Let it snow (FULL STORY)

The First Noel

I woke up inside a truck surrounded by bags of all sizes filled with drugs by all kinds. A stranger with piercings and tattoos was watching over me. When he noticed that I opened my eyes he shouted ‘Hey, guys! He’s alive!’, then looking at me with the warmest eyes he said ‘Merry Christmas, son!’.

No… no… Sorry! Don’t be scared. It’s alright now. Arteus. And these are Gyz and Elvira.

- Damon.

Nice to meet you, son! Gyz, bring young Damon here a cup of tea, please. Just rest, Damon. You must be tired. Let me tell you about us and then when you feel better you can tell us your story.

Gyz and I, we’ve known each other since forever. We were always those two kids that no one wanted to play with, so we were always on our own. His parents died of an overdose when he was little - yeah, I know, it’s ironic that we’re ‘providing’ for people like them now - and he grew up with his extremely old aunt. And me, my parents didn’t have time to think about a child so they kind of dropped me off at one of their friends and never came back to me. Morgana never had much, but she’s always doing her best to help me and us.

As soon as the kids from school found out about us they started bullying. Kids aren’t nice. We had to learn to protect ourselves so Morgana taught us what she knew - bits of karate, some deadly chemistry and lots of psychology. We couldn’t use any of that in school. Bullies don’t have any code of honour so if you’re a boy and you’re ‘too close’ to another boy you’ll get your ass kicked. Anyway, we dropped out when we were 14. I got my first piercing and Gyz got a tattoo. The School Board and parents freaked out. Huge scandal. People threatened Gyz’s aunt every day until her heart just failed under all that pressure and she died… He moved in with us. It took us a few years to actually understand what was going on between us. And then to understand that nothing was ‘wrong’.

It was Christmas when Morgana bought us our first guns. And a puppy. I miss that old mutt. Ragi, over there, is not a bad dog either, but no dog is like your first dog. Christmas was always a big deal for us all. Gyz’s aunt was super Christian and she always made us go to church. It was relaxing. People singing carols, exchanging gifts. We kept going almost every year even after the old lady died. That year, we took the dog to church too. However, no one had the courage to say anything when they saw us. They knew we were the three freaks that showed up every Christmas. The pup was extremely quiet so by the end of the night he was part of the family.

This is the fourth time Morgana will be going to church alone tonight. We have a big shipment to make until the 26th or else we lose every deal we have with these guys. They’re the only ‘clients’ we can’t say no to. They have this self-funded programme through which they research basically how to take drugs and be safe. We have no idea where they got the money for all of this, but we don’t really care. If Gyz’s parents would have found support like this, instead of the torture they call rehab and prison time, they would probably still be alive.

Anyway.

Elvira joined the family 6 years ago. It was almost Christmas then. Morgana stumbled upon an article about teenagers in orphanages and convinced us to offer at least one kid a better life. Not that it took too much convincing. You know… it’s sad that a couple of drug dealers can offer someone a better life than government-funded facilities. I’ll go see what Gyz is doing with your tea. I’ll be right back.

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

On the day I turned 18 I signed myself out of the foster home. I had enough of abuse and sadness. It was the middle of winter and I had absolutely nowhere to go - no friends and, obviously, no family. I was alone, wandering the cold streets of the city.

The people who gave birth to me hated me too.

- What?

The stray boy was talking in his sleep. Little People Orphan Home. Rosa, Tamara, James. Same old people. Same old people… Look, stray boy, meet my little snails. The blue heart is Bob, the red heart is Magic, the yellow heart is Teus - but it’s actually Arteus, don’t tell him that, and the pink one is Gill - but it’s Gyz.

I was 4 when that woman decided they don’t have enough money for me. They said we’re going on a trip and they just left me there. Elvira might not even be Elvira. I never knew if that was my name or I just made it up. But Elvira I was from that day. Ten years at the Little People. Ten. Ten. Ten… Tamara dragging me down the stairs. Falling. Had to eat, they said. Never wanted to eat. Drugs in the food. Sleepy. Everyone sleepy. And nightmares. Every night. There was always a monster in my room. I was alone and it was dark and the monster was staring and I couldn’t move and when I opened my eyes I was not alone anymore but the monster was staring and laughing and I couldn’t scream or anything just look and die. Can’t breathe. Calm down. Calm now.

