Christmas Play

December 1

Harry flew out of bed the second the alarm went off. He didn't care that it was mearly morning, he was so excited!

He made himself a cup of coffee after he dressed warmly. It was still dark outside, so he had to wait to get up on the ladder, but he could still start the decorations of the front yard.

He had bought his house three years ago, and in his neighbourhood, they held a yearly competition of the best Christmas decorations. The first year, he had no idea what was going on. Last year, Glady's across the street beat him to it, but since then, he had upgraded his Christmas decor. This was his year to win!

There were rules to the competition. No one who wished to enter could start decorating their lawns before the 1 of December. You could win different categories as in best light show, best roof decorations, best inflatables, best flower arrangements, and the grand price, best wholesome Christmas decorations.

They could put up different categories on each Sunday oeading up to Christmas, giving the committee the chance to view it all separately. It was a crazy neighbourhood, but he absolutely loved it.

He glanced out the kitchen window while he drank his coffee, just to see that Glady's was already out there with her husband Glenn, hanging lights like their lives depended on it. It wasn't a winning competition in the sense of who was first, but there was a lot of pride to it. Gladys and Glenn already had an advantage of being two people, even if they were over eighty years old.

Harry hurried to drink his coffee and headed out and opened his garage where he had prepared his decorations in different boxes for the different days. He immediately found the boxes with the Christmas lights and opened them up. They were also categorised by placement. He decided to start with the house after all and grabbed the ladder.

Gladys came running over from across the street.
"Good morning, Harry."

"Good morning, Gladys. I hope you and Glenn are well?" Harry greeted.

"Oh, Glenn's arthritis can't stop him at a time like this. We got up at three!" Gladys grinned.

"I will remember that for next Sunday." Harry winked.

"Oh, I saw that your new neighbour moved in yesterday. Handsome young man!" Gladys said and squeezed his arm excitedly.

"Uhm, yeah. I haven't met him yet." Harry said. He had been spying behind the bedroom curtains all day. The guy was gorgeous.

"You will. We neighbours stick together. I better get back to Glenn." Gladys smiled and walked away.

Harry glanced at the house next to him. It was dark. His new neighbour was probably sleeping. He placed the ladder against the wall of the house and fetched the box with the first couple of Christmas lights. He had attached hooks last Christmas all around the house, so now he just had to hang them all.

He started at the front of the house since that was what people first saw. He had chosen the colour, size, and shape of the lights meticulously.

It took him about ten minutes to hang them all and continued to the side of the house facing his new neighbour. He placed the ladder and started climbing, but he must have placed it in an icy spot because before he could react, the ladder started slipping. He screamed as he hit the ground.

He got away with some definite bruises and stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. Suddenly, his new neighbour came running out in his robe.
"What hell is going on? It's four in the morning!" He shouted.

"I'm sorry. I fell from the ladder. I'm okay. I'm just putting up my Christmas lights!" Harry shouted back, feeling a bit embarrassed.

The neighbour walked up to him. He looked angry
"It's four in the morning! People are trying to sleep, and with people, I mean me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Welcome to the neighbourhood! We have an annual Christmas competition here. Best Christmas lights are one category. I'm trying to get a heads start." Harry tried to explain.

"A competition?" The man questioned, looking at him as if he was crazy.

"Yeah. I think Marvin put a note in your mailbox about it. He said he would." Harry said.

"Who the fuck is Marvin?" The man growled.

Geez. His new neighbour was feisty.
"Your neighbour on the other side. Look, he's putting up his Christmas lights as well!" Harry smiled.

The man looked around at the houses. Almost everyone was out putting up Christmas lights.
"Insane." He muttered.

"It's fun! I'm trying to win this year!" Harry grinned.

The man glared at him.
"We'll see about that."

His neighbour stomped back to his house and slammed the door behind him. Harry shrugged his shoulders and continued to hang his Christmas lights without any further mishapppening. At nine, his neighbour came out again and drove away. An hour later, he returned and unloaded his car. Harry gasped. He had bought tons of Christmas lights! Was He trying to win over him? He couldn't have that!

Harry placed Christmas lights in every tree and bush on his property while he glanced at his new neighbour putting up his lights. Damn it! They looked cool. Harry had to rethink his decorations this year. He hurried to the store to buy some more.