"To Vince" is a short story inspired by the vibes I get from "O Tannenbaum" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio (the group behind the amazing soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas). I wrote it as part of my Christmas Song of the Day project in 2023 (CSOTD23). Best read in the voice of Rod Serling.
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It's Christmas Eve, 1966. You just finished your beat on a bitter night—the kind where the cold seeps through your layers, pricking every inch of your skin, leaving you in an almost transcendental state, your mind tuned to an icy blue frequency. Two more homicides tonight. You ask yourself how the world can be so cruel, particularly at this time of year. Or maybe Scrooge was right about decreasing the surplus population. Who are you to say? That's a question for the man upstairs (or is it the man up north?).
As you make your way to your usual haunt for your pre-Jackie Gleason two-and-a-half beers, your eyes are drawn to the soft glow of some lights twinkling in a window. The lights mesmerizingly refract through the weeping icicles outside, creating thousands of upside-down distorted little worlds, each a perfect reflection of your crooked life. Glancing in the window, you wonder how you’ve never noticed this place before. The opening notes of "O Tannenbaum" slide into your ear from a lone piano, and without realizing how it happened, you’re walking in the door.
Some guy in a suit that costs more than you make in a month rushes your way, grumbling about being late. He bumps into you on his way out and catches your eye. With a knowing smile, he offers you the cocoa he just ordered, adding, "And don’t worry, it has some extra cheer." You half suspect you were just in some advertising executive’s pitch for a commercial, but you also can’t shake the feeling he was being genuine. And some hot cocoa does sound nice. You take your first sip and the icy blue frequency in your brain instantly starts to slow down to the cozy red of a fireplace. Turns out the ad man wasn’t lying about the extra cheer… there are at least three shots of it.
As the carol on the piano reaches the end of its familiar melody, the music pauses for a moment before resuming—but this time with a swing, and with a double bass and some brushes on a snare joining in. You find yourself instinctively tapping your fingers along—maybe the beatniks weren’t as misguided about their musical tastes as they were about everything else. As the trio plays, you take in the rest of the room for the first time. An old couple is dancing by the stage. There’s no dance floor, but they don’t seem to mind. And judging by the faces of everyone watching them, neither does anyone else.
You continue your survey of the room and spot an absolute knockout in a shimmering dark green dress sitting at the end of the bar. She starts to look your way and you quickly shift your gaze to the sentimental cocoa blubbering steam in front of you. Despite your embarrassment, you can't resist stealing another glance of this verdant beauty. Anticipating your return, she raises her glass and smiles.
Did those lights in the window put you under some kind of hypnotic spell? Or could it be maybe this life isn't so bad after all? At least for tonight.