Almanac (Christmas) Life: ER may have met Santa!

I might have met Santa. Tonight I was out walking the local back streets when a dude with a beard and a trailer stopped me.

 

“Hey mate. Can you help me?”

 

 

He held out his hand and gave me two AAA batteries and a set of fairy lights. With a tilt of his head, he pointed and asked me to wrap the lights around the antlers of a wooden reindeer he’d made and left in the middle of a roundabout.

 

“See it? I’ve made all this stuff with homeless people today.”

 

 

There were four reindeer made from off-cut wood and sticks and branches standing on the roundabout.

 

“Yeah the idea is we’re giving it away to the children of Melbourne.”

 

His eyes twinkled.

 

“You know. For Christmas. Some people have got NOTHING mate. NOTHING.”

 

 

How could I say no? So I stood on the roundabout and dressed up one of the reindeer. When I returned to the footpath he said: “Awesome. Can you paint?” and he thrust a paintbrush into my hand.

 

He’d made a start on a sign – but he asked me to finish it off.

 

“Can you do that mate? I’ve gotta run – gotta set up a few more reindeer in other places before the sunset.”

 

He was a real character. Non-stop talker. Before he left, he roped in another passing couple. Now he had another painter.

 

The whole episode was kind of magical. Keep your eyes out tomorrow for reindeer and other works of art decorating Brunswick. Well played, that mysterious, grey-haired, portly and jovial bearded man. And Happy Christmas. It might turn up when you least expect it.

 

 

 

 

You can read more from ER Here.

 

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About David Wilson

David Wilson is a hydrologist, climate reporter and writer of fiction & observational stories. He writes under the name “E.regnans” at The Footy Almanac and has stories in several books. One of his stories was judged as a finalist in the Tasmanian Writers’ Prize 2021. He shares the care of two daughters and likes to walk around feeling generally amazed. Favourite tree: Eucalyptus regnans.

Comments

  1. Absolutely brilliant OBP you’re a ripper thank you

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