'' so , danny , what do you really , really want for christmas ? '' '' i want a bike . '' jessie saw that coming . it was all he 'd asked for . the one she had hidden in a box in her bedroom needed some serious assembly for santa to manage after danny went to sleep . '' but you know what would be even better than a bike

at least he would n't have to worry about that anymore , he thought ; remembering the way the old man 's eyes had gradually closed as he squeezed the life out of him . it was almost as though he welcomed death as the end of his suffering . did the suffering really end when you died , he wondered ? or did you take it with you into the afterlife

in the backyard the trees stand sentinel around us , frozen branches like figurines of hollow glass , an inch of a fine white powder piled atop each one . the snow is up to our knees aside from the small patch henri has cleared away . bernie kosar sits watching from the back porch . even he wants nothing to do with the snow

then the hall monitor says something behind me . i wave at sarah , shut the door , and walk down the hall . i take my time , trying to convince myself that it 's just a formality , some document we forgot to sign , some question about transcripts . but i know it 's not just a
formality