Once upon a Christmas time there was a small boy* (let’s call him Bradley) who wished it could be Christmas everyday, and one Christmas day, his wish came true and it would be Christmas everyday for ever and ever.

When it was Christmas for one or two days, everyone was happy and smiling and glowing a fairy light tinselled glow, and even when it was Christmas for three or four days, though folks we’re getting a bit fed up, they were happier to be Christmassing than working . 

Five six, seven, eight nine, ten, eleven, on the twelfth day of Christmas, mother screamed “STOP”, but Christmas would never stop, because of Bradley’s Christmas wish, that it would be Christmas everyday forever and ever.

December became January and then February followed. The house was still all tree and tinsel. It was Turkey and all the trimmings for breakfast lunch and dinner and stacks of presents everyday for Bradley, who had received so many presents, that he had nowhere left to stack them, and because he spent all day opening presents, and it was Christmas everyday, he had no time to play with them.

Winter turned to spring and spring turned to summer. The world was all sweltering sunshine and sizzling barbecues but Bradley was still eating Christmas dinner.

He looked out his bedroom window, down the street. Kids were out playing on their bikes. Dads were mowing the lawn and mums were pottering around in the kitchen making picnics for days out at the seaside.

“Can we go to the seaside?” asked Bradley

“No,” grunted dad. “It’s Christmas day in this house and we don’t go to the seaside on Chritsmas day.”

“How long will it be Christmas” asked Bradley with a dreary whine

“Everyday forever and ever” snapped his mum. “Just like you wished for.”

Of course, Christmas isn’t just all about food and presents, it’s a time of peace and goodwill. A time  to welcome family and friends into your home and share the best of the season. And this is fine for a day or two, but after six months, Bradley was getting just a bit fed up of his relatives, his moustachioed granny who smelled of wee and Vicks vapor rub, his bonkers grandad who kept talking about the War, and his aunty Cynthia, whose New Year’s resolution was to become a vegan, but New Year hadn’t come yet and she was still eating turkey and would be everyday forever and ever. 

Bradley (and his mum and his dad) just wanted their relatives to go home, but they had come for Christmas and this Christmas was going to last everyday for ever and ever.

And we should always be careful what we wish for, because our wishes don’t just change our lives, they change the lives of everyone around us.

As far as I know, Bradley and his mum and dad and aunty Cynthia and his bonkers grandad who thinks were still living in the War, and his gran who smells of Vicks vapor rub and wee, (and hasn’t shaved her moustache for a long time, because she’s got not more razors and can’t get to the shops, because they are all closed on Christmas day …) as far as I know, they are all still trapped in Christmas and will be there everyday forever and ever. Oh dear.

*I WROTE THIS STORY ABOUT A SMALL BOY, BECAUSE I THINK THAT SMALL GIRLS ARE FAR TOO CLEVER TO WISH FOR SOMETHING SO SILLY AS CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY FOREVER AND EVER.