Holiday Chaos #JustWriteIt #HolidayChaos

Christmas Chaos - Five

     Have you ever tried black licorice with avocado and beans mashed together? Since we have not cleared out our guest rooms(we have a very big house) and our relatives(mostly my dad's side) came earlier than expected, our families shared rooms.

     My mom suggested I take Brent, but thankfully, Aunt Maple argued that he couldn't sleep without his 'Mommy' and would sleep on the sofa. My mom and dad's bed was taken by Rachel and Holly, and I don't think Alexa was that keen to sleep with her granny, however nice she smelled.

     Alexa, having rejected all other rooms, would be sleeping on my bed while I slept on the floor with a pathetic sleeping bag. I wanted to protest, but since everybody was sacrificing their pride and awkwardness for some family reunion, I found that I couldn't.

     Alexa complained that she was scared of the dark when I settled down to sleep at eleven thirty, after binge watching my favorite shows. I though ten year olds have to sleep early?

     Apparently not, because Alexa was bursting with energy when I was yawning every second.

     "Look, Alexa," I tried to say. "I have to sleep, and so do you. We can't sleep with the lights on. And this is my room, so I get to control everything, okay?" Alexa rolled her eyes and took out something.

     "I wasn't planning on keeping the lights on," she sassed me, twirling her perfectly gross hair around a finger. "Only stupid people do that. I was talking about a night light, cousin." She pranced over to the nearest outlet and plugged the night light in.

     Immediately, the scent of vanilla filled the room, and pink and purple lights floated across the ceiling. Alexa snuggled down on my bed, cuddling with a princess doll. Oh my gosh, if she ever comes over to our house again, I'll wear a gas mask and call the Animal Control. But for now, she's a guest, and a cousin.

I lay face down on my sleeping bag, and groan silently. My dad has secretly told me that Alexa sometimes peed in her bed when she was scared and had a nightmare. Like, seriously? A ten year old peeing herself? I hoped he was kidding, but my mom confirmed it.

I tried to go to sleep, and when I was on the verge of sleep, Alexa made some kind of wheezing sound. You know how sometimes, when you breath through your nose, the air makes a whistling sound? Well it was happening now, and I was jerked awake.

I walked over to Alexa and pulled the covers up to her nose. Don't take it the wrong way; I was merely muffling her whistling sounds, not making sure she was warm and cozy.

     I finally got to rest in peace.

* * * *

     A splash of red rolled down the walls of the spare room.

     Alexa shrieked in a very high-pitched voice and used the roller to make sure it spread across the walls. We were painting the spare room with red and green. My mom told me to take Alexa along.

     I painted a little Christmas tree in the corner of the room. I guess you can call the spare room a arts and craft room, where we experiment things, and can do anything we want, like scribbles curse words on the wall with a Sharpie. Well, I couldn't visit any friends for a week after I did that, but you get the idea.

     But that meant that Alexa could also freely decorate the room. She had a bucket of shiny glitter which she insisted would look great with red and green. Even with the cherry pink lipstick stain on her teeth, I couldn't bring myself to say no. Besides, if I had refused, Alexa would've ran to her mom and would've gotten her way.

I flinched and ducked away as yet another bucket of pain was thrown against the wall. It was a good thing that the carpeted floors were covered with paper, or if the paint dried, it'd look like a murder scene.

I climbed up the little ladder with a bucket of green paint to paint the upper rim of the walls. Alexa set her glitter on the step I was on, next to the green paint. She sat down and started hand printing the walls with green.

Holly ventured in the room, meowing curiously. Brent wasn't allowed while we were painting, so I think that's why she came in. Smart cat.

Alexa giggled and spread her stained hands to Holly. She raced forward and tried to paint on Holly. The poor old cat yowled and scrambled around the papered floor, slipping and sliding on the paint. She lost control of her paws and skidded straight to my ladder. I didn't do anything, because Holly stopped six inches from the ladder.

Then Wham! Alexa rammed the ladder face-on without any hesitation. While I was falling, I saw Alexa and Holly in a tangle of limbs. Fur flew everywhere. The bucket of paint and glitter soared down in slow motion. I didn't see the buckets hitting the two bodies, but I heard the sickening thud.

     When I lifted my head, green paint was everywhere, including my clothes. Shiny glitter were still flying everywhere, but most had stuck to the green paint covering Alexa and Holly. Alexa seemed like she was dunked in a green paint factory, and Holly looked like she had been drizzled with paint. Each had clumps of glitter.

     Adults who heard the crash stumbled in the room, gasping. Alexa stared at her mom and wailed. Holly ran out of the room, through people's legs, and somewhere out of sight.

     "Lexie!" Alexa's mom, Wilma shrieked. "Are you alright?"

     "Mom!" Alexa cried, sitting pathetically on the puddle of green stuff. "I wanna go home!" Aunt Wilma screamed to nobody in particular to go grab napkins. Nobody paid attention to me splayed like a dead frog on the floor. My head rang, and my breath had been driven out of me.

     At last, my mom took notice of me, and said, "What happened, Matt?"

     "Alexa rammed in to the ladder with paint, glitter, and me on it," I tattled, drawing a breath every few words. My arms and legs hurt, and I'm sure that I'll have bruises.

     "Don't be stupid," Aunt Wilma scolded, helping Alexa up with a jewelry covered hand. "Alexa wouldn't do something like that. My guess is that you accidentally tipped the ladder, and Alexa, who was sitting calmly and ladylike, got splattered." I had to suppress a scoff. Yeah right. I've never pegged Aunt Wilma as the innocent, pampering type. Maybe it was because I haven't seen her in front of Alexa.

     My dad walked in the room, dabbing the paper towels on Alexa's hair. "I'm so sorry, Wilma. Why don't you take Alexa to the bathroom? Take a shower and wash all that green off." Why should my dad be the sorry one? Alexa did it, so she paid the price.

Rachel stormed in the spare room, fuming. "You are all selfish brats!" she screamed. "All you care about is you and your children. I'm leaving. Enjoy your crazy Christmas." She snatched her purse from the living room and called Holly.

Holly, shiny and glittering, had picked up confetti and dust from her hiding spot. She eagerly followed Rachel out the front door. My grandma slammed the door behind her. The slam echoed in the house, and everybody stared at the door.

"Well, I think we've had a crazy day," my mom said after a minute. "Why don't we all settle down for a few days without any family conflict, and on Christmas Eve, we'll start to talk again."

My aunts agreed, thinking it was best for us to stay on our own paths. I thought it was great. Alexa won't have to bother me anymore, until Christmas Eve. I'm cool with that.

So on December 17th, our dear old granny threw a fit and ran off because her cat was painted by a ten year old, and our family was split until Christmas Eve.