Coming to Town

Go ahead, open it, Santa said.

   My mommy and daddy wouldn’t get out of bed. I shook them for a minute then gave up and ran downstairs to shake my presents instead. Try to guess what was in them. When I got downstairs I froze. Santa! He was sitting on the armchair beside our tree, a crooked old smile across his lips. It was early in the morning and still dark. The light of the Christmas tree dimly lit the room. He told me to come sit on his lap and I did. I asked him why he was so skinny and he told me it was because during the Christmas season he was too busy to eat. His beard was white and scraggly, and his suit was old and stained, but I didn't care, Santa had taken time out of his busiest night to spend some time with me. His eyes seemed cold and clear and distant, but I knew it was because he must be tired from working so hard. I asked him where the reindeer were but he ignored me and gave me. present to open.

Go ahead! He said again.

   I excitedly ripped off the wrapping paper. Cuddle-Me Kevo! The toy I had been hoping for during what seemed like an eternity of the few weeks before Christmas. I opened the box. Cuddle-Me Kevo was pink… what I saw in the box was brown hair. I pulled it out. The eyes of my mother’s severed head looked at me with a frozen glassy stare. It was strange, it seemed I had forgotten how to scream and how to move, and I just looked at the head then looked at Santa. He had produced a knife and he stood over me. I curled up and felt the blade pierce through me again and again and again.