Comfy Christmas (Special 3n1)

1: White Horn

The snow fell on the pavement as Tim and his wife Vanessa left the mall. They had finished their Christmas shopping for the year, and were heading home.

“Is it chilly out, or is it just me?” She asked, her arms filled with bags.

“It’s a bit cold.” He responded, looking at her face buried in her scarf. “Man, you’re blushing redder than Rudolph’s nose!”

“Really honey?” She sighed, “You know I don’t appreciate jokes like that.”

“Oh c’mon! These won’t sleigh you!”

“Darling...”

“What’s your favorite music artist? Elfis?”

“Let’s go get coffee.” Vanessa suggested, trying to change the subject.

“Yeah. Star’bucks’ sound great!” All she did was dig herself a bigger hole.

——————————

The place wasn’t particularly busy for a Saturday night at 6 PM, but they weren’t alone inside.

“Hi, welcome to Starbucks, what can I get for you today?”

“I’ll get a large peppermint & white chocolate mocha frappuccino, please.” Vanessa asked.

“I’ll take a small coffee with caramel.” Thomas ordered as he pulled out his wallet and paid. Once they got their drinks, they went and sat at a table.

“Honey? If you never met me, would you be working at a strip club?” She nearly spat out her coffee.

“What?!”

“I know you’d work well around a North Pole!” He winked. This was getting out of hand.

“Tim! I told you to stop it!”

“Oh, don’t be a Cari-boo-hoo!” Vanessa felt herself getting mad.

“Calm down...” She thought. “They’re just words...”

“Is something wrong? Was it something I said?” He saw her take a deep breath. “Do you need an orna-mint?” She was ignoring him now. “Oh, don’t treat me like I’m on the naughty list. You need some liquor, it’ll get you in the Christmas spirit!”

“THOMAS JUST SHUT UP! PLEASE!” Vanessa had enough of that. She just wanted it to stop, not caring about the scene she made.

“I-I’m sorry, honey...” Thomas whispered. “I-I’ll give you a Silent Night now...”

She didn’t carol what he had to say now...


2: Bunyip


The snow piled up around Andrew, even as he bent over to shovel the driveway, it seemed that it never ended. His back began to ache as the sun set deep below the horizon, leaving his sight diminished to only what was illuminated by the multiple street lamps scattered on the road.

The temperature had dipped below zero. If his fingers and toes weren’t frost bitten already, they would be in a few minutes. Andrew wished he could just be inside, but he needed a way to get to work tomorrow. Working on Christmas the day after a snowstorm, at least he was paid holiday and overtime bonuses.

He worked through the cold and his numb limbs, until his driveway was manageable enough to drive over. Since his wife’s size, it was extra large to fit their cars. But whatever, he’s done now, and could go inside.

“Andrew, you’re done!” His Bunyip wife shouted as he opened the door. He couldn’t hear her, the two hats obscuring his ears. He waddled the best he could over to the couch and began to take off his layers upon layers of winter clothes. He thought two coats was overkill, but quite the opposite.

“Got it done.” He explained through an exasperated breath of air. “Please tell me you made warm cider like I asked.” She nodded.

“Muffins and hot chocolate as well. You want marshmallows?”

“What do you take me for, a lunatic? Of course!” She nodded and slithered to the kitchen, as Andrew sat by the lit fireplace. He loved how the light from the flames illuminated the room and shined off the ornaments of the tree. Not long after he became hypnotized by the lights, a metal plate was put on his lap.

“Drink up, you’re freezing!” Anna teased. The apple cider was delicious and gave his body some of the warmth it needed. But most of it came to the fluffy tail that was now enveloping him.

“So, my personal blanket is here, huh?”

“Well you’re my personal pillow!” She laid her head on his shoulder. Yes, it was colder than the North Pole, but it was the gesture that counted to her.

“Merry Christmas, honey...”


3: Yeti


“MOMMY! DADDY! IT’S CHRISTMAS!” The little Yeti girl screamed as she jumped in the mattress. Burtina yawned as Travis looked at the clock.

“7:30... she let us sleep in.”

“Ok Nora.” Burtina said half sleeping. “We’ll be down in 10 minutes...” Nora burst out the bedroom and to the Christmas tree in the living room. As the couple made their way down to their daughter, Burtina recognized two ginormous boxes set in the corner of the room. One was the size of her, and the other was the size of her daughter. She was puzzled by the mystery presents, but Travis was unphased.

——————————

After picking up the scraps of wrapping paper that scattered the floor, Nora looked at her Christmas haul. A doll house, some accessories for it, a few dolls, a collection of board games, and new heat-resistant clothes. Each of her parents got their own things as well. A necklace, more clothes, and a pillow.

“How was Christmas this year, honey? We were a bit short on money this year.” Nora always heard this excuse, but she didn’t care.

“I love everything! Especially the Princess Gwenlin castle play set! Did you know it has a working oven?”

“Yes, we know.” Her mother chimes in. Yes, it was adorable seeing her this happy, but it was also a pain sometimes having to deal with the onslaught of the trivia behind her gifts.

“Well, there’s one last surprise.” Her father made his way to the large wrapped boxes his wife had noted earlier. “The little one is for you, Nora. The big one is for mom.” Both yetis carefully tore open the box. Inside was just a pile of artificial white fur.

“What is it, dad?” Nora asked, confused at what she was looking at.

“Take it out and find out.” Both did what was told. Each box had a giant white teddy bear, as big as each one of its new owner. It’s dopey smile and heart nose didn’t distract them from the king size candy bar it held in its arms.

“Whizzo’s Wonderful Whipplescrumptious Fudge-Bar Delights.” Is what they were called, and boy were they good.

As Nora jumped up and down with excitement, Burtina was smiling, but still questioning her husband.

“Travis, did you know about this?” He shrugged.

“I know you hate when I have to go on business trips, so why not have something to snuggle with while I’m gone? And besides, my Christmas bonus had to go somewhere.” Burtina instantly put him in a bear hug.

“Daddy?” Nora asked. “Can we go outside and build a snowman?” He sighed.

“Let us get some coffee first. We’re still tired.” She let out a small “Yes!” before the phone rang.

“It’s Ta-khera! I’ll ask what she got!” It was Nora’s Anubis friend next door, the two families were close. As Nora babbled on and on about what she got, Travis and Burtina hugged on the couch.

“You shouldn’t have got me those chocolates. They go right to my thighs!”

“Well, who said I didn’t like that?” Seeing the smirk on her husband’s face when he said that, she couldn’t help but kiss him.

And that night, they had a different kind of White Christmas.