Sachi Singh

You wake up, eager to see the Christmas tree spewing gifts wrapped in festive wrapping paper, snow covering every nook and cranny of the street outside, and your family in matching Santa pajamas. Simply put, you expect to wake up to the “perfect” Christmas morning, but when you do wake up it seems as if that might not be the case…

You wake not to the delicious smell of Christmas breakfast or the chatter of your family, but rather the persistent drill of a fire alarm and a pungent burning smell. As you run down the stairs, you notice the lack of Christmas decor. Before you reach the front door, you notice something is different in your living room—the 18-foot-tall Christmas tree, weighed down by dozens of dazzling ornaments, is nowhere to be found. You frantically squeeze your eyes shut for a few seconds, hoping that when you reopen them, the tree will magically be standing there—but the space is as bare as it was before. 

BRRING! Your train of thought is once again broken by the fire alarm, making you wonder how your family has not been awoken or affected by this. You sprint up to their rooms expecting to see your parents and siblings sound asleep but instead you find rooms empty, beds made, and lights out; no one is home. 

Now you start pacing, questioning, worrying over the worst possible situations. What if my family was abducted? How do I find them? Do I call the police? AM I DEAD?! With all these thoughts swirling in your head, you haven’t yet disabled the fire alarm, so you now have a pounding headache in addition to crippling anxiety brought on by the situation. You finally get a ladder, find a rusty screwdriver, and somehow manage to stop the piercing noise. Phew! The silence is comforting yet terrifying; all you can hear is a lack of the cheers of excitement, gratitude, and love from the typical Christmas morning festivities. 

Trying not to dwell on your past memories, you pile on the winter necessities––a coat, mittens, hat, and scarf––and rush outside, ready to raise hell and high water to find out where your family went. You storm outside, armed to the teeth for the Antarctic tundra, just to feel the humidity of July and the glare of the summer sun. To add on to the already peculiar and disheartening Christmas morning, there is no winter wonderland and you can’t help but think that it was all your fault. Maybe I should have donated to that one girl on Tik Tok. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked him to send me the homework. Maybe––

The neighbor’s door opens with a creakkk, and you hear a cacophony of chatter, music, and fun. The spirit of Christmas takes over your senses, you forget the sudden sweltering heat, and before you know it the words “May I come in?” spill out of your mouth. The door swings open fully, but just as you are about to step in…everything turns white. 

On the verge of tears, you open your eyes, trying your best to step foot inside that lovely atmosphere, only to realize you are sitting in your own bed, in your own house. Except this time, you look outside your window and see every nook and cranny of the street covered in snow, hear the delightful sound of Christmas carols and chatter of your family floating through your house. There is no sharp beeping of the fire alarm; there is nothing on fire in the kitchen. You breathe a sigh of relief, and head downstairs, grateful to be living the perfect Christmas morning!