A gaudily clad figure appears in the alley. Wrapped in layers of red and green with tinsel and bows in gay profusion. She flickers in and out of the half light with an eerie luminescence hinting at darker ethereal origins. She smiles happily at all the passers by wishing them seasons greetings and begging for them to take her home.

The blinds at the window of the Mudat cafe twich open as one of the elves peers into the twighlit snow at the mysterious sight.

"Do you think we should ask her in?" he asks

"Bugger that for a game of soldiers" responds Dave the Gnome with his usual tact and diplomacy. "It's only the ghost of Christmas present....."