The wind snipped at his dry skin, the coldness of it shook him up to his very bones. He pulled up the zipper of his jacket in hopes of not catching hypothermia. The news channels had warned everyone about the deathly snow storm that's around the corner of his little town, but that clearly didn't stop the folks of the town to huddle up bright and early to travel off for their Christmas vacations. He pulled his beanie till his bright pink elf ears were fully covered, as he stood next to the fireplace of the airport lounge, waiting. He couldn't help but notice how little boys were playing around Christmas tree, running between the legs of their parents as they tried to balance their morning cup of steaming hot coffee and hot chocolate, an enigmatic smile playing his lips, he couldn't help but reminiscent about his childhood days. The kids fighting over who gets to sit first on Santa's lap while the pseudo Santa failed miserably to keep his fake white as snow beard in place, while the little elf's tried to keep the sugar rush in order while they stood in the queue. His chest pranged at the site and he wished he was a carefree child again.
"Flight M203 from Detroit has landed as scheduled and baggage pick up is at Gate 2."
His breath caught up in his throat, as he tried to calm down. Just then, a little girl came crashing into his legs as she dropped her hot chocolate all over him. His jacket which was once a pure white was now stained brown; it was totally ruined. His first reaction was to yell but seeing the way the little girls eyes were bordering with tears, his anger vanished and he gave her a small smile and knelt down to pick up her bag. When suddenly he felt a pair of wet, chocolate flavoured red lips on his cheeks and the little girl whispered into his ears "Merry Christmas sir, sorry for your clothes." And she ran off. Stunned, he quietly left to the parking lot where he had a change of clothes. Turning on the heater, he quickly changed his jacket and just sat down for a while as he enjoyed the warmth of the car heater, when his eyes fell on his watch. He cursed loudly and made his way back to the airport as carefully as he could in a hurry, as he tried not to slip on the ice when; all his insecurities started to build up, could he do this? Could be forget his past and move on? Could he be worthy of forgiveness? How is he supposed to pretend that the past 15 years of his life was just one bad mistake after the other? If he could be responsible for such a task? If he would survive this? If maybe for once he wouldn't feel like Mr Grinch for Christmas and he wouldn't be totally alone on Christmas Eve? If he would succeed and would actually rekindle all the lost human connections that he was deprived for all these years? If he was capable enough? If rehab hadn't totally drained all his mental and social capabilities for relationships in his life.
He suddenly felt as if he couldn't breath and the pressure coil in his chest snapped, when he lost his balance just as he was losing control of his life as he slipped down on the hard ice as his eyes were surrounded by darkness.
"Hey dad? Daddy? Hello? Can you hear me? Get up, come on! Hello? HELLO DAD?" His ears felt the shrillness of the voice when he opened his eyes and looked into a pair of strikingly green eyes which he had starved himself for 10 years; full of worry and he started to feel the warmth of her hands. "Hi, merry Christmas honey." He said with a smile that was a one too big for his face; as she smiled and said "Merry Christmas dad."
Maybe the Grinch was finally giving him back his Christmas he thought to himself as he finally crushed his daughter to his chest, greedily taking in all her warmth as he smiled into her hair.
Merry Christmas to all you lovely people out there! 🎄❤️
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