Sorry. I get panic attacks whenever I remember. It’s even worse when I can’t take my meds. Have you ever just felt as if you’re back there? Actually, you never had time to think about it. Sorry, stray boy. Hope you won’t need meds. Mine are super expensive. And it took me like three or four psychiatrists to find the right ones. Morgana was the one who convinced a doc to give me whatever I’m taking now and it’s finally better. Poor Arteus and Gyz spend so much money on me… I feel really awful… They even bought a house in the country where we keep horses. It’s for therapy. Morgana took some cool courses a few years back so she could help me with my social anxiety and crippling trauma. She was also my teacher. Homeschool. Tried the real school. Kids didn’t like me. If you stick with us you’ll meet Morgana. She’s awesome.

It was on the 22nd of December, 2014 when they got me out of there. I have no idea how they did it. That stupid James never signed any papers unless the parents were a Christian married couple with other three kids and a cow :))))).

- The 22nd? I was dropped on the 23rd. Same year.

Mind if I ask what the hell happened to you?

- It’s fucking stupid. My parents were filthy rich and they wanted to be on the news… They threw me in the orphanage, paid everyone a whole lot of money and declared that I was kidnapped or some shit. I looked up the case last year and apparently, they accused the maid of murdering me. I just gave up after that.

They wanted attention. Stupid. I would go back and kill them. No, Elvira, stop it. What did Morgana say? Sorry.

I hope you’ll stay with us. Arteus and Gyz are really good people. They’re doing this because no one wants to hire them… They were framed like your shitty parents framed the maid. But Arteus doesn’t like me to talk about it so leave it like this. Oh, look, Gyz has finally finished making your tea. Ask him about the prison thingy. Want something to eat after that? I’ll go see what we’ve got.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

Time passed. I didn’t know how much. One day it started snowing. The hunger and sleeplessness were overwhelming me and I was feeling sick. I didn’t know where I was going anymore. I simply kept walking so I wouldn't freeze and so the snow won’t cover me up completely. I had no idea where I was when I collapsed.

Sorry, this took so long, kid. I told Arty to stop buying loose green tea, but no that’s his favourite and blah blah blah. No wonder I get it confused with other loose green leaves that we have in this truck. Arty. Haha. He hates being called Arty but I still call him Arty all the time. Morgana named her cat Arty. The big dude got so pissed, but Momma Morgana

never changed that cat’s name.

Damon, boy, to be totally honest with you I can teach you three things. To roll. To do cool tricks with knives and guns. And to sleep anywhere, anytime, and anyhow. I’ll never be the good example, but I’ll always be the cool brother figure. If you ever need anything, ask me. The big dude will say no, I’ll say yes and then calm down the protective giant. See his eye? I never remember what the hell happened to him, but I remember that I was in the prison’s infirmary cause I was feeling terribly sick from their crappy food and my giant just shows up with his eye, gouging out of its socket. He keeps saying that it got out by mistake, but I swear I have a memory of him telling me that he did that to see me after he heard I was sick. He would never admit to that, though. Haha. Took an eye out to see me. That’s stupid. Arty is stupid sometimes.

- Can I ask you something… Gyz?

OH, MY DRUGS! The kid can talk?! Sure, mate, ask me anything.

- Why did you, guys, end up in prison?

Oh… It was a huge pile of bullshit.

Arteus doesn’t like to talk about this, so shut your mouth about it when he’s around.

There was this kid. Kid, whatever, he was like 17 or something. And he did some shady stuff that got him killed. Now, this kid was apparently some sort of brother to Arteus. Basically, his dad played the field and got this random lady pregnant and then, because he can’t commit to anything, he left. Many years later, kid finds dad, dad doesn’t care, kid somehow finds Arteus and they kinda bond. He’s a nice guy like that, ready to give his heart out for anybody. So the boy gets killed. And who are the last people who saw him alive? Arty and I. So police start asking questions, they find guns in the house, one which coincidentally matched the murder weapon, and they say we’ve killed him. The jury wanted to blame Morgana too, so we pleaded guilty to save her. Now, here’s the fun part. Morgana does some research and figures out that The Gun wasn’t ours. It was a shitty, low-quality gun that Morgana would never keep in her house. Those unreliable ones that just go BOOM! in your hand and your brain’s everywhere. So Momma keeps on digging until she figures out who framed us. So, after one year behind the bars, she finds the real guy and ‘convinces’ him to turn himself in. She's a badass like that.

