Christmas Connection

Dawn

The sky outside was obsidian, and frankly that was it. There was no luminous moon or any stars glistening in the sky. It was just pitched black, to the point where you can't even see any signs of life in the suburban streets, even though it was several meters away. There was also no sound at all, not even a slight humming of the cold, harsh wind. In a way, it was like the end of the world, or at least that's what I'd imagined it to be. Dark, ominous, eerie and desolated. With this sight in front of me, I could not help but be dour and wished that I'd never woken up. I should have gone back to sleep and kept my eyes shut. Then again how would it be any different to what I was seeing now. After all, the sight behind your eyelids is pitch black, as if it was any different from the sight in front of me. Well... apart from your body succumbing to the inevitability of drifting into the REM cycle. Either way that was not happening any time soon, knowing that once I get up, I won't be able to sleep for another ten hours.

Stretching my arms, and shaking my head, I glanced at the alarm clock beside my bed. Three minutes till six-twenty. And the sky's still dark. Yeah, that's pretty normal during December in Sweden. Doesn't mean that I like it, as a matter of fact it makes me miserable for most of the time. Fortunately, December means Christmas and Christmas means spending time with family, opening presents, overeating rich high-calorie food and binge watching Christmas movies. It may seem rather cliché how Christmas makes everything better, but I really enjoy it. Every aspect of it, especially when I get to see my cousins and other relatives. They make everything so much better. I love them, and Christmas is just another excuse for us to get together and hang-out. There is nothing better than that. Coming from an eighteen year-old, that is saying something.

However, this Christmas was going to be different from any other Christmases so far, because of the pandemic. Though it is already the second-year with the pandemic, last Christmas didn't count because of Sweden's great management of the situation, which allowed everyone in the country to have a safe Christmas. This year was different for a number of reasons, aside from the omicron variant suddenly spreading everywhere in the world. My parents, who both work for a multinational company, went on a business trip to Romania and they were tested positive for Covid before their flight. Therefore, they won't be able to come back and spend Christmas with me. As for my other relatives, they live on the other side of the country and they don't want to risk their health and safety by travelling to Stockholm to visit me, since the government only allows one to travel if it is necessary. Meaning that for the first time ever I will be spending Christmas alone.

Despite it still being early in the morning, I found myself rushing down the stairs to the living room, expecting presents. Except that there was nothing there, only a dull Christmas tree without ornaments. I sighed, realizing that this was not a typical Christmas with other members of the family. I still can't help but feel a bit upset that not one of my relatives even bothered to send me a Christmas present by mail. With nothing else to do I found myself walking into the kitchen, grabbed the remnants of leftover cookies in the cupboard and ate it, even though it was stale and as hard as a rock. I should not be feeling this way though, after all it was Christmas and I should be jolly and ready to burst out into a song, yet something in me prevented me from doing it. I should know better, I mean it's not like I have any friends at school anyway so why should spending Christmas by myself be any different. With that thought, I was determined to make the most out of this day. All by myself.

An hour and half later, I found myself watching the credits of a random Christmas movie I found on YouTube. Honestly, the movie was cute, but very cringey and that's coming from a guy who's favorite movie is Frozen. In my defense, it won an Oscar and it is about women empowerment and finding yourself. From Elsa finding confidence in herself to embrace her powers after it got revealed and her finally freeing the country from an eternal winter. And let's not forget how Anna decides to take charge and bring her sister home to get rid of the curse and finally punching Hans in the face after he used her. Talk about personal development. That's enough of my rant. I still was not pleased with myself and my emotions today. With my limited life skills and my inner need to spend Christmas with someone, I decided to be brave and take a step into the world of social networking.