Chapter 2: The Synchronised Champers
Chapter 2
The Synchronised Champers
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Our journey continues up the red carpeted stairs at Piccadilly, as a host of familiar favourites go in search of adventure...
Looking for Chapter 1? Read it here.
By now, the red carpet on the stairs was impossible to see.
It was still there, of course, but for now it was hidden beneath the skittering feet of a thousand waltzing, singing, joy-filled friends.
And as the crowd made its way off the stairs and into the First Floor at Piccadilly, Christmas Crackers and Baubles, Puddings, Pies and Candles aplenty joined in with the fun.
A herd of Advent Calendars completed the scene: their windows and doors clapping open and closed in perfect time with the ever-quickening song from the giddy Teas and Biscuits at the head of the throng.
Until all of a sudden, the shushing began. Within seconds, the whole floor was silent.
A pair of Christmas Crackers nudged the Kea Plum's shoulder. Shattering the quiet, they shouted in perfect unison: "They practice all year, you know." Thousands of eyes turned in their direction.
"You're shouting a little, could you—" The Plum hissed quietly, holding a single finger to her lips.
The twin Crackers laughed (loudly, of course) and checked each other's pocket watches: "About ten to midnight, chum."
The Plum smiled and looked confused. A jar of Figgy Mustard led the Crackers away, as the Boxing Day Pickle explained in a whisper: "Wonderful chaps. But deaf as a post."
Then with a swiftness that sent more than a few Baubles tottering over with shock and surprise, a shoal of flying bottles swept suddenly overhead, and the music changed tone, from raucous to gentle.
"The Synchronised Champers—" yelled the ringleading Tea, "—shall now swoop and stoop, swoosh and glide, flip and trip and pirouette through the air, for your entertainment! Please mind your heads (or similar) as we follow them to the Second Floor and up to meet our Wicker friends on Third!"
And just as instructed, the massed ranks watched as the cork-headed Champers acrobatically flew in bubbly formation. The Candles on Second held themselves aloft in tribute, a haze of festive aromas filling the room as choruses of 'oooh' and 'aaaah' sounded all around. It was quite a spectacle. Until—
"STOP!"
A deafening howl brought the display to a close, the Champagne bottles suspended in mid-air as if by magic.
All eyes turned towards a worried looking face: a solitary Christmas Coal, held above the fray by a (rather strong-looking) Fortnum's Wicker.
"THE REINDEER ARE HERE," he squeaked, as loud as he could.
"BUT FATHER CHRISTMAS IS MISSING!" boomed the Wicker, his arms still holding the Coal above his head.
The collective gasp was loud enough to properly wake the half-dozing Stiltons. Eyes darted around the room in search of someone, anyone, with an answer to this Christmas conundrum. And then:
"What's the most refreshing letter of the alphab— Oh I say, why is everyone looking at us?" yelled the Cracker to his brother. "Not a fan of cracker jokes, eh?"
Read the story's conclusion in Chapter 3 >
Shop the Stars of the Story
CHRISTMAS CRACKERS ● CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS ● ADVENT CALENDARS ● FORTNUM'S CHRISTMAS CANDLE ● CHRISTMAS HAMPERS ● FIGGY MUSTARD ● BOXING DAY PICKLE ● CHRISTMAS COAL ● CHRISTMAS CHAMPAGNE
