Twelve Days of Christmas – Day 8 – J Robert King

J Robert King is certainly getting into the Christmas spirit. A keen fan of the Dickens classic ghost story of Christmas, he tells us a tale of how the Cratchetts might celebrate the holiday without Scrooge’s change of heart…

Christmas Feast

“I know Christmas was looking a mite grim here at the Cratchett household,” said Bob, the master of the house, who stood before a table crowded with tatter-clad children but empty of Christmas fare, “what with Tim’s leg going gimp and no money for an operation or even a proper crutch, and no silver for a Christmas turkey, no tuppence for a Christmas pigeon–and even Henry’s rat traps coming up empty.”

The named child, spitting-image of his underfed father, lowered his head toward the tallow-lit table and let a tear, so long withheld, at last roll down his tiny cheek.

“But, fear not, my little ones. Where the master of the house has failed you, the meekest and mildest among us has prevailed.” Bob’s face, once gloomed, now glowed with a hope brighter than a thousand blazing candles, and he spread his spidery arms out through the thick darkness of the sooty room. “On our way home from not buying an operation for Tim and not buying a Christmas feast, Tim devised the most splendid solution to both problems!”

And on this cue, Tiny Tim sprung from the kitchen with a hop and a gleeful grin on his little, fey face. The family gasped for joy, for at last both his legs looked wonderful! His right leg stood strong and true beneath his capering form, and his left leg steamed on a platter with slivered almonds and sage.

“God bless us, every one!”