By Pieter Thomassen

During the midnight mass Axel is being told that the Word has become flesh. At home he burns his tongue when eating a sausage roll from Beckers. With the help of a big glass of lemonade he cools his blister, quenches his thirst, and it wakes him up with a full bladder in the deep of this Holy Night. But, to do a wee, he has to get out of his warm bed and into the dark corridor where he might well encounter angels who, on this particular night, are dressing the Christmas tree with white speckled chocolate hoops fastened with red bows. He doesn’t want to set eyes on these white heavenly ghosts.
      He manages to master his terror, because granny has hinted that animals can talk during the Silent Night. So in that case he, too, can talk to Zeus, the small dog mummy has brought home in a plastic bag to be his playmate.
      Axel sneaks in his stockinged feet down the corridor, and startles when the fridge comes to live with a hum in the kitchen. Through the open living room door he spots, reflected in streetlights, the angels’ hair on the tree. Next to the crib the dog’s eyes shine like full yellow moons. The animal opens its mouth, yawns and stretches. Then, Axel hears a thunderous noise coming from the corridor. In a blind panic he hurries back to his bedroom and hides under his bed. The next morning he finds out that the wash basin together with the mirror have fallen down from the bathroom wall.

Axel 27 – Axel 26 – Axel 25 – Axel 24 – Axel 23 – Axel 22 – Axel 21 – Axel 20 – Axel 19 – Axel 18 – Axel 17 – Axel 16 – Axel 15 – Axel 14 – Axel 13 – Axel 12 – Axel 11 – Axel 10 – Axel 9 – Axel 8 – Axel 7 – Axel 6 – Axel 5 – Axel 4 – Axel 3 – Axel 2 – Axel 1