Nicholas was... by Neil Gaiman

12 Days of Fiction

I had an idea. An idea that would make the perfect gift for people this holiday season. Story. Creation. Narrative. All for free.

So I contacted some people I know who I thought might make a good fit. People who have a creative streak and have something to say. People from different backgrounds and different ways of expressing themselves.

Each day for 12 days, new material will be released. It's our gift to you. Happy Holidays. Celebrate story.

Nicholas Was...

by Neil Gaiman

Nichola Was...

Nihoas

Nicholas was...

older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter. He wanted to die.

The dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns did not speak his language, but conversed in their own, twittering tongue, conducted incomprehensible rituals, when they were not actually working in the factories.

Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless Night. During the journey he would stand near every child in the world, leave one of the dwarves' invisible gifts by its bedside. The children slept, frozen into time.

He envied Prometheus and Loki, Sisyphus and Judas. His punishment was harsher.

Ho.

Ho.

Ho.