Christmas & New Year's Day/2021/Story

## An Adorable Blessing

**Demi** | Huh? Back then? Yeah, I was a little drunk. Well, I was tipsy, at least, but I did remember what happened. I'm used to getting tipsy, after all...
Oh, I'm not an alcoholic! You don't have to be mean...
Right, back to what happened that night. I think I was by the fireplace. I put my head inside to see what was making that strange sound.
It was dark inside. I thought it was a little strange—it shouldn't have been so dark, but I couldn't tell what was wrong.
Yeah, that's right, I should have been able to see the sky. Although it was after sunset, there should have been some light visible when I looked up the chimney.
The stars should have been at their brightest at that moment. You could literally join the dots in the sky... but I couldn't see anything. It was like something was stuck in the chimney.
When I tried to tell everyone, I realized that the house was pitch black. Hahaha, I thought I was just giddy from lying there for such a long time.
Then I heard a scream coming from the corridor. I didn't know what had happened.
It was a mess—that's the only word for it. It was like someone had shaken up a beer bottle and let it rip all over the place.
Oh yeah, I remember there was this awful noise outside the door, and it was getting closer and closer... And then what happened? Gosh, I really was drunk, wasn't I?

Kevin

**Kevin** | At that moment, the world was thrown into confusion. The only light in the darkness came from our eyes, twinkling like stars in the sky.
It's in the middle of nowhere, and it's by no means fancy, but it's my hometown. I've been looking forward to going back and lying on the grass, soothing my soul with the feminine whispers of the wind.
But it's so damn cold here.
That's when I suddenly realized—those puzzled eyes were the same everywhere.
You wanna know what I saw? I saw the ship that sailed in everyone's mind—a ship that sails against the crashing tides—a ship that wanted to dock but was destined to stay at sea.

Martha

**Martha** | To whom it may concern,
The following is my report on the cause and course of that night's events.
Let's start off at 7 PM because everyone had been standing outside, waiting for the host to open the door. Someone proposed going inside to take a look. It was the tipsy woman.
It was a lot warmer inside. The lights were dimmed and the furniture seemed old.
We couldn't find the host anywhere. Food had already been laid out on the table. We assumed that it had been prepared for us, but this fact remained unconfirmed.
The cause was that a man in festive attire claimed to have heard a strange sound coming from the fireplace, but it wasn't entirely because of this.
The atmosphere at that was very tense, so with various compounded emotions in the air, everyone began to leave. By that time, it was around 9 PM.
I have no more details to add.
I didn't mean to cover for her. The truth is, what she did later was not completely related to what had happened earlier.
Of course, if you want to know what she did, I will repeat what I saw.

Tracy

**Tracy** | At that time, I realized that everyone was quite determind to leave. It seemed I was the only one who had unfinished business.
But if everyone is leaving I have no obvious reason to stay.
So, I made my move and I mean no harm—it was merely out of curiosity. Then the room quickly fell into darkness, and I heard screams coming from the interior.
Everyone hurried to the door, desperate to leave. But upon opening the door, a slight chill cut through the room. The chill was fear—fear that we were trapped in the house.
I didn't care much for what everyone discussed after that. In fact, I didn't think a mechanism to lock us all up could possibly be found in such an old house.
So I didn't believe there to be any real danger.
Right. It's fascinating! It's certainly an amazing Christmas gift. It opens up all kinds of optimization possibilities for my doll.

Ada & Emil

**Emil** | What a racket... They're so loud! What are they laughing at? What's with all the yelling?
Ada, Ada... When can we go home?
Back to our home...

 Narrator

Photographer

**Joseph** | Oh, yes, I have been through numerous odd occasions in my life, but utter chaos is indeed very rare.
Especially that scream-the kind that I can't even imitate.
Yes, that's the good stuff. Oh, I was talking about this cup of coffee. As for that night, all I can say is that it was unforgettable.
When he appeared, I could see that he was well prepared and his clothes were very special, especially the thing he was wearing on his head.
If I get the chance, I will ask him to model for me. I think he could be the subject of a series of paintings guaranteed to shock and amaze the Parisian upper class.

## Notes

1. ↑ [sic]
2. ↑ French for: "save the best for last."