We’re out, he’s in, but our records are still dirty… That’s why we’re out here, selling drugs. When the system fails you, the anti-system lands a hand. I wanted to be a youth worker. Be there for teenagers who went through shit. Like I did. No kid deserves to be traumatized by idiot bullies and no kid deserves to be so traumatised that they become a bully. But all places I applied to were looking for someone with zero criminal convictions. And I’ve got a fake one for murder… Let me tell you my Christmas wish for 2020. I wish to make enough money to bribe those idiots to truthfully clean my record and get back to school. Damn it, boy. You got me emotional here. Are you alive enough to join us for our one hour Christmas celebration?

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Arteus pulled into one of those truck parking lots and while I was finding the strength to get up, the three of them decorated the tiniest tree I’ve ever seen. They were planning to exchange gifts in their ‘one hour Christmas celebration’, but they didn’t get me anything so they decided to keep it quiet so I don’t feel excluded. They literally saved my life, but they didn’t deem that a good enough Christmas gift. Their argument was that we would have saved you any other day. A gift needs to be something that you can wrap. Good deeds are not a Christmas-special in this family.

I grew up being a privileged child who got to see Santa Claus every year. My parents would hire some dude to come to our house and place gifts under the tree. There were always dozens of reporters filming me faking my surprise. I always got the most expensive and useless toys. I remember how one year all I wanted was one of those cheap little cars because all my friends had those - I got a collection car that I was never allowed to unbox. At least, that year I got almost what I asked for… Then, when I was 12 and I started to figure out their games and refused to play them, they decided they could get rid of me. And they did.

Christmas with my parents was never really Christmas. Christmas at the orphanage was never really Christmas either. So, my first real one was with Gyz, Arteus and Elvira, in a parking lot. And it was simply magical. For one hour we drank tea and talked. I told them my story and they didn’t judge me, nor did they get jealous of my past. Instead, they hugged me. The first genuine hug I ever felt. I opened up and told them about all the scary thoughts I used to have back then. I had clinical depression and strong PTSD. I’m better now, but you know, some wounds never heal.

Losing the only parental figures we ever had one by one was a huge hit for Elvira and me. But it was a wake-up call for us. That’s when we realised how important it was for teenagers who grew up like us, without a real family, to have someone they could genuinely trust and talk to. I remembered what Gyz wished that year… Elvira had no idea about his dream. I took up youth work training and she, in loving memory of Morgana, took up psychology training. It wasn’t easy. Oh, it wasn’t easy at all. We constantly felt that we were ‘too old’ for all that and wanted to give up billions of times. But it’s never too late to do something that you love.

Then, looking through the books that Morgana left us we found the newspaper article about the problematic teenagers that can’t get adopted. The one that brought Elvira into the family. We knew exactly what we had to do with our newly cultivated skills. We opened M.A.G. You know, we wanted to give you, guys, a safer place. People still think teenagers are inherently evil or something and they expect you to magically turn into a responsible adult after you’ve lived 18 years. But they just hope you’ll be something that they aren’t. Adults don’t exist. They’re just scared children, wearing suits and hating their job. The only thing we are, we are humans who need to be valued and understood in order to grow and become awesome humans. An awesome human can be anything - a librarian, a corporate, a teacher, a barista or anything else. As long as you are supportive of those around you and take care of them, you’re an awesome human.

There, I told you the story. Are you all happy bunnies now? Let’s go eat something. I’m starving. And then, yes, we will open the gifts. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Listen to the story here:
PART 1 > https://youtu.be/Qr2zqKI3Dng 
PART 2 > https://youtu.be/b4j9Vm26W5w 
PART 3 > https://youtu.be/j1w8WlZTHP4 
PART 4 > https://youtu.be/rUGsTRkV8Iw 

ALSO, go follow Ari on Instagram and contact her for commissions. She's AWESOME!
https://instagram.com/___333____3455667?igshid=ow3gxcmn6ew9