Saving Santa

Sadly, our yard sale was somewhat marred by the fact that Santa showed up homeless and discouraged.  Gail found him on the ground crying.

Gail listened as Santa poured out his heart, and she discovered that he would soon be homeless.  As if that wasn't bad enough, he was near to heat stroke in his warm clothing.

Tammy's son tried to understand Santa's problems, but this was complicated by the fact that he no longer believed in Santa.

Kim had a talk with Santa and told him that his "jolly old St. Nick" image was a scam.  He was old all right, but not as jolly as he had led people to believe.

Fred tried to act like he cared even though he was the one kicking Santa out!

Michael also pretended like he cared, but he didn't fool anyone.

Janna invited Santa to sit and chat, but she never offered to take him home for fear he would scare the dogs.

Ann tried to offer some of her Southern charm, but you could tell by the way she touched him that she thought he had cooties.

Largely through Gail's kindness and counsel, Santa felt cheered enough to play on the only toy that Fred would let him touch.

But soon Santa was found by his adoptive father who gladly took him home to join other Santas he had rescued from other yard sales.  We did have to wonder at the adoptive father's motives when he suggested that he might leave Santa outside for long periods of time in the winter, but we all hoped for the best.

Fred tried to retrieve his tarnished reputation in the end

But he looked a little too happy when Santa left.