“Why don’t you eat something healthy?”
“Belle!” Oliver cried and hugged our sister.
Right after he had started college, my sister, tired of taking care of all of us instead of living her life because our parents didn’t want to bother, had just disappeared. We were all still afraid she would leave again, though it had been a few Christmases since she’d come back.
I followed my sibling as Belle directed Oliver past the fried cinnamon bun stall to one selling actual food. The stall owner randomly burst into a Christmas carol when we approached. I cringed.
A reindeer with garlands and lights in his antlers wandered by.
No one even batted an eye.
“This place is insane.”
“This food is insane,” Oliver said as the stall owner handed him a plate of traditional Christmas dinner. It was on an actual piece of china with a wrath pattern painted on it.
“This gravy is amazing.” He licked a spot off his fingers. Belle had two plates in her hand and nodded to the tables set up near the stage.
“We can eat and watch the raffle.”
“Did you buy your ticket?” Oliver asked as we sat at one of the metal tables.
We got odd looks from people. My brother and I were wearing only suit jackets while everyone else was bundled in heavy coats, furs, and hats. My sister was wearing a short dress that didn’t even have sleeves.
I leaned back in my chair as my brother gave my sister a rundown of what he had been up to in college.
I loved the cold. I could think better in the cold. I felt more in control. I had my best ideas sitting outside on my balcony on a snowy evening.
I looked down at my dinner.
It smelled like Christmas with green beans, mashed potatoes drowning in gravy, and thick slices of turkey with a homemade roll and a dollop of cranberry sauce. It also smelled really good.
I cut off a piece of the turkey and swiped it in the gravy and potatoes.
The turkey tasted even better.
A puff of warm moist air blew in my face.
“What the—” I turned to see a drooly reindeer inches away from me.
I swore and jumped up.
“Don’t hurt him!” a woman yelled at me.
I scowled as Merrie ran up to me. She bent over, chest heaving in her too-tight top.
No, don’t think about her like that. She’s your tenant who has not paid almost ten thousand dollars in rent.
But her rack was still more impressive than the reindeer’s.
Her breath hovered in a cloud around her as she stood back up. She was covered in feathers and bits of tinsel. She was also wearing a ridiculous elf costume with a short skirt and red stockings. It was…
Stupid. It’s stupid.
“Prancer, no! Shit!”
The reindeer was wolfing down the last of my dinner while Oliver and Belle just sat there eating their dinner rolls and watching in awe.
“Thanks a lot,” I snapped at my siblings. I grabbed one of the strands of lights wrapped around the reindeer’s antlers and yanked. I might as well have been trying to pull a train. The reindeer didn’t budge.
