The Christmas Dumpster

"When the chips are down, what can you do but dig a little deeper into the dumpster?" - Albert Robeson

I guess you could say it was like any other story of two people searching for warmth in the cold night, except perhaps for the fact that Albert and Marianne found themselves sharing the same cardboard box in a dark alley off of Seventy-Third Street. Yeah, they'd seen each other from time to time, but the weather was warmer then and they were just two more people competing for spare change on the street and edible food in the dumpsters. But in late December, on the coldest night of the year, Albert had found a small space between two dumpsters, right beneath an air vent in the back of a dry cleaner's. Besides the warmth, the chemical smell from the vent masked a bit of the stench from the dumpsters.

Albert was always resourceful, so it wasn't strange that he found such a good place to spend the cold evening, what was strange was that he let someone share it with him. It wasn't that he hated people, it's just that since things fell apart for him, he'd forged a reasonable solitary life. Sure he was homeless, foraging the local dumpsters for food and begging on street corners for some money, but he had survived, which wasn't an easy thing to do on the streets.

So now, as he arranged his cardboard and old blankets in the flickering colored light from Christmas decorations, he prepared himself for the end of his eighth Holiday Season since his world ended. Normally Albert hated this time of year, he hated the hypocrisy as people who'd ignore him eleven months of the year, who'd kick him as he slept in the street and then give him blankets, or jackets, or a bit of spare change. He never turned down the charity, he just swallowed what little pride he had and hid his aversion.

Beyond this hypocrisy, Albert, who lived eleven months of the year relatively satisfied with his solitude, found himself haunted, haunted by his own personal ghost of Christmases past. Not sure if it was the lights in the streets, the Holiday music that seemed to slip though every door or the impending chance of snow, but the normally clear headed Albert found himself remembering his wife, his children, his life before.

It was in the midst of his memories that Albert slipped onto the nearby cemetery and took several fresh flowers left just that morning. Holding them loosely in his jacket to protect them from the cold, he wandered back toward his alley dodging the traffic and bustling last minute shoppers. On his way back, he diverted a bit, walking a block or two out of the way so he could check out a couple of street corners.

On the second street corner, he spotted Marianne and slowly headed her way. Though he had never really looked closely at her, he had noticed her hair and the way her breasts looked when she wasn't so heavily bundled up. Now, as he approached her, he took a closer look, letting his eyes move down her body. Her brown hair was beginning to show some gray and it frizzed out wildly except where she had tied back the part that fell down her face. There were no bald spots or matted clumps in her hair and he never noticed her scratching her head so she probably didn't have too many lice.

Her cheeks were very red, chapped in the cold wind Albert figured, but it gave her a cheery glow that she didn't have in the summer. Though deep set, her light blue eyes seemed to shine brightly in spite of the bags underneath. She did smile a lot and seemed to have most of her teeth.

He couldn't see her neck, and bundled up as she was, he could only see a slight bulge in her jacket where her breasts were, but he remembered how nice and plump they when he saw them in the summer. All in all, he was looking at one of the most beautiful women he had dared to look at in a long, long time.

Feeling like a schoolboy he walked casually up to her and pausing a moment for her to finish panhandling a small group of people, he took a deep breath and slowly pulled the flowers from inside his jacket. They had fared well considering the weather and the jostling they took on the walk over. When she finished she moved to lean back on the building and then noticed Albert standing there.

Albert was a sight, with his ratty and torn wool cap, a dirty gray beard, a badly stained pink jacket with fake fur collar and ragged blue jeans. His brown eyes peeked out from badly overgrown eyebrows, his nose was twisted to one side and his lips were curled up in a shy, shit eating grin. In other words, though he wasn't absolutely gorgeous, he was incredibly cute to Marianne.

"Why Albert, you ain't elbowing in on my corner here are you?"

"No Ma'am Marianne, I'm here to invite you to Christmas Dinner."

"Christmas Dinner? Where on earth did you find a Christmas Dinner?" she asked moving a bit closer to Albert.

"Oh... these are for you," he said, handing her the flowers.

"They are pretty Albert. I'm sure whoever you stole these from paid a lot of money," she replied smiling. "Thank you," she continued, taking the flowers and bowing her head to him. She stood waiting for Albert to say something, but after a few moments she spoke again, "Christmas Dinner?"

"Oh yes... well, I'm staying near a dry cleaners and well I heard they're having a pizza party for Christmas Eve and then leaving early. I figure they should be finishing up real soon."

"Warm pizza?"

"And some left over soft drinks if we are lucky."

"You don't mind me coming to where you stay?"

"That's why I'm inviting you. It's next to the dry cleaners, so I have heat, a lot when the machines are running, not as much when they're not, but it's better than nothing," Albert replied. "Just think, a warm Christmas without having to fight your way into a center or having to listen to the preaching."

"The preaching is kind of nice sometimes."

"And then you got to fight over where you sleep."

"Well, that's no fun."

"Come on, come spend Christmas with me Marianne."

"Okay Albert, it has been a long time since a man gave me flowers," she said, holding them close to her face and smelling them.

"It's been a long time since I gave someone flowers," he replied, holding his hand out to her.

Hand in hand they headed down the street pulling her small wagon and just before reaching the dry cleaners they turned and headed down the alley. They walked to the back and Albert pointed to the two dumpsters saying, "Here we are, home sweet home." He pulled back the cardboard he had propped between the dumpsters and showed her his "home."

The space was about six by six, with blankets and a rotted old mattress placed along one of the dumpsters. Next to the mattress was a small area where he had arranged rocks in a small circle, as if he planned to build a fire. There was another bare space big enough for Marianne's wagon.

