What Came Down the Chimney this Christmas

Cracked Skulls, Cracked Eggs

The boys scattered corn and other grains across the darkened soil. Their chickens pecked happily at the ground, feeding on the pellets. Jack sat next to William, looking up at him with warm chocolate eyes, begging to be fed as well.

"I'll feed you soon enough," William said, patting the dog on the head.

In William's left hand was a wicker basket, which was nearly full to the top with fresh eggs. William and John had collected the eggs earlier, as they did every morning, as part of their morning chores. William picked up one of the eggs and rolled it around in his hand. The egg's smooth white surface reflected the bright sunlight.

"John," William said, turning to look at his older brother. "I have an idea. I know something that would be fun to do."

"What's that?" John asked.

"Come with me," William cocked his head in the direction of the hill's drop off.

Although John wasn't sure he was going to like his brother's suggestion, he followed him to the edge of the hill. They both stood there for a moment, looking down at the steep drop off. Rocks jutted out menacingly from the hillside.

"What's the fun thing to do?" John inquired, cautiously taking a step back from hill's edge. Unlike his younger brother, John was deathly afraid of heights. Apparently, Jack was afraid of heights as well. The dog was at least five yards away from the drop off.

William didn't verbally respond to his brother. Instead, he picked out one of the eggs from within his basket. Rolling the egg over in his hand, William grinned at his brother before tossing the egg down the hill. With an audible splat, the egg was crushed to bits as it hit one of the large granite rocks below. Yellow yolk dripped down the sides of the rock, running in viscous, mucus-colored streams. John laughed, and picked out an egg from within his brother's basket. He too hurled an egg down the hill, although his egg fell unceremoniously upon the grass.

John and William simultaneously launched two more eggs into the air, both of their eggs splattering onto a boulder at the same time. Streaks of bright yellow goo shot up into the air, falling down as though they were heavy raindrops, painting the boulder's surface.

William laughed wildly, looking at his brother to see if he too was enjoying the egg toss. John was silent, a horrible vision had formed in his mind. In John's mind he saw the two of them on the boulder. Fractured bones stuck out from their bodies, and the boulder was painted not yellow with egg yolk, but red with their blood.

John's imaginary corpse stared up at him lifelessly, his eyes as cold and blue as the clear sky above. William's whole skull was caved in, and what was left of his eyes dripped down the side of his cheeks, quite similar to the egg yolk. John imagined seeing his brother's skull, and decided bone wasn't considerably different from an eggshell. Although bone is of course much harder than the shell of an egg, the image in John's mind revealed that the boulder had broken them all the same.

William was disappointed his brother wasn't sharing in his fun, but he resolved to pick up yet another egg. Before William could throw his egg down the hill, the shell cracked apart in his hand. There wasn't any yolk within the egg. This eggs content's were entirely foul. Blood ran down William's hand, dripping softly onto the dirt below. Disgustedly, William smeared the grotesque contents of the egg onto the grass.

"William?" John looked at his brother.

William glanced up, blood running down from his nose. "You're bleeding," John informed him, concerned about his brother's well-being. William wiped at his nose, mixing the blood that was on his hand with the blood that trickled from his nose.

"What are you boys doing!" Gran called, hobbling towards them.

Jack's ears dropped in fear, and William almost dropped the egg basket as Gran's threatening voice tore through him.

"Nothing, just looking down at the bottom of the hill," John answered.

"Bring me those eggs," Gran demanded squinting her eyes, as she detected John's lie.

William held out the egg basket, and Gran forcefully ripped it from his hand. "Only three eggs?" she inquired.

"The hen's don't lay every day," William told her. Gran scoffed, and began to walk back towards the house. John and William reluctantly followed her.

The three of them walked into the house. Jack remained on the porch, disregarding the open door. It was as though the dog knew he did not belong in the house. Gran sat the egg basket down on the wooden dining table, and William closed the door.

There was silence for a moment, but something within the boy's caused them to become alert. Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream rang through the air. William and John jumped with fright, looking outside to see if they could see the source of the horrifying sound.

A smile formed on Gran's face as she too looked out the window, yet none of them could see anything out of the ordinary. The chickens continued pecking at the ground, unbothered by the scream.

There was a puff in the air, as all of a sudden the evergreen's needles fell to the floor. All of them looked at the tree, watching the needles drop to the wood. The tree now stood totally bare. It was certainly one of the strangest things either of the boys had ever seen.

William walked over to one of the branches, and found a single needle clinging to its tip. He plucked the last needle off, and studied it for a second. Then William let go of the needle, allowing it to fall quietly to the floor, joining the larger green pile below.