I had never had Christmas Carollers in my neighbourhood before. I think it’s one of those bygone traditions that have survived more in pop culture than actual practice. I never doubted that people still do it somewhere, sometimes, but I’ve never seen it happen in person and never really thought much of it. But on the last winter solstice, I finally heard a roving choir outside my window. I don’t think that it was mere happenstance that it was on the winter solstice and not Christmas. You probably know that Yuletide celebrations long predate Christianity, and for that matter, they predate the pagan traditions that Christmas is based on. Regardless of their history or accumulated traditions and associations, all wintertime…

A magician came to our town one dreary day after a large thunderstorm. He carried a briefcase that he claimed was filled with people’s hopes and dreams. The briefcase was large and wrapped in an exotic coating. Many witnesses described seeing it move under the magician’s grasp. The magician was a tall man wearing bizarre, yet exquisite clothes. People found themselves mesmerized by the stranger for reasons they didn’t understand at the time. He charmed the crowds with his many otherworldly tricks such as conjuring daisies out of thin air. He set up a shop in the town afterward. He had claimed that he had entertained the likes of olden kings and queens in their courts. “Come one and all…

Chapter 1 The town was abuzz with the whirring of cars and the ceaseless hustling and bustling of busy bodies so obsessed with their routines, they would unknowingly let life pass them by and miss out on the simple things. Several people chatted loudly as they crossed the streets on their way to work. Suffocating, black smoke from many a car’s exhaust pipe permeated the air and polluted the sky with clouds of smog. Rats scavenged for food and left trails of wet, goopy trash along the walking paths. The unsanitary conditions would lead to the spread of several pestilences leading to the town’s hospitals becoming clogged. A clap of thunder eviscerated the sound barrier accompanied by the steady drizzle…

I had never had Christmas Carollers in my neighbourhood before. I think it’s one of those bygone traditions that have survived more in pop culture than actual practice. I never doubted that people still do it somewhere, sometimes, but I’ve never seen it happen in person and never really thought much of it. But on the last winter solstice, I finally heard a roving choir outside my window. I don’t think that it was mere happenstance that it was on the winter solstice and not Christmas. You probably know that Yuletide celebrations long predate Christianity, and for that matter, they predate the pagan traditions that Christmas is based on. Regardless of their history or accumulated traditions and associations, all wintertime…

Chapter 1 The town was abuzz with the whirring of cars and the ceaseless hustling and bustling of busy bodies so obsessed with their routines, they would unknowingly let life pass them by and miss out on the simple things. Several people chatted loudly as they crossed the streets on their way to work. Suffocating, black smoke from many a car’s exhaust pipe permeated the air and polluted the sky with clouds of smog. Rats scavenged for food and left trails of wet, goopy trash along the walking paths. The unsanitary conditions would lead to the spread of several pestilences leading to the town’s hospitals becoming clogged. A clap of thunder eviscerated the sound barrier accompanied by the steady drizzle…

A magician came to our town one dreary day after a large thunderstorm. He carried a briefcase that he claimed was filled with people’s hopes and dreams. The briefcase was large and wrapped in an exotic coating. Many witnesses described seeing it move under the magician’s grasp. The magician was a tall man wearing bizarre, yet exquisite clothes. People found themselves mesmerized by the stranger for reasons they didn’t understand at the time. He charmed the crowds with his many otherworldly tricks such as conjuring daisies out of thin air. He set up a shop in the town afterward. He had claimed that he had entertained the likes of olden kings and queens in their courts. “Come one and all…

Chapter 1 The town was abuzz with the whirring of cars and the ceaseless hustling and bustling of busy bodies so obsessed with their routines, they would unknowingly let life pass them by and miss out on the simple things. Several people chatted loudly as they crossed the streets on their way to work. Suffocating, black smoke from many a car’s exhaust pipe permeated the air and polluted the sky with clouds of smog. Rats scavenged for food and left trails of wet, goopy trash along the walking paths. The unsanitary conditions would lead to the spread of several pestilences leading to the town’s hospitals becoming clogged. A clap of thunder eviscerated the sound barrier accompanied by the steady drizzle…

A magician came to our town one dreary day after a large thunderstorm. He carried a briefcase that he claimed was filled with people’s hopes and dreams. The briefcase was large and wrapped in an exotic coating. Many witnesses described seeing it move under the magician’s grasp. The magician was a tall man wearing bizarre, yet exquisite clothes. People found themselves mesmerized by the stranger for reasons they didn’t understand at the time. He charmed the crowds with his many otherworldly tricks such as conjuring daisies out of thin air. He set up a shop in the town afterward. He had claimed that he had entertained the likes of olden kings and queens in their courts. “Come one and all…

I had never had Christmas Carollers in my neighbourhood before. I think it’s one of those bygone traditions that have survived more in pop culture than actual practice. I never doubted that people still do it somewhere, sometimes, but I’ve never seen it happen in person and never really thought much of it. But on the last winter solstice, I finally heard a roving choir outside my window. I don’t think that it was mere happenstance that it was on the winter solstice and not Christmas. You probably know that Yuletide celebrations long predate Christianity, and for that matter, they predate the pagan traditions that Christmas is based on. Regardless of their history or accumulated traditions and associations, all wintertime…