Santa Claus In a Pickup Truck

A Christmas turned sideways

It was unseasonably warm for Christmas Day. Danny was wearing a jacket as he stood on the sidewalk by the street on the side of the restaurant but he did not even zip up the jacket. That is how warm it was.

Danny was on a break from his shift at the restaurant. He had not been scheduled to work on Christmas Day but Ramon had begged him to work for him so that he could stay home with his wife and three kids. Danny did not have any family — at least not any who would speak to him — so he agreed to work for Ramon. To Danny, it was just another day.

The sidewalk on the side of the restaurant building is where employees would come out to in order to smoke. Danny did not smoke and usually took his breaks in the employee room. Today, though, he just had to get out of the building.

He leaned his body back against the brick wall of the restaurant then he leaned his head back against the bricks as he looked up into the night sky. The crescent moon hung in the blackness of a hole in the clouds like a Christmas ornament in a window.

What a horrible year it had been for Danny. He had moved to this godforsaken hick-town because his girlfriend and her family had moved here. He could not imagine losing her but just three weeks after he moved here to be close to her she dumped him!

He had already rented a tiny apartment not far from where she and her family lived so he did not have the money left to move back to the city from which he had came. He had to get a job and start saving up money to move back but there were no decent paying jobs in this cow-town. Danny had sworn to himself that he would never work in the restaurant business ever again but here he was working as a lowly cook in a restaurant. It was the only job he could find.

The pay was deplorable. It barely covered his rent and expenses. After several months he still had no money saved up. He felt that he was hopelessly stuck in this town. And here he was working on Christmas Day and on top of that he was broke. There was nothing to celebrate.

As clouds slowly covered up the moon, Danny thought about the Christmases of his youth. He remembered when he was still very small and believed in Santa Claus. Santa Claus made so much sense to him. He remembered the excitement, the anticipation, the expectations. He remembered the holiday smells and foods and music and stories and cheer. He remembered all the presents that magically appeared under the tree on Christmas morning. He remembered writing letters to Santa Claus and getting what he asked for. He remembered how hard it was to go to sleep on Christmas Eve knowing that miracles were in the process of happening.

Danny let out a deep sigh then looked down at the cigarette butt littered sidewalk at his feet. Christmas used to be about hope and excitement and magic and joy….

But then he grew up. Now it was just another day of work.

Just then, a vehicle came to a stop at the curb just in front of Danny. He looked up.

It was an old scraped up flatbed pickup truck with peeling paint. The driver did not turn off the vehicle but opened the door and got out. As the driver walked around the vehicle Danny saw that it was an elderly man with a large belly wearing denim bib overalls and a straw farmer’s hat. He was walking straight towards Danny.

Danny stepped forward from the brick wall he was leaning against.

As the old farmer man walked toward Danny he reached behind him and took out his wallet from the back pocket of his overalls. He stopped just two feet in front of Danny and began rifling through his wallet. He pulled out a fifty dollar bill and handed it to Danny, “Here, this is for you. Merry Christmas.”

Dumbfounded, Danny took the bill. He was speechless.

Closing his billfold and returning it to the pocket in his overalls, the old farmer turned around and headed back to his pickup truck. As he was about to get back into his truck Danny finally managed to call out, “Thank you!”

Danny watched the old farmer get into his truck and drive away. His heart was pounding and he was tingling all over.

What the fuck just happened? he thought to himself.

Danny stood there with his jaw dropped, fifty dollar bill in hand, looking at the tail lights of the pickup truck as they quickly disappeared down the road.

After a very long moment Danny finally came out of his shock and looked at the bill in his hand. He then put it in his pocket. He sensed that his shift break was about over and that he had better get inside.

But first he once again looked up at the night sky. The clouds had once again opened a window for the moon to peer through. Danny turned his head almost sideways and now, even though there were no eyes or nose or face, the crescent moon suddenly looked like a smile.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction.