To the editor;
Caution: Contains unconventional grammar.
Christmas Past
A tubular metal bed frame, brown and paint-chipped, with a thin mattress on creaky squeaky springs. A foot-warming red rubber hot water bottle, wrapped in a towel, tucked between fresh flannel sheets.
A four-legged heater down the hall crackling and popping; stove pipes radiating varying shades of red.
Single pane windows, canvasses for Jack Frost’s ice-crystal art, unique images of delicate interwoven ferns.
Straining to decipher sounds coming from the living room; speculating on what is being placed under the tree. Naively determined to stay awake and listen for the pitter-patter of Santa’s reindeer on our snow-covered roof, only to be spirited away by dreams of new toys, exotic oranges, roast turkey, fruit cake and Christmas pudding.
Lloyd Atkins
Vernon, B.C.