29/12/2024
๐๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ | ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ
๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐น๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐
The cold and uncanny weather of December finally arrived, embracing every person with its light. Wherever you go, the lively glitter of the parols would shine and light up the starry nights and dim streets. On Christmas Eve, every family member would help each other and adorn the house with reds of joys and yellows of laughter. They would fill the kitchen with the scents of the luscious foods, they would color the cake with hues of red and green. The sounds of the childrenโs joyful bickering echoed as they squabble whose turn it is to decorate the ornaments.
But that was a year ago โ a decade even. She was just six years old and it was 10th of December, when her parents fought at the dinner โ she was scared that they might separate. Her parents didnโt talk to each other for days, now Christmas just isnโt the same. Her older sister moved out six years ago, she could still remember how happy she was to finally escape their haunted house. Her older brother stopped talking to her, he is always busy with his studies, going to college, going home to sleep, just to do the same routine all over again. Her parents are always at work, they would only give her money and think that itโs enough to satisfy their daughterโs needs.
โItโs not their fault.โ
She told herself. Siblings grow up. They move out, they work, they love, they marry, they go to places wherein the youngest sibling couldnโt follow. She clearly understands that. What she doesnโt understand is that โ why is she left to be the one to grow up late?
Now, she waits for Christmas alone. All of her siblings ceased believing in Santa Claus, her parents stopped buying presents for them. Her sister has other tables to attend, has another family to celebrate with. Her brother still has to finish his final outputs for college that are eating his brain alive. She was left alone in their house, watching the television count the days before Christmas.
โItโs in two days.โ
She mumbled, keeping her gaze darted to the large screen in front.
โWhat?โ
Her mother asked without looking away from what sheโs doing; wrapping something.
โChristmas.โ
Christmas. What a strange thing to say. It makes her ponder who or what changedโwas it Christmas or the people themselves? Perhaps it wasnโt unusual for her to receive no response from her mother, but to dig her mind deeper, she wanted answers. Has Christmas always been this numb? Has Christmas always been this void? Or had it simply just lost its golden hour?
Two days of keeping herself wrapped in the blanket of longing, she slowly started to lose hope, gradually started to give up waiting. Everytime she looks around their house and sees nothing but plain walls, it makes her ache even more empty. Sheโs still young, still wants to celebrate Christmas, she still wants to watch the fireworks show, she still wants to jump and hope that itโll make her grow even more taller, she still wants to sing carols and reap money with it. But sheโs just a lone bird living in an empty nest, waiting for her family to come back.
When the evening ventured, and the world finally sparkled with the warmth of Christmas, she opened her roomโs window and saw the vibrant garlands of their neighborsโ house, loaded with parols glimmering like the stars, and the children dressed as Santa Claus.
Out of the blue, the accustomed voices of those sheโs been yearning to see resonated downstairs. Rushed by her adrenaline, she ran her way downhill and was welcomed by the nostalgic crowd of her family, coming together again.
โYouโre here. Have you been waiting?โ
The sweet tone of her sisterโs voice embraced her tangled mind, miraculously easing it with fondness. Itโs like an enchanter flicked her fingers and in just a quick snap, they are sitting on the same table, as a complete family again.
Their house wasnโt perfect and pristine, it doesnโt have a single decoration. There were still tiny gaps between them engendered by the separation that theyโve been through, but it was enough โ they showed up, and thatโs what matters.
The youngest one watched and listened as they told each other about their escapades during the year, and for the first time again, she felt something stirring her heart; hope. Hope of reconnection, hope of love, hope of healing and hope of reminiscence.
And it made her fathom that even if the year wasnโt perfect, even if it was tough, arduous and even depressing, there is still something eerie about Christmas that would always pull everyone in their sanctuary and place of solace again. Itโs like, we are tied to the Christmasโ threads, the one we hold onto.
Perhaps it wasnโt the people or the Christmas that had altered โ perhaps nothing even changed. Perhaps itโs just the longing of our souls and the willingness of our hearts to reattach and be happy again.
Written by Angelene Paller
Art by Kokoro Iijima
Layout by Reese Brina
