A Sean Houston Christmas
A day for Ho Ho Horror!
For the first time in months, Sean wasn’t worried about anything.
He looked over the fields of glittering snow, the sky alight with something akin to the Aurora Borealis but with flashes of oranges and yellows dancing with the soft greens. Sean sipped the minty hot chocolate from his thermos and felt the warmth fill his belly. The colors danced faster.
He smiled.
“Don’t stop moving, Sean Houston!” His companion, a talking reindeer with large, dewy eyes, nudged Sean gently. “We have to get to the toy shop and save Santa!” The reindeer’s lavender colored fur danced in the cool wind blowing across the tundra, the colors shifting into levels of translucence and back to opaque.
Sean scratched the reindeer’s chin. “Don’t worry buddy, we’ll get there. I was hesitant to go with you, since it sounds like a bad Christmas special, but this has been an amazing trip.” Sean noticed the cool wind didn’t cut through his red and green sweater. He shrugged and sipped his hot chocolate.
The reindeer tossed its head, the soft felt antlers stirring the falling snowflakes, a brief twister of shimmering, glittering snow swirling to form an image of a snowman. The image winked and moved its arm to indicate sipping a drink before floating away on the cool breeze. Sean mimicked it, pulling another warm sip from his thermos.
“Boy Sean Houston, it’s a good thing I found you when I did! Or you would never be on this adventure! You’ll be the perfect human to help Santa!”
Sean’s brow furrowed under the green and red stocking cap. “Yeah. Hey, pal, how did you find me?”
The reindeer made a sound that was part laugh part clearing its throat. “Oh, you know, Sean Houston. I arrived at your home from the ice tunnel and then we adventured here!” The reindeer bound past some elves, moving in the herky-jerky motion of stop animation, singing a nondistinct song about togetherness and holidays. “Make sure to keep sipping your hot chocolate! We’re almost to Santa’s shop!”
Sean sipped again, then stopped to lean on a candy cane the size of an elder oak tree. “Sure, but…I don’t remember that. In fact…” Sean began to sip from his thermos again, stopped, looked hard at the writing on the container. He couldn’t read what the brand was. “…I can’t remember the adventure up to now.”
Sean tried harder to remember the reindeer arriving.
Sean conjured a fuzzy image of him in his office, his breath visible, the room dark. The power was shut off, an image of a late payment warning. He remembered being angry about the cold, there was a knock on his office door. The door opened and-he was here. Sean chewed his lip. He called out to the reindeer, who had pranced farther ahead.
“Hey…friend, since we’re on this adventure-” Sean placed the thermos on the ground, noticing the snow didn’t feel cold or fluffy, but flat and hard. “-why don’t you remind me your name?”
The reindeer stopped short. It glanced at Sean, it’s eyes flashed dark for a moment. “Oh Sean Houston, you know what my name is! You’re so silly. Now let’s go save Santa!”
“Yeah, sure, of course I know it.” Sean felt for something in his pocket. A familiar hard piece of metal was there, cold against his downy mittens. “But you know me, I’m terrible with names. I’m so…silly like that.” Sean walked towards the reindeer, who now stood facing him, the landscape becoming blurry around the creature. “I practically need nametags even for close friends. It makes parties a real pain.” Sean spoke carefully, slowly, his hand now grasping the hard, cold iron in his pocket.
The reindeer snorted once. It lowered its head and growled “You will not know my name, Sean Houston. I will not grant you power over me.” The reindeer charged forward but Sean anticipated this, stepping back and pulling the railroad nail from his coat pocket. Sean’s chosen piece of cold iron to battle anything from the fey or farie.
Sean felt the antlers, no longer felt but hard and splintery wood, dig into his chest and stomach. Sean grabbed the antlers with his free hand. As the wood dislodged massive splinters into his hand holding on Sean swung his hand holding the iron nail down onto the reindeer’s head, the dull thump of impact drowned out by the reindeer’s scream.
Sean fell back onto cold concrete, his back slamming into a dust coated checkout counter. After blinking multiple times, Sean saw the magical snow land had vanished. Sean. now saw he was in an unlit warehouse, the only light coming in from the midday December sun outside. Blue carts were parked haphazardly near the massive windows that showed the empty parking lot. A massive, dirty banner displayed Geoffrey, the mascot of Toys ‘R Us, announcing a sale on Lego products.
Sean looked at his captor, a slender, purple robed, silver haired elf. They cradled the top of their head, which sizzled and crackled from the iron. They rose to one knee, deep black eyes glaring at Sean. “You gave me your NAME, Sean Houston!” The elf’s hands glowed bright yellow, the spell forming as they screamed.
Sean lunged forward, striking the elf across the chin with the iron again. The scream was louder this time as they fell back. The spell fired, lancing through the massive banner, carving into the steel and concrete above. Sean scrambled to one side, narrowly avoiding the debris raining down on them. Sean got to his feet, felt the effects of the magic glamour still making his vision blurry.
“If you think ‘Houston’ is my given name, you’re as stupid as I am pissed.” Sean glanced around him, seeing empty shelves and a handful of abandoned, probably broken toys. “And what were you going to do in an old Toys R’ Us? Nostalgia me to death?”
The elf groaned, rolling on the ground. Sean shook his head and turned to leave. “Forget it. If I see you anywhere in town, I’m bringing heavier iron.” Sean squeezed past the sliding doors, propped open just wide enough to fit Sean’s frame. Sean got a flash of an iceberg tunnel, shook the vision away, then continued to the parking lot.
Happy Holidays, you fae asshole.”
Good story!! I’m digging the Sean Houston series.