I held my breath as the sleigh climbed rapidly into the dark blue sky. Stars twinkled in the bitterly cold breeze, but I was comfortably wrapped in fur blankets, and found the icy air refreshing.
When I heard that I had won the prize to visit Santa in Lapland, I had at first thought it was a joke, and then, when I realised it was REAL, I had expected to travel by budget airline, not in one of Santa's custom-made, luxury sleighs!
I was glad when we started our descent as the rapid pace of the reindeer and the steep banking of the sleigh were making me dizzy, but soon we approached the sparkling lights of Santa's festive village, and I could see hundreds of dazzling Christmas trees, and hordes of children skating in the frozen streets.
We landed with a gentle clatter on a helipad marked with a big 'S' (for 'sleigh' I suppose), and a group of elves in sparkly uniforms came forward to attend to the reindeer, and to help me down from the sleigh.
I was led into a lift which took me into THE PRESENCE.
Santa himself was seated in front of a roaring fire in his vest and scarlet braces, his fur-trimmed cloak thrown carelessly over a velvet chair. The room was very hot, and I was glad when Santa invited me to put my fur cloak aside and join him by the fire.
He smiled in the most friendly way.
"Eeeeee lass, Ah'm reet glad to see thee!" he said - surprising me with his broad Yorkshire accent. "Ah've got a Christmas present for thee as'll knock tha socks off!
I was speechless.
Santa groped about in a huge pile of parcels by his chair, and emerged with a large gift wrapped in pink and gold paper and tied with a silver ribbon. He handed it to me, beaming.
I opened the parcel, and found inside a beautifully ornate tin. Inside the tin was a beautifully ornate chocolate cake - it looked scrumptious!
"Oooooh Santa!" I exclaimed "It's wonderful, thank you so much, but I really can't accept it - calories, you know - I'd be bound to put on a stone and that would make my fibro much worse! Maybe I should donate it to some needy children?"
"Don't fret thee sen, lass!" reassured Santa. "This is a magical cake, tha knows, and I'll tell thee what it'll do. It's what's known as a negative calorie cake, so the more tha eats, the thinner tha gets, and what's more, it'll completely cure thee of all t'aches and pains!"
What could I say? I was overcome with gratitude, and after I had extracted a promise from Santa to send a supply of cakes to all at FibroAction, I cut a large slice and bit into it. Oh, it was soooo delicious!
Suddenly, I found myself back in the sleigh, and we seemed to be falling out of the sky far too rapidly.
There was a loud thump, and I screamed in terror as my right knee connected with the bedside cabinet and I woke up on the rug with the duvet over my head.
What a lovely dream I'd had, but my cocoa had gone quite cold, and the Christmas cards which I had taken to bed remained unwritten where I dropped them as I had dozed off.
Ah well, tonight I may get to dream about the second slice of that wonderful cake!
P.S. I hope the consignment reached you all ... sweet dreams xxxxx
" thanks my lovely x x
xxx
ot - Christmas with Pinky & Perky
Exhausted from Christmas
Christmas has arrived!
Merry Christmas to you all !!!
