I shuffled amongst the thronged alley. Crowds of children, their parents, their friends, and couples walked past me. The air was decorated with waves of laughter on this Christmas Eve.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hmHQGQ72S
It was late in the night, probably just three more hours for midnight, for the most awaited time of the year but the cosplayers did their job impeccably. Fairies, trees, gingerbread men, reindeer, candies, Santa, elves, you name it, got most of the children in giggles.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwhe8Wf44l
However, I must say, when I see all those kids laughing at Santa’s jokes, I feel envy creeping up from the bottom of my heart. Maybe my jealousy has something to do with when I was a small boy expecting Santa’s gift in a sock.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEhKaZB0Qq
But it’s too late to think about it, isn’t it? It was all just a vivid illusion anyway. I leaned on the wall, gazing at the crescent moon that seemed to pull me into the incident twenty-five years ago. 393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKs78aXSMFr
It was the same increscent moon that I watched before going to bed. Slightly pale, less than half, and stood high above the sky, fascinating me. After spending a considerable amount of time sky-gazing, I made sure to hang my biggest sock so Santa would have no difficulty filling it up with loads of candies.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtZ0c4H7sX
“I wish you would bring me a handful of candies and my parents by the time I wake up tomorrow.”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlthd1r3lx
I wished before switching off the lights and cuddling with my teddy bear. My parents were always overseas, looking after their business, and my nanny took care of me. They came around twice in the year, for my summer vacation and Christmas. I longed for them to stay with me, feed me, sleep with me and help me with my homework. But that was meant to remain as a wish. 393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19u5kAMwrq
Somewhere around that midnight, I was startled. It was a rustle followed by a loud thud. I tossed around in my bed, trying to go back to sleep. More bangs and thuds followed, disrupting my sleep when I finally decided to go and check what was happening in the drawing room, where I presumed the noise was coming from.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtHZ6pLja2
I walked through the hallway that connected my room and the hall. Upon pushing the door open, I said, “Nanny, what’s going on?”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdDcWscxid
“Oh, we have a new face,” voiced someone.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkwtpF7yu4
I squeezed and squinted my eyes to see clearly, the figure that stood at the hall near the fireplace. I pushed the door open even wider to reveal a plump, stout form–definitely not my nanny’s.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHUZdqWc52
“Hey kid, why are you loitering around at midnight? You should be sleeping right now,” he said as he smiled at me affectionately, except it didn’t reach me the way he would have wanted it to. 393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVD7O2IyCh
I gave out an ear-ripping shrill squeal. He couldn’t have been Santa. Santa wouldn’t have sanguine taints on his beard and a claret fluid dripping down his mouth. 393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvy5odLb5r1
He advanced to me, the next step faster than the last, hiding behind his back an axe I knew he held, as he told me, “Oh, too bad you’ve got such a voice. I might have to tie you up to the ceiling if you don’t stay hushed.”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF97UcW5yyN
Tears were waiting on eyes to gush down imminently. At the corner of my eyes, I made out a silhouette of someone lying down. I told myself it wasn’t my nanny, though I knew I was being incredulous. 393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyXTJ1KQmD
My five-year-old body began trembling, my legs frozen, and I barely felt my hand at the sides. My eyes fixed on my nanny, who was in the midst of a puddle of blood.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBArROh2K5b
When I felt like throwing up, I heard another high-pitched voice, “Master, am I late?”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mrZaVwd51
“Oh, Penny, finally! What took you so long? Where’s Ginny? And did you finish what I asked you to?”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFktL9Adx0X
“Oh, why, yes! Ginny is on his way. He said he would be coming in through the window.”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpb6jQW4St
I didn’t understand what they said then, but it’s so strange how I could remember the exact words uttered. I peeked behind the humongous man in Santa’s costume to find a dwarf creature. It emerged out of the fireplace through the chimney.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNneFrTObef
It was so tiny, though it had huge pointed ears. Its tunic reached to its knees, and the ends tapered. It wore a pointed cap with a white fur ball at the tip of it and spoke with a piercing voice.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyFLG5yCE9
My mouth was agape, scrutinising this creature I had just seen, both horrified and absorbed. My amazement was soon interrupted by the scary fat man’s voice, “Oh, I think this is the child.”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvFuqcZO2T
The elf I had peeked to see now appeared in front of me. I looked down at it, seeing how its face turned into a disgusting shrivelled one, and its piercing hoarse voice echoed around the room, “Do I tie or throw him out? Command me, Master.”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSC1pUU4xu
