“Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.” Well, in her house, Kandy was the only one stirring. She was wide-awake because of back pain and trying to ignore it by surfing online. Her two dogs and her husband Mathew were sound asleep down the hall.

Christmas Eve is a time to spend with family, however this year; due to the economy they’d spend it by themselves. The plans were to make the best of things, sleep late, and have the traditional holiday meal.

She smirked when she remembered her husband’s remark, “Honey, this meal is guaranteed to spice up our life and expand our waistlines.”

She blushed, frowned and replied, “For your information, my waistline doesn’t need any more expansion, it need more reduction.”

She logged off the computer and went to sit in the living room and watch the twinkling lights of their festive Christmas tree, and the decorations placed around the room. All of it usually cheered her up.

After an hour or so she frowned and grumbled, “Why am I feeling so blue right now?”

Maybe it was because, up until this year, they’d spent this time of year with the kids. The house was always full of children’s laughter, great food, homemade candy, a variety of gifts, and the harmonious sounds of Christmas carols serenading through the air.

She placed her head in her hands and whispered, “Baahumbug! I need something special to happen to me, to rekindle my joyous Christmas spirit.” She giggled and smirked, “Like that’s going to happen.”

She decided to head into the kitchen and see what was good to eat in the refrigerator. Once there, she spotted some eggnog made with rum, poured a cup, and then grabbed the rum and added a bit more to the mix. After all maybe it would warm up her spirit.

She waltzed back into the living room, over to the sofa, and pulled back the curtain to see if it was snowing yet. All she could see was Jack Frost’s handiwork covering the windows, making the streetlight glow with a refracted halo. After scraping some of the ice away she could see big puffy snowflakes coming down. There was about an inch on the ground, its pristine whiteness was enchanting. The many colored lights of the neighborhood reflected against the snow in a holiday spectrum of colors. For a moment she forgot about being depressed this Christmas Eve.

She finished the eggnog and decided to go back to bed. She soon fell asleep, probably due to the liquor.

All of a sudden she was awakened by a something, not sure what it was, she listened closely, and it appeared to be a sound coming from the den. Since she was still groggy, she thought it might be the dogs chasing one of their toys across the floor. Then she froze, because they were in the kennel and their toys were in another room. She wanted to wake up her husband and make him go check things out but knew the only thing that could do that was a lightning strike.

She bit her lip, cursed under her breath, slithered out of bed, and put on her robe. She decided not to turn the bedside light on; because she was shaking so much with fear she might knock it off the table and onto the floor. With her beating heartbeat echoing in her ears like a base drum, she crept toward the bedroom door. Her toe found it first and she covered her mouth to stifle a scream, but nothing came out, she was too afraid to mutter anything.

She peaked around the door in attempt to see what the noise was and didn’t see anything. She eased out, walking cautiously toward the den, shaking so much she thought she’d pass out with each step she took. About halfway through that room, she could see into the living room. To her surprise, there in front of the Christmas tree was an intruder.

She shook her head, because for a moment she thought she’d seen someone in a red Santa suit. Surely, this could not be, maybe the rum was playing tricks with her head. She decided to get a closer look and slowly crept towards the figure, thinking to herself; “If this is Santa, I want to make sure and see him eye-to-eye.”

However the closer she got, the more puzzled she became. She noticed it was a jolly ole man; the curves were all in the wrong places.

She mustered her courage and asked, “Who in the hell are you? Isn’t it supposed to be a jolly fat man who comes down the chimney and stands by my tree on Christmas Eve, as if I believed in such?”

The intruder screamed like a woman. “Oh my, you scared me!”

“I scared you? Lady this is my house!”

The woman asked, “Isn’t this 410 Greenville rd, Brentwood Tennessee?”

Kandy was even more confused than before but answered, “Yes, why you asking?”

“I have strict orders from St. Nick himself to be here in your house under your tree tonight.