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Chapter 2~ Christmas Eve Eve
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All mornings in December would start with a quick glance out the window and a quiet hopefulness for a fresh blanket of snow. Kit could barely tell the difference in snow from yesterday morning to today. She pulled the satin curtain aside just a bit more to reveal more of the thickly-coated sidewalks and steps. Footprint trails were marked deep in the snow—the only evidence of the early risers. The window was cloudy with frost. She traced her fingers along the beautiful designs and watched the sun begin peaking over the rooftops. Soon all the frost would be melted away, only to return later that night. At night…
She thought to herself and the obvious thought fell on her. Today was Christmas Eve.
Kit pulled her white snowman robe around herself and walked the cold hallway floors to the kitchen. Her mom would be celebrating, no doubt. Every year for Christmas Eve, she’d make waffles and eggs for the family and have the festive music blasting for all of New York to hear. Kit pulled back her long-bobbed reddish-brown hair from her robe and shook out any sleepy tangles. Her stomach rumbled in anticipation. Why didn’t it smell like waffles?
She entered their small kitchen with Charlie not too far behind. Everything was clean…There was no mess from the batter or flour dusting the whole counter. There wasn’t even a waffle to speak of. There was only her mom, pouring coffee and scrolling through her phone. She stopped halfway in the kitchen and her heart fell. Her mom looked up and smiled.
“Oh, ‘mornin, Kit-Kat. How did you sleep?”
She looked around. Was she making something else?
“Okay, I guess,” Kit said, scratching her neck. Should I say something? She always makes waffles.
“Mom,” She started again. Her mom looked back up. “What about breakfast?”
She smiled and brushed her question aside.
“That’s for tomorrow, silly.” Kit fell silent as Charlie came in from his bedroom. It didn’t take long for him to notice the lack of festivities, too. He sat at the dining room table and put on his glasses.
“Hun, I would’ve expected you to be Christmas crazy this morning,” he remarked. She chuckled and took a sip from her mug.
“I will be tomorrow.” Kit soon settled with the reality that Christmas Eve would be more relaxed than their others. She tried not to think so much on the matter and made herself a cup of coffee to her liking. She wasn’t a huge coffee fanatic. She preferred hot cocoa. Charlie turned on the news from the living room and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Kit went ahead to start her own breakfast. She knew both her mom and dad would be home today, so she asked if they’d want something too.
“That’s so sweet, Kit, but I’ve gotta head off to work soon. Your dad should be getting ready, too.” Kit narrowed her brow. She poured more cooking oil in the frying pan and took out eggs from the fridge.
“You’re going to work today?”
“Yeah, but I’ll be off for Christmas Eve.”
She stopped pouring oil and looked back at her. “Um, Mom, today is Christmas Eve.” The older woman narrowed her brow and checked her phone quickly.
“No, hun, that’s tomorrow.” Kit didn’t say much at first but crossed to the dining room table to retrieve her phone. The screen reflected the time 7:49. Right under, it read “December 23”. What?
She quickly pulled up time zones to check. But, it was all correct. It was December 23rd, the day before Christmas Eve.
“Kit?” called Charlie from the living room. She looked up at her mom who continued her quiet morning routine like nothing was different.
“Oh, Charlie,” she said, “we should run by the store after work today. I have a few things to pick up for tomorrow morning.” But, he didn’t reply with a thing but “Kit? Come here, please.” Kit gripped her phone close to her and calmly approached Charlie on the couch. He was sitting on the edge of the seat, flipping through all the news channels.
“Yeah, Dad?”
He didn’t look at her but kept a locked gaze on the television screen. “What’s the date today, honey?” He was nervous or getting there, at least. He clicked ferociously on the buttons, never staying on one channel for too long.
“My phone says it’s December 23rd.” He stopped, set down the remote, and turned to Kit. There was something new in his eyes. Something she hadn’t seen much of before. His voice was darker, graver.
“Kit, what’s the date?” She couldn’t answer. She was too confused, too scared. Something was going on. Her mouth fell open a bit but the room was quiet. The buzz of the news behind them filled the empty space. Charlie ducked his head and slipped his glasses from his face. Kit’s mom rounded the corner, her purse in one hand and car keys and a travel mug in the other.
“Okay, I gotta run, you two. Please be good. I’ll be back around five before we run to the store.” She planted a kiss on her cheek and hugged her dad around the neck. She paused and looked at both of them.
“Don’t act so sad. Remember, Christmas is coming. Scott is watching.” She chuckled to herself and left the apartment.
The two were quiet—silent, actually. A buzzing was filling Kit’s ears. Maybe it was the blood. Maybe it was just the television. But, Charlie rose to his feet and crossed to the dining table.
“Dad…”
“What kind of joke is this?”
“What’s going on?”
He ran a stressed hand through his hair and fit on his glasses again. “I don’t know, Kit.”
“But, yesterday was the 23rd. We went to the store. We saw that cookie.” She suddenly remembered and thought back to the burn on her tongue. But, now, it wasn’t there. Charlie hurried to the kitchen and opened the pantry to where they had put the cookie last night. No cookie was there.