“Don’t be so dumb, Penny.”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYYp0eKhYt
The Santa Claus snickered at my trembling body, his mouth still dripping blood. I screamed again, slammed the door shut and charged to my room. 393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQpot6vodd
Just as I was around the corridor, the man opened the door with a loud thud and roared with laughter, “So that’s what we’re going to play, you little brat? I better don’t catch you.” The elf ran along his side.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRGQvoPjbu
I wanted to yelp, but my throat was sore and knotted with fear. I fidgeted and twisted the doorknob in all directions to open it. 393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNboXhnEdl
The Santa marched with his petrifying smirk as I glanced at him–hoping it would be the last time I did–before opening my room door.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3k10rMzgx
“Hold the boy, Ginny!” yelled Santa in his appalling tone.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBUXUVhir7
I looked down at my feet, and there I saw an elf, just like the one near the blood-covered Santa besides it had a snigger plastered inertly on its face.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhQkmymHWy
I intended to flee or so I thought it would be easy to do so. However, his small hands came in contact with my feet and–thud–I lost my balance and fell on my stomach.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgILcBJRfI5
I heard the man in red and white snicker louder, and the elf who tripped me down giggled watching me crawl to get to the end of the room.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2jgN9RbzX
“We are at the end of our game, little boy. You lost,” he said as he banged open the door.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGG8CqOwoE
“So what do we do now since you’ve lost? You should have played bravely or chosen wisely not to mess with me. You deserve a punishment, but I’m good, so I’ll give you another chance to choose.”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ51Tgxz1oyW
I gulped. The man approached me closer and closer.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJaNg9fD6qb
“Listen to what I have to say carefully. I saw your parents just before coming here. They turned down my invitation, so I had no way but to feed them to my reindeer to make them of any use for me.”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWJjxwTbMX
He walked past, his eyes over the monocle still on mine. The stench of the blood trickling down his face, and the way his pure white and crimson red clothes were veiled with patches of barn red made me light-headed.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxkxIQinTx
“I hope you’re smarter than your parents.”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVFKH2B7sg
I had a million questions in my mind, but my brain neither processed anything nor my mouth asked any of it. He put his hand in the pocket of his pants and a crackling sound was made as he pulled out something.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEM3E6koSk
“Before my invitation, why don’t I give you my Christmas present? After all, I’m the Santa, and I have to distribute the gifts.”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqFZK5eecK
He put whatever he took in the sock I hung near the window.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjMhWrjNDb
“Sweet candies, and a whole lot of them. Didn’t you wish for that?”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJzX6LeBXD
He looked at me for an answer, and I nodded like the deuce to compensate for the eerie silence in the room.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzOjMED3hi
“Okay, so now, after I invite you, you can either accept and live or refuse to die at the hands of this beauteous axe, understood?”393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBczTJdtzV
After I gave him my answer, he yielded his axe up in the air with both his hands, and said, “Merry Christmas,” and brought it down with much force to my face.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGXDl16pcM
I remember waking up to the ceiling the next day. I was told my parents were no more due to a car crash. They further added my nanny had run away from home–the letter they proclaimed she had written and stuck on the kitchen counter was a runaway note–even though I tried to explain about Santa Claus and his elves the previous night.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjovMZleuNw
That was the end of the mystery I could never solve.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8uHtKWgYdo
I peeled my eyes off the moon and glanced at the Tissot in my wrist when I decided it was time for me to return home. I looked up, and ahead of me was a boy talking with one of the cosplayers. 393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxS6fL9OGa
He was distraught after each second and finally screamed to run away. The cosplayer, wearing Santa’s let out a cackle and marched the way the little boy ran.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTTzaVq1VD
He was a familiar face. A monocle, white beard, a snicker at his resting face, stout but a little aged, and the black metal that glimmered at his back, all reminded me of that one person.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4S6yxO589s
He spotted me across the road, and the eye contact we shared was a language to decode. I’m sure nobody knew. He threw a smile in my direction, and I knew I was returning home late that night.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7lZCduweR
“Do you want to distribute gifts with me till you grow old?”
393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7be7zpUTq
and then Add to home screen.