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nce again it was Christmas Eve, the Noels favorite time of year. Dion and Tasha were busy in the kitchen preparing a huge holiday feast when they received a mysterious knock at the front door. Little Holly ran in anticipation to see who was there. “Maybe Santa’s come early” she squealed excitedly.

With Mom, Dad and Nick on her heals, she turned the knob and thrust the door open in hopes of seeing the man in red, standing there in the flesh, with a bag full of presents. Instead, no one was there. Her eyes quickly scanned the yard to find nothing more than the bare leafless trees, all the pretty Christmas decorations that she helped her mommy put up, and the beautiful white snow covered lawn, but not a soul was in sight.

Tires squealed down the road and they looked up just in time to see a black Hearse speeding around the corner at the end of their block.

“I wonder what that was all about.” Dad said while wiping the remaining turkey grease from his hands onto the already saturated dish towel.

“I don’t know,” said Nick, “but that Hearse sure was in a hurry. What could they possibly be rushing for? Whoever they’re carting around isn’t in any hurry anymore.” He laughed hysterically until his dad nudged him to stop with a look of disapproval on his face.

            Pouting, Holly stomped into the living room and plopped heavily onto the couch with her arms folded across her chest in disappointment.

            “Santa won’t come while you’re awake, stupid,” Nick laughed while sticking his tongue at her, but got caught in the process.

            “Nick, how many times have I asked you not to pick on your sister? It’s Christmas Eve for goodness sakes,” Mom scolded him. “Since you think you’re such a funny man, then I’ll be laughing the entire time I watch you do the dishes.”

            “What? No…” Nick pleaded, but could tell by the look on her face that he wasn’t going to talk himself out of this one. Huffing, he marched off to the kitchen to do the dreaded chore with the echo of Holly’s snickering following close behind him.

            Awaiting him in the kitchen was stack after stack of dishes lining all the counter tops and even the table. Every year Mom and Dad cook a huge feast to take to the church for the homeless. Instead of using the kitchen at the church hall, they always insist on cooking at home, leaving us with the mess, of course. Ugh! Why did I have to pick tonight of all nights to get into trouble? He thought to himself as he watched the bubbles rise and pop as the sink was being filled with hot soapy water.

To Nick it had felt like days had passed when he finally finished washing all of the dishes. “At this rate, I’m going to totally miss out on Christmas” he mumbled under his breath. As he finished wiping down the counter tops and the dining room table, his dad walked in.

            “It’s good to see you have the Christmas spirit, son. I’m very proud of you for helping your mother out like this. Now, you can take out the trash to help out your dear old dad” he said, chuckling.

            “But…” Nick began to argue, but thought better of it. After all, it was Christmas Eve and he couldn’t afford to get himself into anymore trouble or he’d wind up with nothing more than a huge lump of black coal in his stocking tomorrow morning. The thought of Holly giggling and poking fun at him was not something he wanted to endure on a holiday. With a heavy sigh he trudged over to the trash can, pulled the large bag from within it and headed for the front door.

            At only five o’clock, it was already dark out. The only light to show the way came from his porch, a dim street lamp on the curb three houses down and the Christmas lights they had used to decorate with on the front lawn. The trash bins were located on the other side of the garage, the side that no light touched. Nick threw the garbage bag over his shoulder, pretending to be Santa with a bag full of gifts. “Ho… Ho… Ho…” he giggled, sticking out his gut and rubbing his not so big belly full of jelly. He kept up the act all the way to garage, but suddenly came to a dead stop.

            He never really thought of himself as being afraid of the dark. Looking ahead, at the corner of the garage, the darkness seemed to warn him otherwise. He had taken the trash out many a dark night with no problem, but for some reason tonight was different. He couldn’t get over the strange sensations that something was out there, something blood thirsty and horrifying. Over active imagination from watching too many horror movies, he thought, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling. “Knock it off,” he said to himself as he tried to pry his feet, which felt like a ton of bricks, from the ground and make them move forward. Slowly he made his way to the trash bins and lifted the lid, anticipating the worst. He thought for sure something was going to jump out and attack him, so he threw the bag in and ran as fast as he could back to the sidewalk.

            Panting heavily, he stopped when he was safe in the light that shined from the porch lamp in front of his house. He waited for a minute, trying to catch his breath before going in. If Holly saw that he was afraid of the dark he would never hear the end of it. “Big brothers aren’t supposed to be afraid of anything” he told himself. “I will never let her see me like this and give her more to laugh at me about.”

He gathered himself and was about to go in the house when he heard a dog growling and barking as if in pursuit. Startled, he jumped and quickly turned around to see if there was going to be rabid teeth at his heels ready to chew through his pants and spew blood from his ankles. There had been rumors going around the neighborhood about sightings of a rabid dog recently, which terrified him into nightmares after seeing that old horror flick, “Cujo.” Frantically he looked around, shaking his feet and jumping up and down in a rather epileptic looking dance, just in case there really was an angry, mouth foaming dog ready to attack him. Feeling rather silly, he saw that there was nothing there, nothing at all.

Looking back one last time, he climbed the porch steps and was about to turn the doorknob when the barking started again. Nick spun around on his heels so fast that he almost fell down the stairs. This time the barking sounded a little more distant. Squinting to see through the dim lights and darkness, he noticed a dog at the end of his driveway, just below the embankment. The dog did not run up the driveway to chase after him, but instead, stayed at the end of the yard barking and growling. It was circling something that appeared to be sticking up from out of the snow. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like wood, some sort of wood box perhaps, except not shaped like a normal box. “Hmmm… I wonder what in the world that could be and why is it in my yard?” he asked out loud.

