[Thursday, 23 December, 2258 | A Christmas Carol]
“Hey, Nanny, what’s the time?” Virginia asks the chip.
“It is 8:32am, Virginia,” Nanny replies to Virginia’s shock. There was no foghorn in the girl’s head, waking her up at a ridiculous time. And that’s after Nanny reported her for trying to connect with her dad and Santa.
Instead, the girl had been woken up by her fellow inmates singing. The inmates aren’t just singing any ordinary song, however; they are singing a perennial Christmas classic since its introduction about 250 years ago, the most revered of all Christmas hymns: Don’t Shoot Me Santa.
“Oh Santa,
“I’ve been waiting on you,
“That’s funny kid,
“Because I’ve been coming for you,
“Oh Santa,
“I’ve been killing just for fun,
“Well the party’s over kid.”
The song brings a warm smile to the girl’s face, the first happy moment since her incarceration. Virginia decides to join in the frivolity, doing her part to spread the Christmas cheer. At the top of her lungs, she begins belting out the tune. Her throat be damned, sometimes you need to make sacrifices for your family at Christmas. “Because I,
“Because I got a bullet in my gun,
“A bullet in your what?”
The cell door screeches open, and Virginia falls silent as Ms. Nagal enters. The inmates’ song continues in the background.
“Santa’s got a bullet in his gun,
You know it, Santa’s got a bullet in his gun.”
As the remainder of the inmates continue their carolling from their cells, Ms. Nagal enters the cell, pointing a pistol at Virginia. “I also have a bullet in my gun, child. Give me one reason not to use it. Since the moment you’ve gotten here, you’ve been a pain in my ass.”
“Because I’m just a kid,” Virginia tells the woman. “And because if you do, my dad will come here, and he will kill you.”
Ms. Nagal laughs with her trademark cackle. It never ceases to unsettle Virginia.
“Oh, you dumb child. He could have appealed the request for you to attend this camp, arguing that you were just an eight year-old child. If he had promised to keep a better eye on you and revoke some privileges, you would have been able to spend the holidays at home,” Ms. Nagal informs the child. “Instead, he left you in my care.”
wastanley.com 