The Stroke Of Midnight

Once, a long time ago, time itself stood still.

St Sylvester or, as he is more commonly known, Old Father Time, who every New Years Eve, upon the magic stroke of midnight comes out of his Clock house; flying, as time flies, around the world to usher in the new year, had been kidnapped by the evil Queen of Night, a widow dressed in black with a long black veil over her face, and put in her dark prison with bars of shadow.

"As long as you are locked up, you wicked man", she said to him, "I will never grow old and the reign of night shall never end".

But Old father time rang the golden bell that he always carries with him to ring in the New Year and, its wooden doors springing open, out of his clock house came all of times helpers.

First came all the seconds; little dainty, dancing fairies whizzing along incredibly fast with tiny wands that were second hands ticking back and forth; then came the minutes, little bearded gnomes with jingling bells upon their caps and bell ringing hammers; then the hours, twelve tall elves carrying candles each candle shorter than the one before; then the days, seven swift horses with flapping wings of gold drawing the chariot of the sun; then the weeks, a regiment of 52 clockwork soldiers dressed in bright red and green uniforms; then the months, 12 tall giants and together they all pushed and barged and hammered at the door of the Queens dark castle.

"No", shouted the queen of darkness, angrilly; looking down from the battlements of her castle at the army of time, "You shall not enter".

But then Old Father time said to her,

"Please, lift up that black veil that you wear and you will see that time is nothing to be afraid of, that it is not something that takes away but something that gives".

And so the queen lifted up her widows veil, only for a moment but in that moment she saw the army outside transformed from something dark into something incredibly bright.

When she looked at the wings of the fairy seconds, she saw lovers kisses; when she looked at the gnome minutes she saw happy children playing and their bells become laughter; when she looked at the twelve, tall hours she saw twelve flowers of the spring blooming and growing; when she looked at the 7 horses, she saw 7 reindeers pulling jolly Santa's sleigh full of toys; when she looked at the marching clockwork soldiers, she saw them turn into a marching band playing a happy minuet and the 12 giants became 12 tall fruit trees, with their spreading branches full of twittering birds and ripening, red or golden fruit.

"You see", said Old Father Time, "Every second, every minute, day, week or month can be a golden moment, a time of joy and without time, no one would ever have that joy".

Realising that she had made a terrible mistake, the Queen tore away her veil altogether and, suddenly, the black dress of the Queen of night became blue and gold and, her dark frown turning into a bright smile and a sun rising in her eyes, she said to her guards, "Open the door; let in the happy times".

And when the doors were opened, time was set free again.

Of course all of this happened in only the blink of an eye; the stroke of midnight, just before bells rung, champagne corks popped, fireworks filled the air with fountains of colour and people all round the world, holding their loved ones close, shouted "Happy New Year".