Holiday Surprises [FICTION]

Christmas in July arrived differently that year. I fell asleep with my air conditioning cranked up so I could wear my fluffy socks and fleece pajamas while sipping hot cocoa. No other outfit merited approval for a long weekend of watching holiday favorites. Even someone as immersed in misplaced summertime holiday spirit as I am must eventually sleep. I drifted off sometime after the summer sun sank into the horizon.

The chill nipping at my nose pulled me out of a pleasant dream of choreographing an elaborate dance for snowmen. I rubbed my eyes and placed one hand over my nose to warm it. Padding slowly to the thermostat, I exclaimed in shock as a powerful jolt of electricity coursed through me. That combined with the temperature setting of a comfortably warm seventy degrees concerned me. Why did I feel so cold?

I switched the setting over to heat. The vent at my feet instantly bathed my ankles in warmth. Moments later the reassuring aroma of summer’s dust rose to my nose. Then I turned to face my living room. 

Green garlands hung from the mantle and draped symmetrically down from the crown molding. My tree sparkled to the right of the television, tossing a soft glow out the window onto the snow coating the ground outside. Surely, I bumped my head and forgot the previous five months.

As I contemplated this, I noticed festively wrapped trays of cookies lined up on the kitchen counter. Each bore a tag with the name of a lucky neighbor in my own best penmanship.

“My holiday traditions continue,” I murmured with a smile that faltered as I added, “Even with amnesia.”

 

Looking down at my comfortable, holiday movie watching attire, I ran my fingers through my hair until they caught a tangle. 

“This won’t do.”

I headed upstairs for a holiday transformation. I stopped multiple times to admire my festive decor and marvel at some new accent piece that I couldn’t remember seeing before. When my marveling waned, I slipped into a festive holiday dress of green velvet with red shimmering threads throughout. White woolen tights and comfortably practical yet adorable ankle boots completed my look. 

Packing the cookies carefully into a large canvas bag, bedecked with dancing snowmen took much less time. Soon my cute boots were leaving their mark in the lightly fallen snow as I pondered the soft glow coming from my neighbors’ houses even though I couldn’t make out any of them through the thick mist obscuring my view. As I tried to peer through it, I took one last step and my knuckles bumped into something hard and cold. I shifted my bag of goodies to one hand and ran my hand along it. It felt slightly curved and no matter how far I stepped to the left or right, it continued to block my path. I tapped on it gently and it rang like glass. 

I only had a moment to ponder this before I noticed movement on the other side of the invisible barrier. 

My eyes widened as a giant hand curved around the shape of the invisible barrier. The earth beneath my feet trembled and then began to shake as the whirls and lines became clear pressing against the glass. I raced back to my porch. Trays of cookies scattered everywhere as I dropped my bag of goodies in my haste to find a solid handhold. I reached the top step just in time to wrap my arms tightly around one of the columns supporting the roof. Then the whole world turned upside down and shook like it had been tossed into a cosmic dryer to tumble dry.

When the world and my stomach settled down, I released my death grip on the column and slumped to the porch as fluffy flakes slowly tumbled down all around me. The enormous hand had disappeared and I still couldn’t make out anything else beyond the glass. When I found enough courage, I circled the perimeter of the house. I discovered that only my house resided in this snow globe. I shuddered and went back inside to put back on my pajamas and cuddle back up in front of my television. Hopefully, the next time I woke, I would be out of this holiday horror.

~~~

Ah. What is the fate of our heroine? We may never know because the writer and the weather have not been getting along this week. I hope my dear readers enjoyed this little peek into the potential dangers of too many holiday movies. I hear there were 116 new ones released by various channels and viewing platforms this year. May you find one you love.