Mr. Melancholy's locked in Christmas

Mr. Melancholy always gets sad at this time of year. He lives in the town of ‘Gum Drop Lane,’ where there is not a drop of sunlight from at least ten miles from there. The only seasons that the town experiences are Kerensa and Lucia, which means cold and freezing! This makes the town's citizens very crabby and short-tempered. And Mr. Melancholy is the grumpiest of all. 

    On one dark and cold evening, Mr. Melancholy is walking up his wooden stairs, and he starts to hear a creak-creak-creak! “What can this be?” he says. “This house is as rotten and as old as this very town,” the angry old man goes. The ground abruptly shakes, and Mr. Melancholy finds himself on the ground of his patio. The man has lived in this house for fifty years, and in all these years his house has never needed repairing. 

    With all his anger and mite, the old man stands up from the ground and marches to his car door. Stomp-stomp-stomp-slam! He is inside his car ready to escape this town because he has had enough of today's antics. One bad moment has ruined this old grumpy old man’s day. He heads North towards Sugar-Cane Lane and takes a right on Snow Street. Up ahead is a preppy young man dressed in red and white. 

    The man stops him, and the old man lowers his window. “Where are you headed?!,” the young man says with a smile. “Well, if you can excuse me, anywhere but here! I hate this town! the old man says. Dropping his smile, the young man gives a disappointed look. “I can’t let you do that,” he says. The old man frowns so hard that his face becomes wrinkly. 

    “And why is that” the old man says. “The weather is awfully bad beyond this point. There is a snowstorm coming our way. I will need you to start heading back,” the young man says. Without giving it a second thought, the old man quickly turns the other way heading back home. “Gum Drop Lane isn’t that bad!” the young man shouts.  

    The old man groans and closes his window shut. As he approaches his house he stares at the broken wood on the ground. He thinks of what to do next because he does not like to be bothered by people. It is beginning to become darker outside, so Mr. Melancholy goes into his house, avoiding the broken steps, so he can rest.  

    In the morning he is awakened by a knock on his door. He comes downstairs, looks through the peephole, and quickly realizes it is the young man who did not let him leave town. He slowly and hesitantly opens the door and speaks in a low and intimidating tone. “You already ruined my Christmas by not letting me leave, what more can you want”? The old man says.  

    “Nothing sir, honest! I just realized your staircase was broken Mr. Melancholy sir.” The young man says. “How did you find me? Did you follow me here?! And how do you even know my name.” The old man says. “No need to worry about the details, it is the holidays. I just want to be of help. You seem terribly upset, and I did not mean to make you feel this way.” The young man explains.  

    “Well, you can help me by going away.” The old man says. In disbelief the young man stands there as the old man shuts the door. As the old man walks into the house his ceiling falls on to the ground, right Infront of his face. As angry as Mr. Melancholy is he opens his door, notices the young man is still standing outside, and lets him in. The young man smiles, and it is brighter than anything has ever shined on Candy Cane Lane.  

    Mr. Melancholy skeptically looks at him and crosses his arms. As the young man explains to the old man how he will fix his staircase, they both hear a faint knock on the door. Mr. Melancholy does not know many people, so he wonders who it is. Not even his own neighbors knock on his door because the whole town is as mean spirited and as grumpy as he is. The young man tells Mr. Melancholy that it is a Christmas Miracle, and that his name is Nicholas. 

    Nicholas heads towards the door and opens it. The faint knock on the door came with a mighty flock of people eagerly wanting to help Mr. Melancholy. One by one, then two by two, a group of thirty helping hands came in, all in support of Mr. Melancholy. First, they produced a plan to work on the stairs. They executed the plan swiftly then headed towards the ceiling.  

    As fast as nobody has ever seen before, they were done before Mr. Melancholy could go upstairs to see the finished work. He had a slight grin on his face. “I am not the kindest old man, and I am sorry for that. “Why would you ever want to help someone like me?” he says. “Everyone deserves the magic of Christmas,” says Nicholas.  

    “Would you like to stay for dinner everyone? Please say you will join me,” says Mr. Melancholy. As everyone around him smiles, Nicholas goes outside to bring something from his car. It is a cake! And then he goes outside to bring another item, this time it is an enormous turkey! Just like the helpers came in, they went back outside to bring items for a feast one by one, and two by two! 

    Mr. Melancholy cannot believe his eyes. Not only is his house fixed, but he also does not have to be alone and grumpy. Some of the helpers are sitting at the dining room table, some are sitting in the living room, and a couple of them are standing. Nicholas, Mr. Melancholy, and all the guests join hands and give thanks. 

    Mr. Melancholy looks outside and sees the snowstorm come to a halt. He also sees a bit of sun. He gives his biggest and only smile yet. “This is the best Christmas ever," says Mr. Melancholy. A melancholy man he is no more. The cold mixed with sun and snow created a new season in Sugar Cane Lane. From now on, they had winter!