“What is this…?” he whispered to himself. He faced her again. “Why doesn’t your mom know, too?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why is it only us that remembers it?”
“I don’t know!”
They both stood blankly in the apartment, afraid to move a muscle or things might change again. It was supposed to be Christmas Eve. Why wasn’t it Christmas Eve? Her dad was deep in thought before finally shaking out of it and nodding to himself.
“What? What is it?” she asked.
“Come with me.” With that, he marched off to her parent’s bedroom. Kit followed behind. Charlie opened his closet door and dug through a large chest that’d been left there when the family first moved in.
“Where is it…where is—there! Ha!” When he returned, he had a glass orb in his hands.393Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQui8m3R3z
“What is…”
“It’s a snow globe. A long, long time ago, when I was a kid, Bernard gave me this so I can always have a way to reach my dad.” She admired the snow globe for a second. It looked quite similar to her own with the sparkle of snow dusting the glass to the almost life-like world contained inside. But, this depicted a collection of snowy houses and Santa’s sleigh gliding through the night sky. She watched Charlie gaze down at the beautiful memorabilia, eyes wide and childlike once again.
“Are you proposing we summon Grandpa? Here and now?”
“I don’t know what else to do!” he shot back, eyes flicking back and forth from her to the globe.
“He’s in the middle of Christmas right now, Dad. He might not be affected from this like we are. Besides, you have no idea if that even works.” Then, he smiled just slightly and gazed down at it again. She thought of her own snow globe sitting on her nightstand, rejected but never quite forgotten.
“Oh, it works…” With both hands, he rose the snow globe over his head, squeezed his eyes shut tight, and shook it. Nothing happened for several seconds. Charlie slowly opened his eyes again and looked around the bedroom as if Grandpa would form from thin air. He let his arms fall to his sides. She crossed her arms and sat on the neatly-made bed.
“I told you. There’s just no way they’d have time for us right now. We have to figure this out ourselves.” Charlie took the snow globe up again and shook it, more harshly this time. But, there was only silence. He finally sat next to her and let the globe fall in his lap. She stared out the bedroom window for a few more moments. What could possibly be going on? Was this just a vivid dream? She was familiar with magic and how it worked in all walks of Legendary Figures. This, however, was unheard of. They couldn’t fix it alone. And as every second passed, Kit could feel a deep dread settling in her stomach. What if they couldn’t ever fix it?
The sun still rose gradually over the rooftops. And as it fully revealed itself, she was blinded by the light. She blinked back the pain and squinted. The light dimmed suddenly. Something was blocking it—the sun! She stood and approached the window.
“Kit, what…” Her dad began. But, both of them fell into hushed breaths. The object grew bigger and bigger, closer and closer. Then, there it was at the window.
“Dad!”
“Grandpa…?”
And there he was, floating through the sky in a small carriage, pulled by two flying reindeer. Her grandpa smiled side through his heavy white beard and rosy cheeks. He wore a thick green tunic and evergreen robe that’s been embellished in gold and rubies. His bright blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight and brought out new hope in each of them. Quickly, Kit raced to unlatch the window and lift up the panel. A rush of cold winter wind burst through. She tightened the robe around her chest.
“Dad, you came!” Charlie called from the window.
“Of course I did, Charlie! You know how that thing works. It’s much quicker than text messages, too!” Grandpa erupted in a great laugh the shook the bells on his flying carriage. “Hello there, my favorite granddaughter!”
She smiled and something warm erupted in her chest. “Your only granddaughter! Hi, Grandpa!”
He grinned back sweetly and waved through a mittened hand. “Now,” he continued, “I think we have a situation here, now, don’t we?”
“Wait,” she said, “you know what’s going on?”
Grandpa chuckled. “Well, yeah, I am Santa Claus, aren’t I? I see everything.”
“Do you have any idea what’s happening, Dad? Hannah believes it’s still December 23rd. In fact, everyone believes that.”
Grandpa shook his head and looked out across the neighborhood. “No, I can’t say I do know. But, this is a very dangerous situation for all of us and has the potential to not just destroy Christmas but time as we know it. We could feel the effects of it on our workshop this morning.”
“What are we going to do?” Charlie called out through the whistling wind.
“We don’t know yet. But, you two can’t stay here anymore. We need to get back to the workshop. I’ve already been gone too long.” Charlie and Kit shared a look. She knew exactly how he felt about leaving Mom there. But, Grandpa was right. They’d be of much better use back at the North Pole—back home.
“Come on,” he called out, “Get in quickly. I’ll have the elves come retrieve your things for you.” Charlie began climbing through the window and over to the carriage.
“Wait!” Kit said and ran back down the hallway of our apartment and back to her bedroom. She slipped on a pair of thick boots and a scarf. But, there was only one thing precious enough she couldn’t leave. Kit snatched the snow globe and tucked it safely in the pocket of her robe before rejoining them at the window. After Charlie had safely boarded the carriage, she was helped into the rear seat. She quickly shut the window again and held on for dear life.
“Okay, folks,” Grandpa began, “I will please thank you to keep both hands inside the vehicle. And don’t forget to hold on!” With that, he cracked the reigns of the reindeer and the three of them shot up through the sky.
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