He thought about going in to get his dad to go investigate this unusual object with him, but thought better of it. He didn’t want to give Holly something else to call him a chicken about. At fifteen he was almost a man, after all, so he would be a man and go down there to check it out himself.

Before starting his journey to the unknown object at the end of the drive, he had to be sure that he wouldn’t get attacked by the rabid dog. He figured he should go inside and get something to distract it. He snuck into the house, slowly turning the door handle, careful not to make a sound. He slipped his shoes off, knowing he could get by much quieter in his socked feet, and peaked around the corner to see where everyone was. Dad, Holly and Mom were sitting on the couch together watching Holly’s favorite Christmas cartoon, “Disney’s Scrooge.” Nick tiptoed across the hardwood floor leading to the kitchen, ducking behind the coat rack until he was sure he hadn’t been seen. Peaking between Dad’s jacket and Mom’s scarf, he saw that they were still engrossed in TV land. He tiptoed quietly the wrest of the way to the kitchen. Like a ninja, he slid across the floor and grabbed one of the fresh baked rolls from a basket on the counter.

Feeling rather clever, with his ninja like moves and detective like senses, he proceeded to slither and slide, unseen, back the way he came. In a side stance, he slid back across the kitchen floor, not making a sound with the help of his soft cotton socks. Not seeing his mom coming around the corner at the same time, he slid right into her, knocking her off her feet and onto her butt.

“Mom… uh… are you okay?” he stuttered while helping her get up.

“What in the world are you doing?” she laughed. “Why are you hiding that roll behind your back? If you’re hungry, eat something. You don’t have to hide it.”

“Sorry Mom, I just… there’s a poor stray dog… I didn’t want you to get mad…” he stammered on, while his mother stared at him with the kindest smile on her face.

“Absolutely not,” she said.

Shocked, Nick stood there with a look of disappointment on his face. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His mother, of all people, was the type to feed the homeless, volunteer at the animal shelter, and feed the local strays herself. Now on Christmas Eve, the most giving holiday of all, she’s telling me that I can’t give one simple roll to a stray dog? “That’s messed up.”

“What? What’s wrong dear? You look so sad. What is it? Is the dog okay?” she asked, rather concerned. “Should I start the car and take it to the animal hospital?”

Nick stared at her with one eyebrow up in confusion. “No, the dog is fine. I just wanted to give it something to eat. It looks so hungry, Mom.”

“Well, what’s the problem then? I already told you that I would absolutely not mind if you feed the poor dog that nice fresh roll. So what are you waiting for?”

If at all possible, Nick’s eyebrow arched up even further until he laughed out loud, realizing that he had just misunderstood her the first time. “Thanks Mom, I will,” he declared as he ran to the front door, throwing his coat and shoes on and heading back out into the cold.

Running down the porch steps he could hear the dog was still barking its song of aggression. He slowed down to a turtle like pace the closer he got to the object in the snow with the temperamental dog still circling it hysterically. Something about this box sure did get this poor hairy scoundrel in an uproar, which made Nick’s approach all the more cautious.

He had reached as far as the mailbox at the end of the drive when he stopped to way the odds. Should I get any closer at this point and have the chance of being attacked by the possibly rabid dog? Or should I throw the bread as far as I can down the street to divert its attention long enough for me to see what this mysterious box is? While he was trying to figure this all out in his head, he realized that it was suddenly quiet. The dog had stopped barking and was sitting at the end of the driveway just staring at him with frightened eyes, shivering and whimpering. Nick immediately realized, this dog was no threat, he’s just scared.   Nick pulled the half smashed roll out of his pocket and slowly crept up to the dog. “It’s okay little guy, I’m not going to hurt you. I bet you’re hungry, here’s a nice roll for you.” He tried to make his words sound as calm as possible, even though his own heart was racing at the speed of light.

The closer he got, he could see that this dog wasn’t a he after all. She was a beautiful black and white long haired collie mix with a gorgeous fluffy tail. Her big brown eyes looked sad, yet terrified and her waist was terribly thin to the point of showing protruding ribs through her thick winter coat. She lay down onto her side as he approached, putting her paws up in the air in an almost playful gesture. “You poor thing,” Nick said as he reached down to stroke her matted head. He held out the roll and she took it instantly with her tail wagging in appreciation.

Nick noticed that the dog wasn’t wearing a collar and assumed she must be a stray. Judging by how skinny she was and how fast she gobbled up the roll, he guessed she hasn’t eaten for quite some time. He could tell by looking at her that she was a very good dog and a smart one at that. Feeling a strong bond growing for his new found friend already, he decided that he would ask his mom if he could keep her. He just couldn’t bear the thought of sending her back out into the cold, not knowing if she would ever eat again or have a warm place to sleep. But first things first, he had to finish what he set out here to do. He would investigate this strange box at the end of his lawn.

“Well, Angel,” he said, not wanting to call her just dog, “here I go. Wish me luck.”

When she saw Nick creeping towards the box, Angel let out a cry, as if trying to warn him of some danger that only she knew about. “It’s ok girl, I’ll be alright.” he tried to reassure her, but she only continued to wine and pace back and forth between the mailbox and driveway. He continued slowly until he was at least two feet away from the box and stopped, suddenly frozen in horror. His eyes widened in disbelief as he realized that it was a box alright, but not just any box, it was a coffin. An old beat up black wooden coffin that looked like something out of a horror movie. Wrapped around it was a fancy red bow that held a large gift tag that simply read, “Merry Christmas.”