Cammy’s Christmas Cracker

By Ian A. Dougherty

          The snow had been falling continuously for the last nine hours and as a result the usual traffic congestion in London was even worse than normal.  As a result Cammy White’s taxi had not turned up so Cammy was forced to walk to Lionel Wolfman’s home.

          Cammy locked the door of the apartment that she shared with her teammate, Hanna.  Hanna was already at Wolfman’s apartment helping prepare the Christmas dinner that the Delta Red team were gathering to eat.  As she left the building she lifted the hood of her long, thick coat over her head and then put her gloves on.  As she walked along the street she noticed the steam of her breath and even under several think layers of clothing she was still freezing.

          ‘It won’t be long now.  Not long until I get to Lionel’s nice warm apartment,’ Cammy thought to herself, ‘and then I can get some of that hot, tasty turkey and—’

          “Excuse me!”

          “Who?”  Cammy turned to see who had just spoken among the crowds on the street but she couldn’t identify the person to whom the voice belonged.

          “Down ‘ere love!”  Cammy looked downwards to see a homeless man, unshaven and underfed lying on the pavement, propped up against the front wall of a shop.  “Have you any change for a poor homeless man with no one in the world left to love him?”  Cammy reached into her pocket, brought out a £20 note and handed it to the man.  “That… that’s very generous of you, but… why?  I mean, most people just ignore me and the rest give me pennies, £20 is a lot.”

          “I’ve been in a situation like yours, I’ve been all alone but I got lucky and made good friends.  Promise me you’ll do your best to improve your life.”

          “For you, you generous girl, I’ll try my hardest.  You don’t know how grateful I am for your generosity.”

          “Oh, hello Cammy!”  Lionel Wolfman let Cammy into his home.

          “Hi Lionel!  Erm… why is it so cold in here?  And where’s all the smoke coming from?”

          “The central heating packed in and the turkey got a little… overdone.”  Lionel replied.

          “Cremated more like!”  McKoy who sat on a nearby couch chirped in.

          “Not cremated… just a little burnt.”

          “So burnt he managed to break the cooker.  I did warn you!”  Hanna added as she walked in from the kitchen.

          “Yes I get your point, I’m no chef!”  By now the group of people collectively known as Delta Red, Cammy, Lionel, Hanna, McKoy, Gims, Luwanda and Stefan, were laughing an infectious laugh.  That was until Gims hit upon a realisation…

          “Wait a minute!  If the cooker’s wrecked what are we going to eat?

          As the group of friends enjoyed their sandwiches and white wine Stefan handed a Christmas cracker to Cammy.  Instinctively she pulled until the cracker snapped in her favor.   Out of the cracker came a paper hat, which was soon mounted upon her golden head of hair, a joke that failed miserably to get any of the group to laugh and a small locket for putting photos in.  Even though she had no photos to put in it Cammy knew that as long as she was happy it didn’t matter what went wrong, whether it be the loss of her family, her memories or the ruining of her Christmas dinner.  For Cammy White the friends gathered in Lionel’s cold living room made her happy.

          “Merry Christmas Cammy!”

          “Merry Christmas Stefan!  Merry Christmas one and all!”

The End