In the darkness of night, on Christmas Eve, the old rural cottage was nearly silent as young Daniel lay undercover, under the covers, waiting for the tell-tale sign of his father’s snoring to permeate the bedroom wall. He had to be sure his Dad was asleep, before making his move.
As the wall finally began to oscillate with that familiar repeating rasp, Daniel silently slipped out from beneath the sheets, feet first, allowing his toes to slide straight into the wooly slippers that he had carefully placed beside the bed earlier that evening.
Now with craftily silent footsteps, Daniel stealthily made his way across the bedroom floorboards, carefully avoiding the creakiest ones. He looked over at his digital clock display, which read 1:11am. His anticipation momentarily dropped. Was he too late?
Fearing the worst, Daniel slid over to the corner of his room where he had placed the sack for his presents. As he reached his arm into the rough woven interior, he breathed a sigh of relief as he discovered that the sack was still empty. Father Christmas had not been yet, which meant Daniel still had a chance of catching him!
Feeling reassured, Daniel proceeded with his mission, and continued to creep towards the large bedroom window, until he was close enough to grasp the bottom corners of the thin curtains, and gently pull them apart.
The young man’s eyes widened in awe as he took in the vista from his bedroom window. He had never seen it look so beautiful, so still. The bright moon shone down on the freshly snow-covered fields around the old cottage, while a blazing panorama of stars hung silently above. The woodland beyond the field cast an eerie silhouette against the star-lined backdrop. The black crooked bare branches of the trees were highlighted by bright strips of snow, illuminated by the moonlight. It was picture postcard perfect.
Suddenly, the stillness was broken by the bright streak of a shooting star. At first, Daniel assumed it was just an ordinary meteor, but then the star began to move erratically, zigzagging left, then right, and becoming brighter, and brighter with each unexpected change in direction. Daniel realised now that whatever the star was, it was moving ever closer, ever brighter, ever nearer to the ground.
His heart began to race. ‘Father Christmas,’ he whispered.
However, there was something not quite right about the erratic movements of the star. Whatever it was, it was apparently out of control. Finally, the star hurled itself towards the ground in one great multi-angular movement, and plummeted straight into the centre of the nearby woodlands.
In an instant, an incredible flash of light burst from amongst the trees, engulfing Daniel’s entire view. The light was so bright, it forced the young man to put his arm in front of his eyes to protect them. Yet, there was no sound at all. No bang, no explosion, simply silence. After a few seconds, Daniel removed his arm, to find that the view had returned to exactly the way it had been before the star had even appeared. Silent, and still.
His heart still racing, Daniel now found himself propelled by a new sense of determination. He believed he knew what had happened, and what he needed to do.
Father Christmas, he decided, had crashed in the woods, and Daniel had to be the one to rescue him!
Five minutes later, wrapped tightly in his dressing gown, Daniel marched across the frozen field behind the cottage, leaving a trail of footprints behind him in the otherwise untouched snow. The night was bitterly cold, but Daniel’s determination gripped him more tightly than the freezing temperatures. So, he marched ever forwards, straight towards the dark woodlands ahead.
It was known as the Enchanted Wood. At least, that’s what Daniel’s Great Aunt Bessie used to call it. Locals had long told stories about strange creatures and fairy-folk who resided in and amongst the thick dark trees. Some even said there was a portal at the very centre of the woodland that could transport unexpecting interlopers into strange unknown lands. Great Aunt Bessie had often told tales of children wandering into the woods, and becoming forever lost between the worlds, never to be seen again.
These stories had always made Daniel fearful of the woods, but for some reason, on this crisp and clear Christmas night, only the thought of rescuing Father Christmas occupied his thoughts. So, onwards he marched, until he came up to the thin ditch that separated the field from the woodland. In one bold leap, Daniel traversed the ditch and his wooly slippers landed softly in the untouched snow on the other side.
In an instant, the atmosphere around Daniel changed. Now there was a strange buzzing in the air, like being surrounded by static electricity. The young man could feel his hair standing on end as the strange energy permeated his body. Meanwhile, the previous silence was broken by a strange whispering noise all around.
Daniel stopped to listen, and decided that it must have been the sound of the air moving through the leafless branches of the trees above him. Yet, he could feel no breeze on his face. It was almost like the trees were whispering to him. As he listened harder, he thought he could hear them chanting, ‘Get out! Get away! Get out! Get away!’ over, and over again. He shook his head, and then remembered his mission. He decided that the whispers were only in his imagination, and so with renewed determination, he forged onwards into the wood.
The Moon was so bright that night, that it illuminated the ground through the trees, and Daniel was able to easily see his way as he continued into the heart of the Enchanted Wood. The whispering of the trees became ever more intense as the boy moved forward, but in a moment they stopped, and Daniel was once again surrounded by total silence.
