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Here Comes Santa’s Helper
The combined marching bands played a rousing chorus of “Here Comes Santa Claus” as Santa and his special guests descended from the float.
Sarah appeared beside her boss as the float pulled away. “Ready for this?”
“It went well when we practiced” Carol kept a smile plastered on her face. “Fingers crossed.”
Santa hooked his arm and led Sally to the mic stand beyond the safety flags. “Megaman, will you do the honors, please?”
Megaman strode up to the enormous tree stand and began growing, and growing, and growing. The people of Laurel Ridge gasped and applauded as Megaman grew to a height of thirty feet, crazy Christmas sweater and all.
He smiled and waved as Earl Townsend drove a tractor that was connected to the structure covering the town’s enormous Christmas tree. Once revealed, Megaman raised the tree, stood it in its stand and held it still while Ryan, Stan and Bob secured the base.
Sally said, “And what’s a Christmas tree without a star on top?”
Megaman turned and pulled the bow on a gigantic gift box. The sides dropped to reveal a large gold and crystal star. The crowd oohed and ahhed as he took up the star and placed it on top of the tree.
He lowered it gently, listening for the click that Earl had told him about. ‘Ah, there it is.’ He gave Santa the thumbs up and stood back from the tree as it erupted with light and color. He shrank back to his public appearance height and joined Sally and Santa at the mic stand.
“Thank you, Megaman!” Santa shook his hand.
“Sarah, are you okay?” Carol whispered.
“I’m having a hard time breathing, actually.” She closed her eyes and struggled to take a deep breath.
“Do you want me to get someone?”
“No, I just need to calm down.” Sarah clung onto Carol’s sleeve.
“What?”
“My goodness, did you just see that?”
“It was amazing.”
“You can say that again.” Sarah fanned herself with her clipboard.
“How can you possibly be hot in this weather?”
“How can you possibly not be after that show?”
“I don’t think we were watching the same show.”
“I’m fairly certain we couldn’t have been.” Sarah sucked a deep breath and headed off to check on the vendors again.
“Hey, Ryan, was it?”
Ryan turned to find Megaman wearing that ridiculous sweater and Santa cap. “Still is.”
“Oh, ha ha, sure. Anyway, I wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me?”
“Sure, buddy. Without your help, I’d still be standing there holding that tree up. I wanted to thank you for being part of this whole thing.”
“Um, you’re welcome.”
“Everything okay?”
“It’s really hard to take you seriously with that crazy sweater on.”
Megaman looked down. “Fair enough. Even so, thank you.”
“Yeah, sure. Anytime.”
Megaman moved on to sign some autograph books as Ryan made the rounds. He caught up to Stan. “Is he serious?”
“In that sweater?” Stan chuckled. “What did he say?”
“He said, thank you.”
Stan shrugged. “Why not? You’ve been busting your hump all week. If he didn’t say it, you know Earl and the rest of us would. Thanks, man. You did a great job. Keep up the good work.”
Ryan stopped to study the surrounding scene. When he got here, it was just a big field on a hill. Now it was a bustling Christmas village full of incredible smells, delightful sights and happy families.
It wasn’t the Laurel Ridge he remembered.
They never had anything like this when he was a kid. If they did, his piece of trash dad couldn’t be bothered to bring him to it.
He felt an overwhelming urge to set the whole thing on fire. He wanted to kick over the food wagons and knock the temporary lampposts down. Ryan turned to find that nosy redhead gawking at him again.
“Can you tell me what time it is?” He snarled.
She pulled her phone out. “It’s about quarter til two.”
“Seen Earl?”
She pointed toward the gigantic tree.
He shot her a poisonous stare and turned to find his boss. He stomped up the hill toward the tree he had helped to erect. Even if Megaman was a stupid jerk, he was right. Stan said so. Ryan had helped to make this day magical for other people by busting his hump.
“Ryan?” Earl walked up to him.
“Mr. Townsend, I know I’m supposed to hang in until three, but I’m a little worried Pastor Greg might be short-handed with the Thanksgiving Dinner situation.”
“Ryan, call me Earl.” He smiled. “No problem. We’ve got things covered here. I’ll find you a ride.”
“You don’t have to, sir. It won’t take me that long to get there.”
“Are you sure? I can take you there quick.”
“I appreciate it. I could use a moment to…”
“Transition?”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.”
“Okay. Look.” Earl looked around. “I don’t know if anybody’s said it yet but, thank you. You really stepped up. You did everything we asked of you without batting an eye. I admire your grit, kid. You don’t have to go it alone. It’s good to let people help you, too. Okay?”
“Thanks, Earl. I’ll be alright. I want to have a couple minutes to myself before I get into the ruckus at church.”
“I can respect that. See you there. Throw some extra gravy on my mashed potatoes, huh?”
“You bet, Earl. See you there.”
“Ryan, I didn’t expect you here so early, but I’m glad you are.” Pastor Greg’s smile faded. “Is everything okay?”
“I almost lost it at the park.”
“Almost did means you actually didn’t.”
“No, I caught myself before things spiraled.”
“That’s a big step. Do you want to shower up before we get started?”
“I wouldn’t mind warming up, but all my stuff’s in the laundry.”
“Meghan did a load this morning. It was light, so I asked her to throw your stuff in. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind? No. That’s a really nice surprise.”
“Glad to do it, Ryan. Go get a nice hot shower and meet me in the kitchen. The others should be arriving shortly.”
“Thank you, pastor. Seriously. Thanks for everything.”