Home Alonely Christmas (Holiday Story Exchange)

Christmas Eve Day

"Just one more day." I stretched under the covers deciding whether I wanted to get out of bed or not. Mom, Dad, Heather and I were leaving for Papa Dave's house this morning. Out of all my grandparents, he was my favorite. Papa Dave would take me into his study and tell me stories about being in the war and getting into bar fights while stationed in Germany. Every story he told was done so in such an expressive way, I always felt like I was there with him, reliving his great adventures. But that was our little secret, if mom and dad had known about the stories he told, Grandpa would never hear the end of it.

After a heavy sigh, I rolled out of bed and onto my feet. As much as I didn't want to help them load up the car, I knew that would only get us to Papa Dave's sooner. "Mom...Dad!" The house was silent, except for the sound of my pet mouse Theo running in his wheel.

"Mom!" Nothing but silence as I made my way down the stairs, assuming they must already be in the garage, probably waiting on me.

When I finally reached the garage and opened the door, I quickly realized the car was gone. Where on earth was everybody?! Don't tell me they went to Papa Dave's without me...

I ran to the front door, opened it and screamed, "Mom! Dad! Where are you guys?" But it was useless...they were gone, and all I heard was the sound of birds chirping in the yard.

It seems I'm all alone...now what?

For the first few minutes, I was paralyzed with fear. How is a 12 year old supposed to handle being all alone. I barely know how to make a grilled cheese for gosh sakes...and what about burglars. What would Papa Dave do?

Eventually I buck up realizing I'm the man of the house now. I need to make my grandfather proud...and if anybody's responsible for protecting the house it's me. So with that in mind, I started brainstorming ideas...that is, until I laid eyes on the Christmas tree.

"Woohoo!" I shrieked in childish glee. "I wonder if all these gifts are really for me?!"

With that I started tearing through the enormous pile of gifts under the tree, looking at all the nametags. "Nate...Nate...Mom...Nate...Dad...Nate...Theo... Since when do mice get Christmas gifts?

Realizing most of these gifts are for me and being the only one here, I start tearing into all of them...revealing an electric train, a set of pajamas, some lady's perfume, a new toboggan, a swiss army knife, and...some mouse pellets. I definitely rolled my eyes at that last one there before I finally hit the motherload...a Nintendo, complete with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. "Yes!"

The first thing I did was grab my new game system and run into the living room. I was officially the first one on my block to own a Nintendo.

After plugging up the game, my butt found a comfortable spot in Dad's chair. Playing mindless hours of Duck Hunt, the only bummer about the game was that you couldn't shoot that stupid dog when he popped up to laugh at you...and believe me I tried, more than once. I couldn't wait to go back to school and tell all my friends about it. Everyone's gonna wish they had a Nintendo, these things were valuable you know.

One thing that Papa Dave always told me was to protect your valuables. Don't let too many people know what you've got, because sometimes jealousy can make people do dumb things. And those dumb things can lead to someone stealing what you love the most. So it was then that I realized I had to protect my Nintendo and my house that I was now responsible for.

With that in mind, I started setting traps around the doors and windows. I started with stringing a bucket of wet paint over the front door with some rope. Whoever manages to make their way through that mess is going to find themselves covered in a bright shade of purple. I find myself cracking up imagining an intruder looking just like a giant grape just like Violet in Charlie in the Chocolate Factory.

If someone is still determined to get in after that, the next string will cause a large skillet to come directly at them. Depending on their height, it'll hit them anywhere from their face to their crotch. Frankly, I'm hoping for the latter.

Believe it or not, I'm not done yet. There's also a rope near the ground that'll twist itself around a wandering ankle or two...suspending them from the ceiling. A kid can't be too careful these days you know.

Suppose they were smart enough to try coming in through the windows, I thought of that too. A hammer is set to hit whoever is that stupid right in the nose from the living room window. A large pile of dinner plates are held in place with some invisible string and set to fall directly on top of anyone trying to come in through the kitchen window, and various other traps are set around the back and garage door.

By the time I was done, I almost felt sorry for the fool who tried sneaking in here...almost.

With that task out of the way, I settled into doing what any 12 year old would do when they're left home alone. I started stuffing my face with every piece of junk food I could find, turned the stereo up, and started a full scale party for one...jumping around on the living room furniture, playing air guitar, and rooting through the wrapping paper to make sure every single one of those gifts was open...whether it was a women's ring, or a men's shaving kit.

I can't help but find that last one intriguing and I find myself in the bathroom as few minutes later, a razor to my face psyching myself up. "Well, I'm the man of the house now, I should probably start acting like one."

And with that, I drag the razor across my cheek, feeling an unmistakable stinging sensation. One look in the mirror seems to confirm what I already suspected...I was bleeding. Apparently shaving isn't for me...

I quickly coat my face with some band aids from under the sink before walking away looking a little like a zombie. Before I realized it, I started to yawn. "Apparently, I'm more tired that I thought." I mutter as I look at my Scooby Doo watch. I realize how late it's actually gotten and I start getting myself ready for bed. Before I finally crawl into bed though, I head over to Theo's cage depositing some of his Christmas pellets for a treat. "Merry Christmas little buddy" I murmur softly, stroking his soft grey fur gently before closing the lid to his cage and calling it a night.

After all I'd been kept busy all day booby trapping the house, playing video games and pretty much causing trouble, so a good night's sleep was definitely in order...and tomorrow was Christmas. Who knows what surprises might be in store...maybe I'll wake up surrounded by my family and realize today was only a dream.

I crept up the stairs towards my bedroom. The house was eerily quiet without Prince blaring through Heather's door or Mom and Dad cracking up over America's Funniest Home Videos.

Even though I hated hearing all that when they were here, I somehow missed it. So slowly I opened the door to my sister's bedroom, grabbing the first CD I saw laying on her dresser. "1999?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows at the penis on the cover, "My sister's weird."

Walking to my room, disk in hand, I opened the case, slipping the CD into my player before crawling under the covers.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you, I only want you to have some fun..." The CD that I grabbed as some sort of comfort quickly turned into something made of nightmares. "Well that's creepy." I said out loud, inching the blankets up over my head. Luckily a very familiar song from this CD finally came on, filling my ears and making me quickly forget the unsettling song I just heard.

My eyes stubbornly stayed open, watching the shadows of the trees sway against the moonlight as I thought about my family. I couldn't believe I was going to miss Christmas. I couldn't believe they forgot about me. Please tell this is just some terrible nightmare I'm going to wake up from.

If my family is all over at Papa Dave's, how was Santa gonna know I'm here? Would he make a special trip just for me? I haven't been all that good this year. I tripped Sara at school last week and I ate all of my teacher's cookies he had sitting on his desk a couple of months ago.

Before I could think of any more naughty things I've done this year the events of the day finally managed to catch up with me, and I drifted into a restless sleep, filled with uneasy and unusual dreams.

**Author's Note:  This is based on a story requested by @LadyDJFAMily for the Holiday Story Exchange.  This one's for you.  ;)  Thanks and credit also go to the writers who helped make this possible, who shall remain nameless.**