St. Patrick's Day ~ From a Vampire's Perspective

As the people of Chicago dye the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day, somewhere next to the river is Tremayne Towers, where the master vampire stands looking down upon it all, hands to slim hips and shakes his head uncomprehending it all.

"I'll never understand the Irish," Tremayne says to the man standing next to him. The man is six foot tall, but not quite as tall as Tremayne, who is seven feet tall.

"Don't even attempt it," says the man who has chosen a light green shirt beneath a darker green suit coat and a tie with shamrocks splashed all over it for the day. He doesn't normally have an Irish brogue, but today he has adopted one.

"Go, my friend. Take your people and enjoy the day," Tremayne says, clapping him on the shoulder.

"My people thank you," the man in green smiles and as he turns away adds, "May the sun not find you, today."

Tremayne smirks over his shoulder at the elf, and then turns back over the balcony, in the shadow of the North Tower, which is well out of the sun. He is the only vampire awake at this hour of the morning, merely because he needs no sleep because of his age. He has allowed the elves who runs the hospital and Sanguine Team of Tremayne Towers the whole day off. The rest of his staff on the north side, will take half the day off, and a swing shift to watch the monitors. He knows the day is one of celebration, but whatever reason people would want to drink green beer and consume the corned beef, is beyond him. They are Irish for the day. He could never pretend to be, nor would he want to. He will not admit to himself that he has done this out of niggling guilt for his human life where he had many times invaded the little green island on many occasions as a Viking is the reason he allows them all a day off, if they are fully Irish, as the elves surely are.

So it is with the master vampire, the magnate of the eastern half of the United States.

Sixty miles away, Sabrina Strong is celebrating in her own way, visiting her sister-in-law, Constance, in her shop, which is brimming with green--everything from green quilts to green teddy bears, and considers putting a shot of Bailey's in the hazelnut coffee Constance has in the back room. Vampires are not a thought for her today. Thankfully the big vampire Mogul has not called her in today, and she relishes the idea of having the whole day off, joining her brother, Randy, his wife Constance, and their two little girls later for dinner. But she will most likely not be wearing a silly green hat, and thinks about the real leprechaun she knows, Rick, and wonders what he might be doing today. She can envision him seated on his stool in Tom's Tavern, drinking a taker of ale, and wonders if it is tinted green, or if he'd rather it not be.

The thought is fleeting as a patron enters the store and she hears Constance's voice trill, filled with excitement. The sound of cheer and laughter pulls her away from the counter, and the Bailey's. Maybe later she'll consider drinking green beer with her brother, while he puts on the video of "The Quiet Man", and enjoy the corned beef Constance will have made.