Of Course I Believe in Father Christmas by Janette Davies and Friends.

"Of Course I Believe in Father Christmas" by Janette Davies and Friends.

Dedicated to Maria Wilson and The Pink Ladies in recognition of their work to raise funds and awareness to beat cancer.

I bet you thought that another Christmas was over for another year, didn't you? Well, not quite! This anthology of short stories covers a number of genres by local writers. I will donate my copy to any reader who emails me with name and address details.

Drummond Marvin uses humour and a touch of the autobiographical with reference to park benches and sleeping rough. Enough said….

I get better protection from The Telegraph. I catch the flu with The Mirror. Imagine this conversation with a policeman after a gust of wind blew his bedding away and wrapped itself around a policeman! Our man was resting between jobs, having secured an audition for a speaking part for that same evening. We are taken back to December 1959, to a struggling actor with the princely sum of £3.10s and 6 pence in his pocket, relishing the prospect of collecting his dole money the next day.

No chauffeur driven limousine for our down-and-out. Just wishful thinking. Sheltering from the cold and remember it is December, was a necessity. Fortunately London provided free entertainment and shelter from the cold: Bach organ music or The National Gallery? Both if you're lucky. And what about lunch? The Lyons Corner House in the West End was where he dined on steak and kidney pie, fit for a King? Perhaps not.

If someone said to me that, as an actor, you'd have to face hardship in many forms, I wouldn't have believed them.

His agent, Vincent Shaw had told him about the audition. He didn't want to mix up his lines like his friend who was offered his first speaking part in an Elizabethan play. No surprise to learn that the acting role was for a Santa Claus in a department store. There were three other desperate out-of-work actors but our man was on the ball. He was honest and dishonest at the same time. The good news was that he landed on his feet for a couple of weeks at least with a few well-needed perks thrown in to ensure he had a cot to sleep in and use of the canteen for free food. Who said you can't live like a King sometimes?

Hugh Pike's protagonist is another male, desperate for money but perhaps  not so desperate as the actor. He wants a temporary job working for the Post Office in the run up to Xmas, hopeful that he might be able to extend it into something more permanent. Not very ambitious or very bright. He is a gawky adolescent unaware what he is letting himself in for. Imagine a ten mile delivery round by bicycle when the weather is at its worst: snow, ice, bitter frosts and torrential rain and howling winds. Heavy parcels, the cumbersome weight of the bike alone and a rural setting. He was forced to walk in a doubled up posture similar to that of an orangutan! How was he supposed to mount the bike? A pathetic attempt, loss of control and this youth didn't quite make it. He fell into an open skip lined with builders' rubble describing it as a shambolic display of incompetence. This was the beginning. A good comedy sketch surely?

The more I tried to free myself, the more entangled my limbs became in the pouch and its strap. Some improvement and a bit of day-dreaming when he reached the castle imagining bloody fields and battle bringing news of a glorious victory or impending defeat during Napoleon's time. At the moment when he started feeling confident about the job in hand, the weather changed producing squalls of drenching rain and some serious mishaps particularly with the pigs like a herd of curious bullocks and being surrounded by a snorting mob that began to look threatening. Poor gawky adolescent. He didn't stand a chance. Discover for yourself what fell into the quagmire and the fate of the new postie. It doesn't look good…..

K.J,Rollinson focuses on the story of a child, Ethan Saunders, seven years of age, glum and upset after the Headteacher, Mr Morgan had informed the children that Santa Claus didn't exist. It was meant to be his first day at the big school. Even when his mother tried to reassure him that Father Christmas did exist, he didn't believe her. Mrs Saunders wanted to restore his faith in Father Christmas and discussed this with her husband so they came up with a simple plan with the help of one of their neighbours, Bill Bright. It didn't quite work out the way they had wanted it to go. Ethan was taken on a long journey, wearing his pyjamas, dressing gown and slippers to the North Pole to meet Mother Christmas on a gleaming silver sleigh and the nine reindeer. The description of the scene is delightful, Rollinson at her best: Pinpricked lights glowed from long, narrow, arched windows, pristine snow, coloured pale blue, pink, yellow and white glittered in the moonlight. Magical and beautiful.

Was it a real experience or just a wonderful dream? Ethan certainly had a very happy Christmas and with a touch of magic one can believe in Father Christmas too. What a wonderful choice of stories to read at any time of the year. Over to you………….

Publisher: Quirky Girl Publishing. ISBN: 978-151-7080723.

REVIEW it by Carol Naylor.

Copyright 2016. Permission must be obtained from the author before any of this article review is reproduced.