Christmas is upon us, and the Earth had reached the time of the few days before where last minute gift shopping, meal deciding, and guest arrangements are being made. Everyone goes through this, or something extremely similar to it, with the exception of me. I have no family to spend it with, my mother having died when I was quite young, my father sunk into depression and followed my mother suit. All my grandparents have passed and I don't know nor have any other family that I could possibly spend Christmas with so the holiday season is a rather lonely one for me, more so than the usual days because all my friends are spending time with their families whereas when it's not a holiday season I can drop any one of my few friends a line and plan something to do for the day.
No, I don't want your pity. The holiday season alone isn't as bad as it would seem to eyes looking in. One positive to it would be that I don't need to socialize with family, which is a very hard thing to do, I don't need to buy gifts for anybody. Well, I buy some little trinkets and jewelry and stuff for my friends but I don't need to go out on all-out shopping sprees to get a personalized and/or thoughtful gift for every member in my family, whether or not they be my grandmother or my second cousin three times removed.
Today has been yet another one of my lazy days where I've done so much in the past few that I'm not sure what toe hell to do now, so I end up wasting away the day by watching videos on YouTube and watching the same cheesy movie on a constant loop, or more like my Coldplay Live-2012 DVD. I've watched that at least ten times these past few days, and three of the views were in a single day if I remember correctly. I've baked some cookies and other little goodies and sent them to friends as well as eating a lot of them myself but other than those two activities, not much else has been happening.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, my cell phone rang. Out of anticipation, curiosity, and boredom, my hands were immediately catching a grip on my phone and answered the call before my arm flew in an upward direction to bring the phone up to my ear. I didn't actually pay attention to the text and probable picture that would identify the person who was calling me like I usually did because I was simply too excited to bother. I also knew that whoever it may be, it wouldn't be a spam caller or anyone that had any connection to bills or companies or anything because I got all those redirected to my home phone that I almost never use ages ago.
"Hello Alynne, how are you doing?" I heard a very familiar male voice ask, him seeming very interested in finding out how I've been and how I currently am. Easy enough to figure out, it was Benjamin in the other end of the line.
"I'm doing very well. I've been cooking and baking some and life's been good," I answered. "You?"
"Great," He replied. "Hectic and quite the whirlwind but it's been great and quite enjoyable."
"That's nice," I muttered under my breath.
"So, what are your Christmas plans?" He inquired. How do I answer this question? As I said, I don't really even have any plans but I don't really want to tell him that because I know I'll get his pity and it's not really necessary.
"I don't really have any," I muttered under my breath, hoping that he wouldn't hear me and that I wouldn't have to repeat myself but when he took in a breath to react I knew that my attempts to avoid his pity were fruitless.
"Aren't you going to spend time with your family?" He questioned, this being the most logical thought for spending the holidays, but he didn't know that I had none, and I really didn't want to tell him that, but I knew that I would have to sooner or later and it appeared that it would be sooner rather than later.
"I, unfortunately, don't have any family to spend the holiday season with," I informed, once again, not really wanting to tell him that but knowing that I'd have to eventually, which would be now.
"Oh," I heard him mutter, not really sure of what to say. There was soon a few moments of almost silence, the only thing keeping there from being any would be the faint tapping Benji was doing that could just barely be heard over the phone. "What are your plans?"
"I'm going to Philadelphia to spend it with my mom," He answered but his tone of voice suggesting that he was fixated on something very different from our conversation. "And I suggest you pack your bags because you're coming with me."
"Wait, what?" I questioned, not sure that I had heard him correctly. Did he just tell me to go back my bags because I'm going to Philadelphia with him to visit his mom?
"I suggest that you go pack your bags because you're coming with me to Philadelphia," He repeated.
"Why?" I asked, curious as to why he had invited me. It's not very common for a friend to invite you to go to their hometown to visit/meet their parents. "Not that I don't appreciate the offer, I'm just wondering why," I stammered.
"Because I think it's immoral to let someone spend their Christmas alone when there's something you can do to prevent that," Benjamin responded. It took me a minute or two for everything that was said to sink in, but mainly the part about being invited to go to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Benji that took the most time to sink it. Once again, it's not that often that someone gets invited to go to a friend's parent's place for the holidays.
"When do we leave?" I finally said, right after accepting the fact that I'd be going to Philadelphia with Benji, and knew that there was nothing that I would be able to do or say to get me out of it, not that I'd really want to either.
"Flight leaves tomorrow at noon. I'll be at your apartment to pick you up at nine so you better be ready," Benji informed me.
"How did you get another airplane ticket on such short notice without it costing an arm and a leg?" I couldn't help myself but question.
"My sister and I were going to fly together but it turned out that she was elsewhere and surprised mum a few days early so I've got a spare ticket," He replied, this either being planned or an extreme strike of luck.
"Okay then," I murmured. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"See you tomorrow." And with that, the line went dead.
YOU ARE READING
The Broken Mirror
De Todo"Every broken mirror has a twisted reflection" Alynne Ramirez has a life that she never dreamed that she'd ever have. She's a successful model at a small agency and has been offered a transfer to one of the most popular firms in exchange for one sma...
