top of his head was missing the ball. He looked more like dirty old Nick than a Saint.
Officer Lewis looked at his watch. They’d responded to a drunk and disorderly call outside a local bar nearly 3 hours ago. At first thought they had no intention of hauling old St. Nick in but he could barely stand. There was no way he’d get to whatever destination he was headed. It didn’t help that he kept telling them he couldn’t remember where he parked his sleigh. It was now 9:30 PM Christmas Eve and he wished he could let St. Nick go.
“You can let me go, you know. I’ll be ok.”
Officer Lewis furrowed his brow.
“You can barely stand old man.”
“I’ll make a deal with you.”
“What deal is that?”
“I get my sleigh to come, you let me out of here. It’s getting late. I have presents to deliver.”
“Sure, your sleigh comes, you can go,” Officer Lewis chuckled.
“Ok, you gotta shake on it.”
Officer Lewis put his arm through the bars and watch ole drunk Santa wobble his way close enough to embrace his hand. When their hands touched, something happened, there was a twinkle in Nick’s eye.
It seemed almost instantly he sobered up and stood straight.
“Ah, I know your Christmas wish now. I’ll get you home to Emily,” Nick said and winked his eye.
“How do you know my daughter’s name?”
Nick didn’t answer, he smiled then whistled. Within 2 minutes Officer Lewis heard what sounded like sleigh bells and a few loud thuds coming from above.
“What was that?”
“My sleigh. Can I go now?”
Officer Lewis went towards the front door and glared outside. Nothing was moving in their small town. All he saw was snow falling. He turned back to the front desk then headed back toward the holding cell.
“Can I go now? We had a deal,” Nick stated.
“I don’t see any sled.”
“Well, did you look on the roof?”
There were a series of thuds from above again as if someone was knocked or stomping more like it, on the roof.
“See, hear that? Dancer gets impatient, he doesn’t like to be late. It’s time for me to go.”
Officer Lewis withdrew his gun then headed to the front door and started outside.
“Put that gun away,” Nick yelled from his cell.
As Officer Lewis exited the station, Nick grew restless.
“Well, there’s no one else in hear,” he said to himself.
He looked around as if he’d missed someone just to be sure. When he saw not a soul, he snapped his fingers.
Officer Lewis crept outside with his gun drawn and trained at the roof line. He moved out to get better view of what might be up there. He saw nothing be smoke billowing from the one story buildings chimney. He moved out a little further to make sure he got as much view as possible. Still, he saw nothing. Officer Lewis dropped his weapon.
This old drunk had got me acting as crazy as he is, Officer Lewis thought to himself.
Just as his hand touched the door handle he felt a breeze and saw something fly over his head. He heard those bells again and a voice.
“Ho, ho, ho, Thanks for the company, go home to Emily. Mer-rry Christmas!”
Officer Lewis swung around with his weapon ready and pointed towards the sky. He caught the glimpse of what looked like a whole sleigh and 8 reindeer and a little red light and what appear to be old drunk Nick waving. He ran back in the station, to the cell, no drunk Nick. Officer Lewis ran back to the front door and they were gone.
