Winter's Bliss

Chapter 1ne

1

Chrisember stood in front of the open doors leading to her closet, her wet blonde hair sticking to the tan skin on her back. She tapped her index finger on her chin, squinting her eyes in thought, she wanted to wear something comfortable with a Christmas spark to it. Chrisember loved Christmas, heck she loved winter even more. The two, Christmas and winter, were inseparable in her eyes, she couldn't think of one without the other. In the other seasons, she longed for winter. She longed for the cold snow to kiss her nose, the wind to touch her cheeks, the endless oasis of white outside. She longed for a warm cup of hot chocolate, the joy of spending time with her family, the delicious food that was served along the holidays. She longed for the gushy romantic movies that always aired on the hallmark channel, the feeling of love emerged around this time more than Valentine's day. When winter finally hit, Chrisember felt her body jolted with electricity. She felt her heart pumping for the first time in all the year, she felt alive. And just in two weeks from now, at the moment Chrisember is standing here deciding on her outfit, Christmas will arrive. She beamed at the thought, her cheeks growing like a wild fire. The fire spread deeper into the forest of her face as she found her outfit. She kneeled on her knees and pulled out the bottom of her dresser drawer, dug out a pair of thick black leggings. She stood and shimmied them on then began skinning the rack of shirts she had to offer, the screech of the hangers sliding against the rod making her cringe a little. Her blue eyes moving as though she was reading a book, her eyes stopped on a lovely sweater that held a white snowy scenery behind two red Cardinals as though it was embroidered. Cardinals held a special place in her heart, not only were they The bird for Christmas but they were also her Grandmother's favorite and that is why this particular sweater was one of her favourites. She took it off its hanger and pulled it on, making her wet hair disperse into many different directions. She sighed and walked out of her room into the bathroom across the hallway, her little brother stood on a stool brushing his teeth. When he saw her walking around him to get her hairbrush he smiled, toothpaste dripping down his chin onto his shirt. "Good morning, Gabriel." Chrisember greeted her toothy brother. He turned to spit out the rest of the toothpaste that hadn't escaped his mouth and said, "Hiya, Chrissy."

Chrissy. That was the family nickname for her. It all started recently when Gabriel was two years old. He couldn't say Chrisember's full name and called her Chrissy. It stuck. "You know what day it is?" Gabriel shouted.

"No, what?" She teased. Of course she knew what day it was, it was the day when her family; Mom, Dad, Ally, Gabriel, and her went to the Christmas Tree Farm. They were going to set up the tree tonight and listen to Christmas music with delicious hot chocolate and warm, homemade chili. It was one of Chrisember's favorite days.

"It's Linda's Christmas party!" Then there was that. Linda was a family friend who just recently decided to hold an annual Christmas party, on Chrisember's favorite day. Well, she couldn't be too mad, who doesn't love a party? Especially when it was Christmas themed. Chrisember smiled at her little brother and began to brush her hair, it was starting to tangle.

"You know what else?" She huffed.

"What?" Gabriel whispered, like he was in on a big secret.

"We're going to pick out a Christmas tree!"

"Oh." Gabriel looked down and somberly stepped down from his stool. Chrisember stopped taming her hair, her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to go..." he shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I never get to pick out the tree." She could hear him frowning. He was right, Chrisember always chose the tree. She set down her brush and kneeled in front of her brother, she tucked her hand under his chin and lifted it. His eyes were glossy from crying and his cheeks were flushed a bright blood red. She felt bad and frowned at her little brother, "Tell you what." She told him. He looked at her in anticipation, "Why don't you pick out the tree?"