The Best Christmas Ever. Not.

Author's Note: Just a little story to get us into the Christmas spirit. Well, kind of. The main character is bedridden for her Christmas present.

Christmas is supposed to be all about giving gifts and being merry and Santa Claus and yada yada yada. Normally I would agree, but this year I’ve been cursed. With the flu. So while nearly my entire family is down in the family room, having a great time, I’m stuck up here in bed watching those boring Christmas specials on the tv in my room.

What makes it worse is that I don’t even get to have any of the delicious food that I helped my mom cook. Apparently the flu is affecting my stomach too, so I can’t eat anything real heavy or it’ll come right back up. Basically I’ll be living on toast, crackers, and soda until I’m better. This sucks. So much.

My mom knocked on my door and came in with a tray of buttered toast and water.

“Kierra. You need to keep up your strength. Eat this,” My mom said. I sat up and took the tray.

“Mom, why can’t I at least go downstairs and watch the movie with you guys? I don’t care if I have to sit far away from everyone, I just want to be included and not feel like a loser,” I complained.

My mom looked at me for a second. “All right. Fine. Come on then.” She was being strangely calm about it. I stared at her suspiciously and moved my blankets out of the way so I could get up. I took about two steps before I got dizzy and my knees got weak.

“See? You can’t even go halfway across your room. You’re in no condition to be up and out of bed,” my mom muttered. I crawled back into bed while my mom arranged my blankets back around me. I’m not entirely sure, but I think I saw her smirk as she walked out of my room.

I took a bite of a piece of toast, looking at my clock. It read 7:42 pm. Wonderful, they’re going to be unwrapping gifts without me pretty soon. I got so angry for a moment that I threw one of my pillows across the room. It hit a picture frame and made it swing from side to side, but it didn’t fall.

Pretty soon I dozed off. When I woke up, there were a pile of presents at the end of my bed. Well, at least they were thoughtful enough to bring everything up here, I thought.

I pushed myself to a sitting position and opened the presents one by one. Most of them weren’t anything special, just clothes and money and other accessories. But the last present I opened was from my Grandma Ginny. Which confused me, because we had her funeral almost five years ago. I read the card taped to the front, bordered in lace that could only be Grandma Ginny’s handiwork.

“To my dear Kierra: For when you turn 15. Love, Grandma Ginny,”  I whispered. So she had put this together a long time ago. But I was still confused, because I hadn’t turned 15 yet. In fact, I wouldn’t for another 2 months. Right then, my Aunt Carol walked in.

“Carol, why did you give this to me now? My fifteenth birthday isn't till February,” I said.

"Because, Kierra, we decided this just couldn't wait any longer. Open it," Aunt Carol said. So I did, and when I saw what was inside I gasped. It was a beautiful light blue gown, one meant for those really fancy dances. Like prom.

"Wait...so this was Grandma Ginny's prom gown?" I asked.

"Well, back then they weren't called proms. But yes, it was hers. Now we're passing it down to you. Wear it to junior prom."

"Cool. Thanks. I will." I didn't mention that junior prom was 2 years away. Guess they had proms early back in the old days.

I sighed and looked out the window. Snow was falling, covering everything in a blanket of white. Then I looked back at the dress. This was the one thing that made this Christmas merry, like it's supposed to be. Thank you, Grandma Ginny, I thought.