Bear’s Christmas A Christmas Story Faysal Mikdadi Dedicated to Naz; a very special friend. “Dear reader”, I am no Currer Bell. I loved her Jane Eyre . Still, I could never write anything like it. The depth of feeling. The very passion. The intelligent story links – so well done that they are almost invisible. I wish that I could write like that. But I can’t. So, there you have it before we pen another word. Still, despite my writing leaving a great deal to be desired, I do have a story to tell you. It is not mine. It was given me by my friend Michelle. She likes to collect real life stories. Indeed she seeks them out wherever she goes. Of course, it was not her story. She had the narrative from a patient at our local psychiatric assessment centre. The patient concerned had kept a journal. For reasons that will become clear later on, the patient, let us call her Alice, gave Michelle the journal to do whatever she wished with it. She, Michelle, passed it on to me. I h