Never Had Christmas √

CHAPTER 5

December 18

At breakfast the next morning, Dad was engrossed in his monthly bills, his brow furrowed with concern. "Where does the time go?" he mused, running a hand through his hair.

"It's already December eighteenth," I remarked absentmindedly, then added without thinking, "Six days to Christmas."

Dad looked up sharply. "Six what?" he inquired.

I froze, my heart racing. "Huh?"

"You said six what?" he repeated, his gaze fixed on me.

"You think I said 'six'?" I chuckled nervously, trying to think on my feet. "I didn't say 'six,' wow, must have misheard." I laughed too loudly, hoping to divert attention.

Mumbling something about not celebrating Christmas, I hurriedly finished feeding Brea by the time Dad left for work. As soon as I heard his car pull away, I decided to investigate the mystery. Taking Brea with me, I headed to Dad's room, but the door was locked. Disappointed, I returned to the living room, settling on the couch with Bea while she played with her toys.

Just as I was nearly bored to tears, a knock sounded at the door. Rushing to answer, I found Joanna and Noah, our next-door neighbors—a welcome distraction.

"Hey, Kali," Joanna greeted, tossing back her long black hair.

"Hey Joanna," I replied shyly. "Come in."

They entered and settled on the couch as I closed the door behind them.

"I thought you guys already decorated for Christmas," Noah remarked.

"We... don't celebrate Christmas," I admitted nervously, taking a seat beside Joanna.

"Why not?" Joanna inquired, cradling Brea.

"Oh, you know, my parents just aren't into it," I stammered, feeling uneasy under their scrutiny.

They exchanged a glance. "Well, we could watch movies instead," Noah suggested.

"What kind?" Joanna asked.

"How about horror movies?"

"Don't even think about it!" she exclaimed.

"Okay, what do you have then?" Noah pressed.

I hesitated. "We don't have any movies," I confessed. "My parents packed them all away in the basement, and we haven't bothered to bring them back out."

"Weird," Noah muttered.

"You could go get some from there, and after we're done, you can return them," Joanna suggested.

"Yes," added Noah.

I shrugged. "What's the point of bringing those CDs when we can watch movies here on TV stations?" They both stared at me blankly.

"I prefer the movie CDs," Joanna added.

We ventured into the dusty basement, leaving Noah and Brea in the living room. The basement was filled with various items, making it difficult to locate the CDs. Coughing from the particles in the air, I wondered why my parents still kept so much unused stuff down there. Among the shoes, clothes, and appliances, we finally found a promising carton buried in the middle of the others we had opened. Joanna eagerly began selecting the ones she liked.

"Don't tell me you're planning to watch all of those," I laughed.

"Hmm...not really, but some of them," she replied, holding five-CD packs in her hand.

She walked up the stairs to the living room while I closed the cartons.

"Come on, Jeffrey, let's go," I said, closing the last carton. We ascended the stairs, almost reaching the top when Jeffrey spotted a mouse underneath and started barking, scattering some of the already arranged cartons.

"Come on, boy, sit...there you go," I said to Jeffrey, who eventually stopped barking.

After grooming Jeffrey a bit, I began to tidy up the scattered cartons.

"What a mess you've caused," I said to Jeffrey as I arranged the cartons.

As I was closing the last carton, I noticed it was filled with photos, newspapers, and greeting cards. I opened it, finding several photos of the woman I had seen in the picture my dad took from me. This time, it was only the woman in the photo. At the back of one of the photos was a handwritten note:

My lovely mom was found missing on Tuesday, December 25th, 2015. Please, if you see this woman anywhere, call this number

"Missing," I whispered, rummaging through the carton once more, pouring out all its contents.