Somehow, despite the girls being the ones who were doing the shopping and the spending, it was Josh who seemed to end up carrying all the bags. Not that he minded. Very early into Samantha’s life he had come to terms with the fact that the reason he, as her dad, was taken along on most outings was to pay and to carry things! At one stall, filled with intriguing wooden craft kits along with pretty and fascinating displays showing how they would look when completed, Samantha clearly spotted something she wanted to get for him and ordered him to go and wait around the corner, sending Amelia with him to keep an eye and make sure he did not peek – a task that she sought to achieve by distracting him with very graphic descriptions of what she hoped the pair of them would be doing to each other later that night. A tactic which proved to be very effective! When Samantha came to find them, she slipped the small, thin paper bag into one of the larger ones and ordered Josh not to look!

Having kept an eye on the time while they shopped, Josh finally noticed that it was ten minutes to three and said that they should head back over to Santa’s grotto. The girls chatted happily as they walked just ahead of him, speculating as to how many other girls would be lining up to get a naked photograph with Santa, assuming that there must have been a fairly substantial demand in order to justify closing the grotto to the general public for an hour, and wondering how “poor Santa” felt about his upcoming ordeal.

Looking over at the stand where the two naked schoolgirls had been selling the raffle tickets, they saw that they were missing and a lady in her mid-thirties who could have been the mother of one or other of the girls or perhaps a teacher from the school seemed to be watching the stall for them.

“I bet they’ve gone to get their photo with Santa!” Amelia grinned. “They qualify after all!”

Outside the grotto, a different elf from before was sat at the little table that served as a ticket desk and the girls recognised her as one who had been in the photo cabin earlier, meaning that they likely rotated duties to keep things fresh and interesting for themselves. Either that or she was covering her colleague’s break. The screen advertising the prices had changed too – now it said “LAST CHRISTMAS HOUR! 3-4pm” and, underneath “SANTA ‘MEAT’ & GREET!”

“Hi!” Samantha skipped happily up to the pretty, seated elf. “We’re here for the, umm…” she glanced at the screen, “Meat and greet!”

“Okay!” the elf chuckled. “Just checking, you do know what it’s about, right? Who it is meant for? There does seem to have been a little bit of confusion and we’re trying to avoid any awkwardness!” Josh’s mind boggled at what the poor elves, barely more than kids themselves, must have had to go through to require this disclaimer but Samantha answered happily and confidently.

“Of course!” she smiled. “It’s for girls who are going to get eaten before next Christmas who want to show off their meat in a nice picture with Santa!”

“That’s right!” the elf chuckled, sounding relieved.

“Especially cool for girls like me,” Samantha continued proudly, “as I’m going to be Christmas dinner! Mummy’s going to put these photos up on a screen while everyone’s enjoying me!”

“That sounds wonderful!” the elf grinned. “And what about you?” she turned to Amelia. “Does that make you dessert?”

“No!” Amelia giggled. “I’m roasting in the spring for my niece’s Christening, but that still counts, right?”

“It certainly does!” the elf confirmed. “But that’s too bad! I was having fun picturing you in a bowl of custard with a swirl of ice cream on your head!”

“With chocolate and raspberry sauce?” Amelia asked with a giggle.

“Of course!” chuckled the elf, amusing herself with the mental image she had conjured. “Well it sounds like you know what’s what!” she smiled, getting back to the job in hand. “There’s no charge for these sessions but photographs are charged at normal price and there won’t be gifts this time around.” The girls nodded their understanding. “No real time-limits on how long you spend with Santa but please do be mindful of other people who are waiting.”

“What about if we want to do some group photos?” Samantha asked. “Like, if we make friends with other girls in there and want our pictures together?”

“That’s absolutely fine if it’s okay with them too,” the elf smiled, “just remember that the families of every girl will be able to buy any photograph they’re in so if you do some with other girls, all their friends and family may get to see you in your birthday suits too!”

“Oh that’s okay!” Amelia giggled. “I’m told mine is very pretty! I like showing it off!”

“I bet you do!” the elf laughed as Josh blushed a little, hoping she wouldn’t notice. “Go on then, head on in! Have fun!”


To be continued...