by Thomas L. Traband III
Wave after wave cleansed the beach. Clouds, which had been blocking the full moon’s light, parted, casting a silvery-white glow upon the water. The beach was dark and empty. Two shadows huddled together. An orange light flickered briefly between them.
Dave took a long drag on his Camel and held the smoke in his lungs. He looked out over the ocean and slowly exhaled. Maria snuggled a little closer to him and lightly kissed his cheek.
“Whatcha thinkin’?” she asked.
Dave took another pull on his cigarette.
“Just thinking about how much I love you,” he said and turned to face her. He smiled.
“Oh, Dave. I am so glad you brought me here.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“What is wrong with you?” his step-mother asked.
“There is nothing wrong with me. I just don’t feel too good,” the youth responded.
“You get like this every year.”
“Maybe I just don’t like Christmas.”
“You’re being pretty silly, don’t you think? You always get nice presents...”
“Maybe I don’t want any presents!”
“You can’t tell me that you aren’t happy opening presents...”
“Sure I’m happy, but that’s because I’m too easily bought.”
“No one is trying to buy you...”
“Enough already!”
The youth stormed out of the living room and headed straight for the front door.
“Happy Christmas Eve,” his step-mother called, he felt, sarcastically.
He walked out and slammed the door.
“It’s pretty cold out here, isn’t it?” she asked.
“What do you expect, dear. It is Christmas Eve, after all.”
“Yeah, I know. I kinda expected it to be a little cooler this far south.”
“Okay. Well, I’m cold too,” Dave admitted.
He shivered inside his jacket, which jostled Maria. The waves continued to roll in and the wind picked up. It cut through whatever attempts one made to keep it out. Dave watched the clouds and wondered if it might rain.
“...we can go back and sit by the tree with Christmas songs playing on the stereo. We’ll turn the lights down low...”
“Huh?”
“You weren’t paying attention to anything I said, were you?” Maria asked.
“I was just thinking, that’s all.” Dave paused. “All that’s fine with me.”
Dave looked up and pointed. Maria followed his upstretched arm and saw and amazing sight. A halo surrounded the moon. The clouds appeared to have formed a ring around it and shone white.
“That’s beautiful,” she breathed. “What causes that?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’ve never seen that before.”
“How often do you sit and watch the moon?”
“Not too often. Still, I’m sure I would have seen it once or twice.”
“I’ve never seen it before, either. I think it has something to do with all the damn lights we have in suburbia.”
They kissed.
He woke. He smelled the aroma of burning wood through his cold nose. A blanket could keep everything warm but the face. He knew no one had arrived yet, because he would have awakened sooner. The noise would have been unignorable.
‘I hate Christmas,’ he thought.
“Bob. Angie. John.”
Ron called out the names and passed everyone their gifts.
“Is that it? Can we open our presents now?” asked Linda.
“That’s it, babe,” replied her husband, Ron.
“Cool.”
The family dove into their piles, ripping and tearing.
“Oooh, look at this sweater,” cooed Ann.
“Wow, who gave it to you?” asked Angie.
“Let me see...” She groped for the tag. “It’s from Bob and Ann. Thank you.”
“Look at these hunting socks. I can really use these,” exclaimed Chris.
“What have you got there, Dave?” asked his step-mother.
“Oh, I got lots of cool stuff. I got some books and a watch and...”
The tree had been modestly decorated. Only two presents, wrapped in bright cheery paper with ribbons and bows, waited under the tree. Lights winked on and off, reflected by ropes of tinsel. Dozens of hand-made ornaments hung on the plastic branches. A lighted star rested on top.
Dave sat down on the sofa with his coffee mug. With the first sip, he began to feel his toes. He felt quite content to be back inside.
“Sure you don’t want any coffee, Honey?”
“Yes, I’m sure, thank you. I just want a warm, scruffy old codger to snuggle up with.”
“Will a cold, scruffy old codger do?”
“I suppose I can manage,” she said slipped into his embrace. They sat like this for some time and watched the tree, each lost in thought. Soon, the sun finally managed to shine through the windows.
“Merry Christmas, again,” said Dave.
“Merry Christmas. Want to open those presents, now?”
“You bet.”