The Christmas Dream

Arthur sat alone in his apartment, his arms clutching the sides of an oversized leather chair. He was dreaming about Christmas Day when he was a little boy who believed in Santa Claus. His breathing was irregular owing to his falling in and out of the dream. He wanted to stay with the innocence of a mind that would not consider how a large man could fit down a chimney, let alone deliver gifts to everyone in the world. But soon he saw his father telling him how he had shook sleigh bells outside his bedroom window on Christmas Eve. Next, Arthur watched himself shaking the very same bells for his two sleeping children, when they were ages two and four. His charade was now 40 years-old. The alarm ended the dream.

Arthur pushed himself up from the chair and stumbled to the closet where he pulled out a red and white Santa suit. In a hour he’d be handing out presents to residents of the senior living center he now called home.