Sunday Afternoon Stories

Achromatopsia By Rory McClannahan   A lost man found a magical girl; and when she touched him, he saw the world as it could be. “Make it stop,” she told him, and he did. #

Christmas is really for children. And what is it about childhood that makes Christmas so special? Sure, there is the gifts, but those in themselves aren’t enough to make even the oldest of us smile. There is the lights and the food and the decorations and the family and the friends and the optimism that there indeed can be peace on earth and good will toward men. Yeah…I don’t think so. Christmas is special because of magic and only children and those with child-like hearts truly believe the spells cast are real. This is where the secular and religious aspects of Christmas are similar – they rely upon faith. The key to Christmas magic is an old gentleman who wears red and slides down chimneys to leave toys for good girls and boys. That’s Santa Claus, of course, also known as St. Nicholas and Sinterklass and a dozen other names. Just about every culture has a benevolent gentleman who delivers gifts to deserving children. He is the only ancient figure who has taken a place as a modern myt...