I don't think we have published a fictional Christmas story on That's Christmas, before.
This is about to change with a story called "A Christmas Vehicle Recovery Story." I hope you enjoy it.
Bob and Mike had drawn the short straw that Christmas Eve. They were one of the two vehicle recovery teams their employer, MacV Recovery, was using to provide 24/7 recovery that day and on Christmas Day. They were working Christmas Eve, someone else was working Christmas Day.
And as Mac, the owner said, every year: “If we say we offer 24/7 recovery, we’d better offer 24/7 recovery, even over Christmas and the New Year!”
They were in the MacV Recovery flagship, a very substantial well-lit recovery truck, an American-built Vulcan V70 from Miller Industries.
The area the company covered was a substantial one so rather than keeping both duty recovery trucks waiting in the compound in the centre of the area, it was Mac’s habit to have one unit parked up in a layby in the North of the area, whilst the smaller Volvo tow truck was further south.
The Northern position was colder and more prone to snow as it was on higher ground.
Bob and Mike chatted about Christmas. Both of them were married, Bob had been married for 15 years to Betty, they had one son, Josh and Mike was not long married to his childhood sweetheart, Sally. They had no children, as yet.
Times had been tough of late and they’d had to scrimp and scrape to get the money together for presents.
Bob said: “We wanted to get Josh a top of the range iPad, but the shop we ordered it from burnt down, so I have no clue when we’re going to be able to get one for him. Unfortunately we'd paid for it weekly, but as the owner wasn't properly insured, we might lose all the money we paid.”
“That’s terrible!” replied Mike. “I’d love to get Sally a real diamond necklace, but my budget could only stretch to £100, so I got her a cubic zirconia necklace. The diamond one was £1,000. Way beyond what I could afford. What are you getting Betty?”
“Some perfume. Not the expensive stuff I’d prefer to have got for her, but like you the budget was stretched, what with getting Josh his iPad.”
The heater was doing a good job of keeping them warm and the radio was tuned to a station playing Christmas tunes. They were both at the point of nodding off, when the radio gave a burst of static and died. There was a flash of light and a whooshing sound from above their vehicle.
“What was that?” gasped Bob.
“Dunno,” said Mike. “Was it a plane crash?”
“We’d better get out and take a look.”
They put their reflective winter jackets on and clambered from the truck, amazed to see snow had been falling and there was already a covering of about four or five inches.
Behind them in the layby they saw a sight that stunned them. There was an old fashioned red sleigh like you see on Christmas cards and a man dressed as Santa stepped down. He turned and waved at Bob and Mike then ensured his six reindeer were feeding from nosebags.
Bob and Mike looked at each other, gobsmacked, for want of a better word.
“One of us must be dreaming!” said Mike.
Santa walked toward them, his boots crunching in the snow. “Hi, lads! Am I glad I spotted you. Could you help me out, please? I’m having problems. It’s the left hand runner, it’s developed a squeak and made the sleigh shudder. I don’t want to be behind schedule, I’ve got presents to deliver all around the world, tonight.”
“I’ll just get my tool kit,” said Bob. Mike stood there, transfixed.
Bob returned with his tool kit and approached the sleigh. He noticed the reindeer had stopped feeding. They were gently steaming and were eager to get going again, as they were pawing the ground.
Bob put his headlight over his cap and turned it on. He looked at the ornately carved wooden runners. He was no expert, but he thought they looked early Victorian. They were, he thought, in very good condition, especially considering their age.
He called out: “Santa, I see what your problem is. It looks as if a bolt has sheared through. It’s a non-metric one, a Whitworth imperial. But that’s not a problem because I always keep some old style Whitworth imperial screws, washers and bolts in case I meet up with a classic car, or an interesting vehicle…” Mike finished off by saying: “Like this one?” Bob nodded. To be honest, he still thought he was dreaming.
Mike looked at the reindeer and had helped keep them calm. He reasoned they couldn’t be that much different from the horses his sister kept.
When Bob had finished greasing and tightening the nut Santa said: “How much do I owe you, boys?”
Bob shook his head. “That’s fine, Santa. There's nothing to pay. I’m just glad we could help.” Mike nodded in agreement.
“Thanks, boys! I’ll be off, now! Merry Christmas!” He walked to his sleigh, climbed in and with a “Ho, Ho, Ho!” the reindeer took the sleigh and Santa off and up into the night sky.
Bob took his tool kit back with him, as they talked about what had just happened. “Got to be a dream,” said Bob. “Yeah,” replied Mike. But whose dream?”
As they climbed back up into their recovery truck they noticed the radio was working again. But to their shock they saw there was a box containing a brand new top of the range iPad, a bottle of very expensive perfume and a box containing a very costly genuine diamond necklace. And two bottles of top single malt Scotch.
“Happy Christmas, Bob,” said Mike.
“Happy Christmas to you, Mike," replied Bob.
Mike said, with a grin, “What should we put this job down as on our record sheet?”
"Ho, Ho, Ho!" replied Bob.
We would like to thank OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay and Miller Industries for the photographs and images used to illustrate this story.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Interested In Pixabay? Please visit www.pixabay.com.
Want to learn more about Miller Industries recovery vehicles, tow trucks and wreckers? Please visit them at https://www.millerind.com/
