the department store

we take the underground to oxford street for joe and tally's official santa visit at selfridges. the store extends for four floors and encompasses an entire city block -- an old-fashioned department store. for christmas, each window displays santa engaged in various activities: riding his vespa, doing the wash, entering the tube. grammy and gramps treat joe and tally to a gingerbread house from the food hall, where joe

pokes a tentative finger at the fish and grimaces at plucked geese. after a ride on the santa train, an elf leads us thru a secret door where we have a personal audience with santa. "what do you want for christmas?" he asks. "a pop gun," says joe. "a talking doll," says tally. as i silently consider my own wish -- a little black dress from the store's Little Miss Selfridge label -- i know we have travelled by tube thru time.