Short Story By Haylie Kemp
Titled ~ The Christmas Wish That Survived the Apocalypse
Darius Wreath was aware he was a bad Santa.
Not criminally bad. Not the kind that traumatized children. Just⌠insufficiently magical.
He sat in the red chair like it had personally wronged him, suit too warm, beard itchy, boots pinching his toes. When kids asked for impossible things, he didnât redirect, he clarified.
A jet required licensing. A horse would need a pasture to run not a city apartment balcony. One boy cried when Darius explained that time travel was âtheoretically interesting but financially unrealistic.â
Management hovered nearby, but since they wanted to spend little on an actual actor theyâre not going to lose out on the few bucks Santa unless he crosses some line.
Then Penny climbed onto his lap.
She didnât smile. Didnât squirm. Just looked at him like she was waiting for some form of truth in all this wishes and cheer.
âWhat do you want for Christmas?â Darius asked.
âA friend,â she said.
He paused. âOkay. What kind?â
He glanced past her, half expecting a parent to intervene. No one did. It was clear the kid didnât have anyone on her side since what parents would leave their kid like this while all these others had some form of family like vultures for a good holiday photo.
âYou donât want toys?â he asked.
He leaned back slightly, lowering his voice. âYou knowâŚ. youâre not the problem, right?â He didnât know her circumstances but from all the wishes hers was heavy with meaning, and it shook his own core for he could see himself. A life the world seemed bent on beating up even when already down.
âThe world is,â he continued. âPeople like neat, easy things. When something doesnât fit, they blame it. That doesnât mean theyâre right.â
Her eyes widened, not expecting anything from an Adult had been a form of shielded survival instinct but to have met one that was just straight with her was oddly satisfying that she felt an emotion she wasnât familiar with but knew instinctively that she had just met someone âlikeâ her.
She listened like she was memorizing it.
âYou donât need a family right now,â he said carefully knowing that her parents may not be awful that this wasnât like his life of abuse and unwanted by those who should have been like all these other parents here. âYou can make your own later. And friends⌠friends should never make you feel smaller just to keep them. Be who you are, eventually youâll find your people because theyâll eventually see you shine as the you youâre supposed to be.â It wasnât like him to be the nosy type, sure he was blunt to a fault but something just was different in this moment.
âThank you,â she said, and slipped away.
Darius stared after her longer than necessary, in a hope that someone was going to come from the crowd to claim that little hand⌠but they never did and then the pink little ball drifted away from sight.
A few hours later someone screamed.
At first it sounded festive. Christmas screams often did but then a man ran past, bleeding, shouting something about biting. Darius at first thought he mightâve misheard and that heâd mentioned heâd been shot or something?
The first to came from the food court was in an ugly sweater the one with cat balls as light up bells.
âOh,â Darius said. âThatâs unfortunate.â To die in that then become a rabid monster was truly a sad way to go.
People scattered. A woman tripped over a candy cane display. Thatâs when the lit up Christmas zombie lunged and tore into her shoulder. Blood sprayed across a reindeer plush.
Darius gagged. âYep. Thatâs staying with me forever.â
He bolted into a toy store, nearly slipping on wrapping paper. His eyes landed on a hard silver and blue baseball bat from a holiday display.
âPerfect,â he muttered, grabbing it. At least the feel was memorable from his youth on the baseball team in school, like riding a bike he was picking up where he left off and knew he had the skill of a good finale swing.
A crash drew his attention, small, cornered movement near a shelf at some ten girl jewelry store.
Instantly he recognized the small huddled up pink ball.
A zombie staggered toward her, jaw slack, fingers grasping.
Darius didnât think. He moved.
The bat connected with a wet, hollow crack. The head didnât explode it collapsed, folding in on itself like a deflatable balloon.
Darius stared at it. âI just did that.â⌠he just killed a man⌠or an already dead man?
He grabbed the girls hand. âRun.â
They moved through back corridors he was shown to take by staff, alarms blaring. Another zombie lunged, he swung again, harder this time. The body dropped, twitching.
The girl surprisingly didnât scream.
At one point his beard snagged on a shelf and nearly yanked him backward.
âIf I die,â he said breathlessly, âitâs because of this damn Santa costume!â Frustrated he ripped off the beard chunking it to the side as if tossing a burning rag.
They reached an exit and slammed it shut behind them. Snow fell outside, real snow.
Darius slumped against the wall.
And she leaned into him without asking.
âYou came back for me instead of saving yourself,â she said quietly.
He looked down at her. âYeah. I guess I did.â
She hesitated. âWhatâs your name Santa?â
âDarius WreathâŚ. You?â
âJust Penny, got no parents for a family name⌠Can I call you Des?â
He swallowed. âYeah. You can.â
ââŚ. If the world is endingâŚ. Can I build that family you said earlier? âŚ. With youâŚ.?â
Darius looked at Penny, her pink coat with splattered blood mimicking the blush of her embarrassed cheeks. He looked up at the snow gray sky and could hear the chaos of a Christmas gone to hell, shrugged then spoke without taking eyes off the sky âno one should spend their time in the apocalypse without family to stay alive for⌠I think Penny Wreath sounds like a solid choice.â
Sirens wailed in the distance.
She held his sleeve like she was anchoring herself, finally believing in an adult and belonging even if this all were ending around her.
Des didnât pull away. He adjusted his grip on the bat and turned them both toward the snow.