The boy froze in his tracks as a new source of light suddenly emerged on the trail in front of him. Starting as only a flicker, the light quickly grew into a brilliant bright white orb. Roughly the size of a football, the orb hovered motionless and silently in the air. For a short while, Daniel felt as if he and the orb were both observing each other, trying to understand each other’s intentions. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the orb flickered out into nothingness.
Daniel let out a huge breath of cold air. He had never experienced anything like that before – it felt as if the orb had been directly reading his mind! Daniel began to shiver for the first time as he finally felt the cold around him. The young man now became afraid as he wondered what he was doing, stood in the middle of some spooky woods, in the middle of the night.
Then, as if in response to Daniel’s fear, a new warm and inviting light began to grow further along the trail. The boy could see the figure of a man standing within the light. The man was smiling and beckoning. He was dressed in red robes, with a fur hat, and a large white beard.
‘Father Christmas!’ exclaimed Daniel excitedly.
The young man started running as fast as he could towards the figure. As his swift slipper-covered feet brought him ever closer, he could see that the apparent figure of Father Christmas was standing in a small brightly lit clearing, with his sleigh beside him. However, when Daniel finally emerged into the clearing, he stopped dead in his tracks.
There was something wrong. The sleigh was on its side, with a giant sack tipped over, and presents scattered all over the snow covered earth. The eight reindeer were lying motionless beside the sleigh, and closer to Daniel, he now saw a small figure dressed in green, lying on its back, and staring up at the star-filled sky. The figure, which Daniel presumed was an elf, was clasping a present tightly against its chest.
‘Father Christmas, what happened?!’ asked Daniel in shock. ‘Did you crash? How can I help?’
The figure stared at Daniel, with an unexpectedly cold and silent expression. Then, he simply pointed at the elf.
The boy looked back at the elf again, who was still lying on its back. Then he turned his attention back to the robed figure.
‘If I help him...would...could you please help me?’ asked Daniel with some trepidation. He knew this was going to be his one and only chance to ask Father Christmas for the special request. ‘I have something really important to ask you for, but I’ll do anything you want in return!’
The figure still said nothing, but simply pointed at the elf again. Daniel looked back at the elf, and saw that it was now looking towards him, and holding up the present as if he wanted Daniel to take it.
‘Is that...for me?’ asked the young man, looking back at the figure in red.
The robed figure nodded, still retaining its otherwise emotionless expression.
Suddenly the trees began whispering again all around the clearing, louder than ever, and with an added tone of urgency.
‘See, see the truth!’ they chanted. ‘See, see the truth!’
Daniel clasped his hands to his head in agony as the whispers permeated his brain.
‘See, see the truth!’ they continued. ‘See, see the truth!’
Feeling dizzy, Daniel fell to his knees, unable to open his eyes until the whispers finally and suddenly ceased. Taking a breath, he cautiously opened his eyes once again, but was shocked to witness a very different scene in front of him.
Father Christmas, the sleigh, the presents, and the reindeers were all gone. In their place, a strange, white, egg-shaped object, the size of a large car, sat in the snow in front of him. The object was cracked open down its middle, and from the crack, a strange bright white light emanated, along with an odd smoky fog that together filled the clearing with a bright haze.
A strong stench of sulfur hung in the mist, and permeated Daniel’s airways, causing him to choke. As he looked around, he saw rubble and bits of metal scattered all over the ground, replacing the spilled presents he had seen only a few moments earlier.
Then, as he looked over to where he had seen the elf, he was surprised to find that there was still a small figure lying in the same position within the haze, holding something tightly to its chest. Daniel rose from his knees, and stumbled forwards towards the figure.
He realised now that it was not an elf, but it was a small human-like being, dressed in a thin green metallic suit. The being was pale and bald, and had very small ears, nose and lips. Its eyes however, were large, with wide black pupils.
As Daniel stared into the being’s deep dark eyes, he could suddenly hear it talking in his mind, and it unexpectedly felt like the most natural thing in the world.
‘Take this home,’ it said to him without speaking. ‘Take this home.’
Daniel looked down at the object that the being was holding. It was a strange cube, pure black and smooth, about the length of an adult human hand on each side. The being held it up towards Daniel.
‘Take this home, and you will get what you desire,’ it said again through Daniel’s mind.
Daniel reached out and gently took the cube from the being’s small pale hands.
Suddenly, the serene quiet was broken by the deafening sound of a helicopter approaching. At the same time, Daniel could hear the stomping of many heavily booted feet, moving rapidly towards him from the far side of the clearing.
‘Go, now! Take it home!’ Daniel heard the being say again with urgency.
‘I will!’ said Daniel out loud. ‘Thank you! Hope you feel better soon!’
His heart racing again, Daniel stowed the cube safely under his dressing gown, and then sprinted out of the clearing, back the way he had come, just missing the edge of a bright spotlight as the thunderous helicopter swooped overhead.
To be continued...
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