The Twelve Days of Christmas

It was the 20th of December and Angelica sat in her room, practicing for the Christmas cantata at her church. "It caaame upoon a Midnight Clear, that glooorious sooong of ooollld!" she trilled sweetly. Suddenly, the door to her room burst open, and her eight-year-old sister, Marta, ran in.

"Angelica!" she shouted waving some papers around, "Sing this one!"

Angelica stopped singing and glared at her sister, "Get out of my room, squirt!"

Marta stuck her lip out, pouting. Angelica rolled her eyes, "That won't work with me. Get out. I need to practice."

"Fine!" Marta yelled, throwing the papers on the ground and running back out of the room making sure to slam the door.

Angelica continued practicing, but soon, her curiosity was piqued by the papers Marta had thrown on the floor. They were gold embossed, with hand-painted pictures surrounding the beautifully written words. "Hm. This might be fun," she thought, reading the lyrics.

After peeking outside her room to make sure Marta wasn't anywhere around, she sang the first line, "On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: a partridge in a pear tree!"

Instantly, she was transported out to a 17th century castle. "What?" she questioned.

She heard a voice and spun around, her jeans and t-shirt suddenly transforming into a beautiful ball gown. "My lady," said a handsome gentleman, bowing low to the ground, "I present my gift to you."

Angelica tilted her head, "Gift?"

The man straightened, sweeping his arm out in a grand gesture, "Yes, my lady. The partridge in a pear tree!"

"Oh!" Angelica exclaimed, "Umm... I--"

She hadn't even finished what she was saying when she was transported back to her house, wearing her own clothes. She blinked and looked around. "What just happened? That had to have been a dream."

She had just convince herself of this when she heard a joyful shout from her sister, "Angelica, look! We have a partridge in a pear tree!"

Angelica ran to the window and groaned, "Oh no... It wasn't a dream?" Sure enough, the tree and the partridge had both been transported home with her. "Well," she mused, "At least the man didn't come with them."

No sooner had she stated this than the gentleman appeared next to the tree in a flash of light. Angelica threw her head back yelled, "Urgh!"

She backed away from the window and fell on her bed, eyes on her clock. Without warning, the date on it changed to December 21st. She sat up, "No, no, no, no!" The pages of the song flew up before her, and though she tried to resist it, she sang the next line of the song, "On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: two turtledoves, and a partridge in a pear tree!"

Again, she was transported, but this time she landed outside a large temple. Another man bowed to her, "Madam," he said, "I present to you two turtledoves for your sacrifice."

She tried to back away, but found she couldn't move. Opening her mouth to refuse the gift, she found herself back in her room. "What have I done?" she said, worried, "What have I done?"

Another brilliant flash of light came from the yard and the second man appeared with his turtledoves, right next to the man with the partridge and the pear tree.

Putting her head in her hands, Angelica tried to think of what she could do to remedy this mess. As she was thinking, she heard a little click. Looking up, she saw that the date had changed again. It was now December 22nd. Angelica closed her eyes tightly, hoping that she could avoid the music, but even with her eyes closed, she sang the next line, "On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: three French hens, two turtledoves, and a partridge in a pear tree!"

Immediately, she found herself standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, yet another man presenting her with gifts, his being the three French hens. And just like the last times, as she tried to refuse, she was taken back to her room, and the French man was moved to her backyard, standing with the other two.

Angelica had barely had time to rest before she heard the click of the date change again, December 23rd. "On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: four calling birds, three French hens, two turtledoves, and a partridge in a pear tree!"

This time she ended up in the Black Forest, in Germany, a man there presenting her with four, silky black birds. "No!" she shouted, "I don't want them!" But still she appeared again in her room, and the man in her yard.

As she heard the click again, Angelica decided she would accept whatever gift it was, to see if accepting the gift would break this awful cycle. December 24th, Christmas Eve. She began singing, "On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: fiiiiiive golden rings! Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree!"

To her surprise, instead of being transported to another land, as she had been, she opened her eyes to find herself in her own backyard. She heard a chorus of "My lady!" behind her, and turned around to find all four of the previous men, plus one, down on one knee, each offering her one golden ring. "Will you marry me?" they requested.

Angelica's eyes widened. She had decided to accept the next gift, but this isn't what she thought it would be! She was stuttering and stumbling over her words when she heard the door open. "Please don't be another stranger!" she begged.

"Angelica?"

She whipped around to see Marta. "Oh, Marta! I am so glad it's you!" She ran to her sister and hugged her, crying, "I don't know what to do."

Marta looked at all of the men and their gifts eagerly awaiting Angelica's answer to their proposals. "Wow, five proposals at one time," she said, laughing.

Angelica looked mortified, "Marta! Stop laughing, this is serious!"

Marta stifled another laugh, then said, "Maybe we should sing the rest of the song?"

Angelica jumped, "No, no! That's how they got here!"

Marta shrugged, then suggested, "How about we sing it backwards?"

Angelica thought for a moment, then acquiesced, figuring that it couldn't hurt.

They began all the way at the twelfth day of Christmas, "On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, fiiiive golden rings!" As soon as they sang day five, the rings disappeared. Looking at Marta out of the corner of her eye, Angelica nodded, and they continued, "Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtledoves, and a partridge in a pear tree!"

As soon as they had sung the last line, there was a large POOF! and everything disappeared. Angelica let out a large breath, finally relaxing. Marta grinned at her, "Bet you won't kick me out of your room again."

Angelica smiled back, "Don't push your luck, squirt."

The two walked back into the house, singing "Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!" As they closed the door, the first snowflake began to fall....