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Christmas at Home

Bill Tope

Beth sat at her kitchen table, bent over
a slow-burning Christmas candle, gladly
inhaling the sweet aroma of the melting
wax. She enjoyed the seasonal scent
and relished the surprising warmth. She
thought positively of the good things that
could happen on Christmas Day.

She knew that the Yuletide brought with
it many wonderful things, amongst them
peace, goodwill, loving hearts and an
almost universal amity towards one’s
fellow man. It also, she thought wistfully,
brought with it holiday parties, fulsome
dinners and, not least, presents! She
smiled.

Looking up from the candle, she glanced
at the fireplace, where the last of her
wooden furniture was being consumed
by the dancing flames in the hearth. It
was an unusually cold winter this year.
An axe lay upon the floor nearby.

Beth turned her attention back to the
Christmas card she had been writing. It
was to her husband, just beginning his
third year of incarceration at Menard
State Penitentiary. Carl would be out
in just six more years—eith good
behavior—she remembered hopefully.

Outside, she heard the wind shriek,
saw the windows, covered with rime,
rattle in their frames. A tiny dusting of
snow drifted from the crack in the
ceiling and landed upon her candle with
a little hiss. She really must get her
roof fixed some day, she thought. She
shivered, frowned, then abruptly
abandoned her sweet dreams of
Christmas and thought, perhaps Easter
will be a happy time....

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