DEAD WINTER: A CRYPTIC Anthology

A Present for my Daughter • Ms. Horrendous

If you're looking for a happy holiday story to read, then I'm sorry to tell you that you've come to the wrong place. In fact, this story is probably the most disturbing Christmas story you will ever read. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

It is the 18th of December. It was just beginning to snow here in Binghamton, New York. As I look out of my bedroom window at the snow hitting the ground, I can't help but hate Winter even more. I saw kids come and go out of stores with their parents. Made me think about my childhood. I've never even had a Christmas tree. I've never even had a Christmas.

I have my own family now. Sadly, I wasn't able to give Penny her first Christmas and she was looking forward to one this year. My wife and I want to give our daughter, Penny, the best Christmas gift ever. We don't have a lot of money or a decent apartment. We live like inmates in a small jail cell and I'm sick of it. I'm fucking sick of it. I'm sick of seeing all of the other parents buying their children expensive gifts, while my daughter watches from the window wishing she had those gifts.

I made a promise to Penny. I told her that I would buy her the best gifts and the best toys this month. However, for that to happen, today would have to go exactly as we planned. My wife and I had been planning this for months and now is a perfect time. I don't think of myself as an evil man. My plan was simply innocent in my head. I will not regret it.

My wife and I recently stumbled across information about my life insurance. If I die, she would get the 17,287 dollars from my death. "That's a lot of money," Deborah had told me. "Will I have to kill you to get it?" She joked. I told that I had a better plan and she loved it.

That night of December 18th, we head out into the empty and cold night with my truck. The back of the truck was filled with gloves, heavy bags, plastic body bags, rope, shovels, flashlights, a few gallons of petrol, two lighters, and a few of my personal belongings.

There's a driveway through the graveyard and we're able to park our truck there. It doesn't take us long to spot out my mother's grave. My mother didn't want to be buried. Before she died one month ago, she told me that she wanted to be cremated. I guess she forgot to tell her husband that because now, she's here underground. What I was about to do wasn't at all heartless to me. My mother wanted this.

My wife and I take out a few flashlights, wear our gloves, grab our shovels, and start digging up her grave. It takes us hours and hours and hours until we finally reveal the casket. We harshly open up the wooden casket. Laying there was my mother. Her hair is halfway gone, her nails have fallen off along with a few teeth. Some parts of her skin look inflamed. I can smell her rotting insides and skin. I begin to cry. It broke my heart that she laid there, unhappy. I will give my mother her wish tonight.

With gloves on our hands and the plastic body bags we wore to protect ourselves from maggots and bugs falling off my mother, we carried her body out of the casket and into the truck. The horrible smell creeping into my nose make me gag a few times. Once she's in the truck, my wife and I dispose of everything we used, our flashlights, body bags, gloves, and all of that into the casket. The petrol cartons stay with us. We need that for later.

For now, we focus on straightening out our mess. The coffin gets placed back inside and we cover it up with the dirt. We do our very best to make it look neat as possible. It looks messy, but we don't worry about it too much. I mean, it is snowing.

My wife and I get back into the truck for our final ride tonight. We head out for Rocky Hill. They say you see the entire town from up there. We drive our truck up the hill and stop a foot away from the cliff. We put my mother's body in the front seat, then cover her and the car with the petrol. I throw my hat, my wallet, my car keys, and my shirt inside. Together we light up a few oily spots and watch the beautiful flames run all over the truck. It takes us less than a minute to push the truck off the cliff. I watch it explode when it hits the ground.

We sit there and watch as the flames engulf my truck and my mother. My wife and I give each other a hug, then I watch her as she walks away. She's going back to Penny, however, I have to stay behind and do a few more things before I return home.

***

I'm supposedly pronounced dead at the scene of where the truck had exploded. The cops called it a suicide. My wife had told the cops that my ashes would need to be cremated and buried fast due to our religious laws. When they asked her what religion she was, she had replied that it was a Jewish custom. Although, we weren't religious in any way. This quickened my burial and stopped them from looking into any investigation.

Penny took it the hard way. We couldn't tell our 10-year-old girl what we had done. Not yet. To her, I'm long gone. I cut my hair and dyed it black after the funeral which took place a day after the so-called accident. Penny didn't recognize me whenever I came home. My wife had told her that I was her date. It hurt me to see Penny so crushed, but I had to hold on to this lie until Christmas.

My wife got the money around the 24th like we thought she would. I didn't go home that day. I had presents to buy and wrap.

On the 25th I wait by the door while my daughter and wife talk in the living room. "What do you want for Christmas?" My wife asks Penny.

"I want daddy to come home," she says.

That is my cue. As soon as she says that, I open the door holding a large bag of Christmas presents for Penny. "Santa hears all!" I shout.

My daughter runs up to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. She begins to cry. "Daddy!"

I had to dye my hair back to normal even though it was still short. I didn't want her to be too confused. I walk inside and lay her present onto the living room floor.

Penny doesn't know whether to focus on me more or the gifts. She's overwhelmed with happiness. "This is the best Christmas ever," she says. It brings a smile to my face when she says that. This was, sure enough, the best Christmas ever.

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