Stuck Home For the Holidays

Matthew aroused from his sleep and took a deep breath. His eyes widened and he shot up as the smell of snow filled his nose. “Oh no, oh no, oh no, I thought I could beat it!” he exclaimed, rushing over to his window. Snow was falling outside, heavier than usual.

Matthew rubbed his eyes to assure he wasn’t dreaming. He always made sure to leave the small town where he lived before it snowed because he HATED the holidays. He’d rather spend his time warm and tan down in Florida than frantically buying presents for his family in the cold, having to try his best to avoid the annoyingly happy townspeople of Harmony, Pennsylvania.

Once Matthew determined that the snow accumulating outside was most definitely real, he rushed over to his nightstand and turned on the radio, muttering to himself, “It wasn’t supposed to snow until Friday!” As the intro music to their news channel played, he pulled out his suitcase from under his bed and began to stuff some clothes into it. Then the weather report began broadcasting.

Gooooooooood Morning Harmony! This is Arnie Bellum, coming at you with your daily weather report for Wednesday, December sixth. Our town woke up with quite the surprise this morning! It seems as though the blizzard we have been tracking unexpectedly blew in overnight! Our local health and safety department is telling us to bundle up and hunker down for the next few days, because we were not prepared for the blizzard. Until we can break out our ploughs and clear the snow, our roads will be shut down!

Matthew’s heart dropped as he ceased packing. “WHAT!? No, no, no, no, this can’t be happening!” he cried, picking up his radio and shaking it violently, as if it would magically change the weather.

Word on the street is that this blizzard will be one of epic proportions that surpasses anything Pennsylvania has ever experienced! Luckily, between our decorations, carolers, and friendly attitudes, Harmony is the perfect, jolly town to be stuck in over the holidays.

Matthew shut the radio off and sunk down onto his bed. “Stupid holidays, stupid people,” he grumbled. “Stupid blizzard, stupid roads.” He kicked his half-filled suitcase, stubbing his toe. “Goodness gracious! Ahhhhhh!” he screamed frustratedly, collapsing on his bed. He lay there for a few minutes, stewing in his anger, unsure of how he would survive the winter this year.

Once he finally built up enough motivation to leave his bedroom, Matthew trudged his way downstairs. Glancing out the window, he saw a few of his neighbours standing on their front porch, watching the storm. He could tell that they were shouting to each other across the street, most likely about the storm.

“Those idiots,” Matthew huffed, going into his kitchen. There, he placed two pieces of bread in his toaster and tried to turn it on. But it wouldn’t budge. “What?” Matthew jiggled the dial, trying to move it. The toaster was new, it was an early Christmas gift from his mom. Suddenly, the lights shut off. The power was out. “You’ve GOT to be kidding me,” Matthew whined. He decided just to eat the bread for breakfast, taking the plain pieces out into his living room and sitting in his armchair. “I can’t even make a hot cup of coffee! Could this day get any worse?”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Groaning, Matthew threw his bread on the end table next to him and begrudgingly stalked over to his door. When he threw it open, he was greeted by a huge smile. “HIIIIIIIIIIII!”

Matthew cringed and stepped back. It was his annoying neighbour, Penny.

“Jesus Christ,” he mumbled under his breath. “Penny, what are you doing here?”

“The power went out! I’m going around, handing out cookies I made to everyone in the neighbourhood for breakfast,” she explained, holding up an open tupperware filled with sugar cookies cut in various holiday shapes.

Matthew grabbed a handful. “Thanks,” he mumbled before trying to slam the door in her face. But Penny stuck her foot in the door before he could, and wedged her way inside. “You’re upset. What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing, go away,” Matthew huffed, not in the mood to deal with her at the moment.

But Penny ignored him, instead making her way further into his living room. “Maybe you’re upset because your house is so depressing. I mean, seriously, there’s no holiday decorations anywhere! I should’ve known, considering you have no outdoor decor.”

