'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...
Except for Cassie. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, putting the last piece of tape on a gift for one of the children. Her twenty-first Christmas. And the only one that she'd ever really put any effort into. Until now she'd been in a "family" environment where it was a big deal, but Cassie was somehow left out. Subtle things, but she was still standing on the other side of the glass with her face pressed up against it. And the two years after she'd left, well, she didn't have a family to even play pretend with. This year was different though. Suddenly she had a family. And it was one that actually cared about her. And somehow that seemed to make a difference. Christmas still wasn't really her thing, but the 25th of December wasn't as lonely, and not quite as terrible as it always had been.
But Cassie didn't just hate December 25th because she'd been left out. December 25th marked a far different type of anniversary. On December 25th, twenty-one years ago, Cassie's mother had finally succumbed to illness. Leaving Cassie alone in the care of her aunt and uncle, since her father was nowhere to be found at that time. And so, Cassie tended to dislike this day.
She remained on the bed for several more minutes, staring down at the gift, wrapped in shiny red paper with silver snowflakes, complete with silver ribbon. After a few more moments, she slipped off the bed, gathered a few other gifts, and headed out of her room and up the stairs to place them beneath the tree for the children to open in the morning. Then she headed back to her room, climbed into bed, and turned the lights out.
Except for Cassie. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, putting the last piece of tape on a gift for one of the children. Her twenty-first Christmas. And the only one that she'd ever really put any effort into. Until now she'd been in a "family" environment where it was a big deal, but Cassie was somehow left out. Subtle things, but she was still standing on the other side of the glass with her face pressed up against it. And the two years after she'd left, well, she didn't have a family to even play pretend with. This year was different though. Suddenly she had a family. And it was one that actually cared about her. And somehow that seemed to make a difference. Christmas still wasn't really her thing, but the 25th of December wasn't as lonely, and not quite as terrible as it always had been.
But Cassie didn't just hate December 25th because she'd been left out. December 25th marked a far different type of anniversary. On December 25th, twenty-one years ago, Cassie's mother had finally succumbed to illness. Leaving Cassie alone in the care of her aunt and uncle, since her father was nowhere to be found at that time. And so, Cassie tended to dislike this day.
She remained on the bed for several more minutes, staring down at the gift, wrapped in shiny red paper with silver snowflakes, complete with silver ribbon. After a few more moments, she slipped off the bed, gathered a few other gifts, and headed out of her room and up the stairs to place them beneath the tree for the children to open in the morning. Then she headed back to her room, climbed into bed, and turned the lights out.