Today’s Rerun is brought to you by the darkside of life. It ain’t aimable Frosty awaiting these children, but during this season it would be an error to omit the truth about the many lives around us in which misery is pretty much a full time experience. David Henson has a way of injecting some light into the darkest of places, which should be a quality found in Christmas.
We asked David for a little spiel about this story and this is what he said.:
The story is wholly fiction, but the setting is real. As I wrote the piece, I could easily visualize the tavern (there really was a Joe’s Blue Lounge in the small town where I grew up) and doing so helped me write the story. The adults in the piece are made up, but there were many folks like them. As for the two young girls … I hope they got away from the bad snowman.
Image:; Pixabay.com – wormhole in space with Christmas streamers.
literally stories 
David
Hardly Frosty but much more real. I am certain that this is a different kind of “special snow.” Strong admirer of this story already, glad to see it remains every bit as effective.
Leila
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Thanks for your kind comment, Leila. I appreciate you and your colleagues selecting this story for a rerun this week.
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Another powerful gut punching piece! I really liked the framing in terms of ‘real/not real’ and the effectiveness of the details (the lights!) – very well done overall.
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Thank you, Steven. The abominable snowman isn’t real but there are sadly too many bad snowmen.
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Hi Dave,
It is an honour to share this week with the likes of yourself.
All the very best my fine friend.
Hugh
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Right back at you, Hugh!
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To paraphrase Willie Nelson’s Night Life “Ain’t no good life, but it’s their life”.
Seasoned Greenings readers, writers, editors. I’ll be trying next year with my sad XMAS entry “Unmerry” true more or less story from winter 1968.
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Thanks for commenting, Doug, and best wishes for 2024.
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This is so well written and not at all the story I was expecting. The title hits entirely different after reading the story through to the end. Great use of a child’s voice and perspective on mature themes.
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Thank you, T. L.!
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This is a bit of a dark story! But I could see it clearly, made vivid thru the dialogue and description. At first, I’m not sure why Sally tenses up as the cop car approaches. Maybe it’s a natural reaction…but then we find out exactly why. Indeed, the story tilts. “Let’s play not real,” is the key line. I kept thinking of the song “Hit the Road, Jack.”
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Thanks, Harrison. I hope Jack left and come back no more, no more!
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Dark, dark writing. But it also got me experimentally wiggling my fingers. Wow.
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Thanks, Mick! There’s one particular finger for Jack.
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