A
series of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons vignettes for Christmas 2003
by Tiger Jackson
Back to: Remembering the Children
The Christmas trees had finally been
delivered to Cloudbase. Rhapsody was helping to decorate the tree in the
Officers’ Lounge. Symphony had left as soon as her shift ended to meet Captain Blue.
And Harmony was on duty in Angel One. Destiny and Melody were the only two
Angels present in the Amber Room to receive the tree and decorate it. They had
begun by topping the tree with a white teddy bear with little gold wings
wearing a gold-and-white flight suit.
“I think it has already become a
tradition to have ‘Serenity Angel’ on our Christmas tree, has it not?” asked
Destiny.
Melody chuckled and picked up a small,
plainly wrapped parcel. “My mother sent this with a letter a few weeks ago. She
said to open it when we decorated the Christmas tree.” She took a few seconds
to rip off the paper, and looked at the contents. She burst into laughter.
“Trust Mom to remember!”
Destiny looked so curious, Melody couldn’t
keep her in suspense. She pulled out a clear glass ornament with something grey
and lavender inside. Destiny examined it and shook her head in puzzlement.
“What is it?”
“It’s a cotton boll from my family’s
own plantation. We grow rare, naturally coloured cotton — beautiful russets,
soft tans, greens of all shades, purples, blues, reds, and yellows.” She took
the ornament from Destiny. “This really brings back memories of home. When my
brothers and I were children, we had our own little Christmas tree and we were
allowed to decorate it any way we liked. During the cotton harvest in November,
all of use would hike out into the field and pluck some fluff in every colour.
Then we’d take them back to the plantation house and decorate the tree with tufts
of cotton, from top to bottom.”
Melody sighed. “As we got older, we
were more involved in decorating the big family tree, and eventually started
thinking of the little ‘children’s’ tree as too babyish to bother with. We
didn’t troop out into the fields together anymore. Yet, somehow, colourful bits
of cotton still turned up in the little tree, and the big one, too tucked into
the branches here and there.” She smiled at the fluffy lavender boll and hung
the ornament carefully on a high branch. “There’ll be a bit on the tree here in
the Amber Room, too, this year. A little bit of home.”
“It is nice to be home in the winter.
One year, when I was in the WAAF, Paul Metcalfe and I both had leave, so we
went to Paris for Christmas. The stores always decorate their windows
fantastically with mechanical dolls! One Bon Marche window had a whole family
in the dining room eating le reveillon, the meal after the Christmas
midnight mass. You could really smell the food! In the next window were teddy
bears with cameras taking pictures of cat and dogs and owls who were dancing on
the roof of the Opera, climbing the Eiffel Tower, and singing on the walls of
the Bastille. Sometimes, a little bear would point its camera at the people
outside the window. There would be a flash, then a photograph would pop out of
a machine for a person to take. My favourite was the last window. It was Notre
Dame Cathedral with boats floating past on a miniature Seine, a hot-air balloon
drifting across the sky, and dolls and toys shopping in a Christmas market and
watching tiny marionette shows being performed on the river banks. I love
marionettes! So Paul and I went to a real marionette show, Pinocchio. It
was for little children, but I have always loved the story. The nuns at the
convent where I was educated would tap a girl’s nose when they caught her in a
lie. We all thought they could see our noses grow when we lied.” Destiny smiled
as Melody rolled her eyes and shook her head at what children will believe.
“When we finished shopping, we rode the
Metro for home. A puppeteer set up his stage at one end of the train. He also
had his marionettes play ‘Pinocchio’ but it was not for children! The male
puppet was, how do you say it, anatomically correct?”
You mean whenever he told a lie, it wasn’t
his nose —?”
“Mais oui!”
Melody clapped a hand over her mouth to
smother an outburst but her eyes danced.
“It was so funny, everyone on the train
was laughing and applauding. So was Paul, but when I turned to him, he was also
blushing scarlet. Embarrassed!” Destiny threw up her hands. “Englishmen! They
are so passionate in bed but elsewhere they behave as if they have never heard
of sex!”
Melody could not contain herself.
Together, she and Destiny doubled over laughing hilariously.
*************
Captain Scarlet was helping Rhapsody
decorate the Officers’ Lounge when he dropped the spring of greenery he’d been
holding. He clapped his hands to his head.
“Paul, what’s wrong?” Rhapsody asked,
concerned.
“My ears are burning.”
Back to: Remembering the Children
OTHER
STORIES BY TIGER JACKSON
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