She was about to pull her wagon in when Albert said, "Hold on, let me get my cart." He moved around one of the dumpsters and grabbed a chain link fence. Pulling the fabric back, he slid through and then quickly reappeared dragging his shopping cart through. He pushed it between the dumpsters and pushed it past the open space, knocking the ring of rocks to the side. Once he parked his cart, he took her wagon and pulled it in too. It was tight, but all their stuff could be safely covered with the cardboard.

"But what about the fire?" Marianne asked.

"Even when the machines don't work this vent will keep us warm." He then stepped up to the dumpster on their left, opened the top and said, "Well Merry Christmas." Leaping up, he bent his waist over the dumpster and reached down lifting out six white pizza boxes and one white trash bag. Dragging his bounty inside, he motioned for Marianne to sit as he held the cardboard roof open for her. Once she was situated, he pulled the cardboard closing them in entirely except for a small opening to let in the light.

They both opened the boxes, grabbing several single pieces of pizza out of each of the first four boxes. The bottom two boxes were complete pizzas, so in all they had nearly three large pizzas with a wide assortment of toppings. Albert then opened the trash bag and found two half full large bottles of soda. Smiling he looked up to Marianne and said, "Well, three pizzas and some soda, how's that for a Christmas Eve Dinner?"

"Oh Albert, you do know how to show a girl a good time don't you?"

"Only for that special girl," he replied, blushing a bit.

They shared one of pizzas and set the other two outside to stay cold. Albert placed several rocks on the pizza boxes to discourage the rats and other pests from running off with their food. Together they sipped from one of the soda bottles, saving the other for later.

"The soda's nice, but some wine would have been better," Marianne said.

"Yes, a nice Chianti would be perfect," Albert replied sticking his nose up in the air.

They laughed a bit and then fell suddenly silent. For a few moments they just looked at each other, neither daring to move, somehow reluctant to take the chance to touch. Finally Albert reached his hand and brushed his fingers across her cheek, moving his hand down to her neck. Gently pulling her toward him as he tilted his head and they kissed, at first just lightly touching lips, then as his tongue touched her lips, she opened her mouth and kissed deeply.

As they kissed, Albert moved his hands down to her breasts, kneading them through her layers of clothes. Her breathing intensified as he squeezed her breasts and then moved his hands downwards to her pants. Unfastening them, he slipped his right hand in under her panties and slid his fingers down between her lips. Finding her pussy, he pushed his finger into her wet opening, as she raised her hips up to him.

She was breathing loudly now, moaning some as he moved his wet finger up to her clit and gently toyed with it. Shivering with excitement Marianne whispered, "Oh it's been so long since a man... oh yes, yes." He kissed her again as his fingers caressed her clit and then slid down to penetrate her again.

Reaching down to her pants, she began working them down her legs as Albert continued rubbing his finger over her clit. Her pants and panties were down at her ankles when she arched her back and moaned loudly. She then relaxed, letting her ass fall back down onto the mattress.

Moving his hand from her, Albert quickly unfastened his pants and pulled them down to his knees. Carefully moving over her, he kneeled between her open thighs, letting his legs, still constricted by his pants, drop slowly onto her ankles, still twisted up in her pants and panties. Leaning over her, he cold smell the moist, earthy scent of their sweat, dirt and sex, but ignored the stench.

She reached down and guided him into her as he gently moved his hips. He penetrated her as slowly and gently as he could bear. Finally, after several thrusts and withdrawals, he had worked himself deep into her. Now fully lubricated in her wetness, he began moving faster, arching his back and thrusting deep into her wet pussy. It was just moments before he felt the intense pleasure run through him and he thrust as deep as he could into her, spurting his warm cum inside her.

He remained on top of her, holding his cock inside her as long as he could. When it finally slid out, he rolled onto his back. Marianne kicked off her shoes and worked her legs out of her pants and then snuggled up beside him, placing one leg over his and pushing her pussy tight against his thigh. He then pulled his worn blanket over them. They fell asleep as their cum oozed out onto his thigh.

Albert woke up early on Christmas morning and quietly climbed out of their shelter and limped around the dumpster to take a piss. There was a small storm drain he used as a toilet which kept the place from stinking too bad. When he finished he happened to look at the dumpster and noticed something sticking out. He hadn't looked in this dumpster in several days, he had found the pizza in the other dumpster.

Not wanting to wake Marianne, he lifted up the top and saw it was completely filled with clothes. They weren't new, but were wrapped in the cleaners' plastic wrap and looked as if they had been just cleaned and pressed. He dug down through the clothes and found a heavy coat. Picking it up, he tore off the plastic and tried it on. It was a little big, but hell it was fine for him.

Digging further through the pile he found an attractive blue sweater and holding it up guessed it probably would fit Marianne. We walked over to the shelter and slowly pulled back the cardboard roof. Still under the covers, she rolled over onto her back and looked up at him.

Holding the sweater he said, "Merry Christmas."

"Where did you get that?" she asked, sitting up.

"I guess Santa comes to everyone. He dropped us off a dumpster load of clothes."

She kicked off the blanket, pulled on her pants and climbed out of the shelter. Looking into the dumpster began digging through the clothes shouting, "Look, here's some pants for you and yes, a jacket... a bit small." Climbing down from the dumpster she looked over to Albert and said, "We can keep what fits us and then sell the rest at the thrift store."

"Like I said, Merry Christmas."

"Oh Merry Christmas Albert, Merry Christmas," she said hugging him. "But I've got to pee," she said, letting go and dancing about.

"Right over there is a drain. I don't have anything to sit on, but it works okay," he said.

Albert climbed into the dumpster and started stacking the clothes out on the ground, glancing over at Marianne as she squatted over the storm drain. "Yes," he said to himself, "a very Merry Christmas."