“Penny, really, you need to mind your own business. I don’t have time to listen to your ramblings about my house.” He went over to the door and held it open. “Now, will you please get out? You’re letting all the cold in.”

One again, Penny ignored him, situating herself on Matthew’s couch. “Matthew, don’t be hard on me just because I’m happy. I’m just happy you haven’t jetted out of here yet, like you usually do.”

Matthew put his cookies down on the table beside his bread. “Yeah, well it looks like this year, I won’t be going anywhere, so please, don’t add insult to injury, and leave.”

Penny shook her head. “Why do you want to leave so badly every year, Matthew? What bothers you so much?”

“None. Of. Your. Business. LEAVE.” Matthew pointed out the door, but Penny crossed her arms defiantly. “I should call the cops on you,” he grumbled.

“But they wouldn’t be able to get here. The roads are shut down,” Penny pointed out.

Matthew sighed defeatedly, knowing Penny was right. “What do you want from me?”

Penny shrugged. “I really just want to know why you try to leave every year without telling anyone where you’re going, or telling anyone what you did when you get back.”

Matthew sat back down in his armchair and popped one of the cookies in his mouth. “It’s personal. You don’t want to hear it.”

“Yes I do,” Penny insisted, leaning closer to him.

Matthew hesitated, not sure if he was ready to open up to his annoyingly optimistic neighbour. But she was the first one in a while to knock on his door and actually want to hang out with him. Besides, he hated to admit it, but he was touched by her company.

“It’s okay, you can talk to me,” Penny assured him, placing her hand gently on his arm.

Matthew’s normal reaction to people touching him was flinching and drawing away, but Penny’s touch was comforting. “I’ve never told this to anyone before, so you have to promise me you won’t say a word.”

Penny nodded. “Cross my heart.”

Matthew inhaled deeply before he spoke. “A few years ago, before I moved to Harmony, I was engaged. My fiance and I were planning to have a holiday wedding. It was going to be amazing, and everything was set for it, but then… my father, he…” Matthew bit his lip to prevent tears from falling.

Penny gasped. “Oh no, don’t tell me…”

Matthew nodded. “A car went off the road and hit him during his nightly walk. It was shocking, no one was expecting it. I wanted to push the wedding back until after the new year so we could give my father a proper funeral, but my fiance, she didn’t want to postpone the wedding, she insisted that my father would want us to go on with it. But I just didn’t feel like doing that. I begged her to let us move the wedding, but she didn’t budge.” Matthew pinched the bridge of his nose. “So I called off the wedding, and I… left her.” One lone tear fell and rolled down his cheek.

“Oh my god, no wonder you hate the holidays so much,” Penny whispered.

Matthew sniffed. “Yep. My dad died and I left my fiance. We could’ve been a happy family, all of us. Isn’t that what the holidays are supposed to be about? But no, our family was only torn apart.”

“Well think of it this way,” Penny offered, “Now you can try and make things right for yourself. You can try and make the holidays worth celebrating again. I’ll even help you if you want.”

Matthew scoffed. “You don’t want to help me.”

“I do,” Penny assured him.

“Uh, no, you don’t,” Matthew insisted.

Penny exhaled. “Alright, whatever you say,” she said as she stood. “Thank you for sharing, I know that must’ve been hard. You can keep the cookies, if you want.”

Matthew watched Penny as she made to leave. All of a sudden, he felt a wrench in his heart. He didn’t want her to go, he realised. He didn’t understand why, but he called her back. “Penny, wait! You- you can stay if you want. I don’t mind your company.”

Penny gave him a small smile. “Sure, I’ll stay. Why don’t you start a fire in your fireplace, and I’ll tell you all about my holiday traditions. Who knows, you might actually like them.”

Matthew got up and threw a few logs in his fireplace. As he lit it, he not only felt the warmth from the fire, but he felt it in his heart as well. “That sounds like a great idea.”