A Party to Remember

Once upon a time, on a cold Christmas Eve night, enchanting music and blinding lights guided guests to the Everest's house and out of the howling wind and frosty precipitation into the welcoming party. Far, far away, at the North Pole, elves were hard at work. Hammering, drilling, painting, carving, and preparing to bring joy to all the little boys and girls in just a few hours' time. 

Two such guests were Cora and Holly. Holly loved all things Christmas, including Conner Everest’s annual, supposedly famous, Christmas Eve party. Famous to the less-than-cool population anyway. Conner Everest was one of the student body presidents who managed to be voted for without actually being cool. Conner competed in every random school competition and followed every spirit week. He was in so many clubs that he eventually knew enough people that he got the votes without being cool. Holly knew him from the newspaper club. She was an editor. Technically Conner’s brother helped with the party too, but he was less well known. He had graduated four years ago.

So, it came to no surprise to either of the girls when they reached the Everest home and found that it was packed to bursting. Conner knew a lot of people. No wonder it was full. Holly walked over to Cora and the girls started towards the house together. 

Holly was not worried about the party. She was good at socializing and had some friends. Cora on the other hand had less friends because of her interesting personality. Cora, ever since she was a small girl, had been obsessed with fortune-telling. She’d never really believed in magic, but more fate. She often said things like “Breathe deeply to find your inner self,” or “Hmm… I sense your future is…hmmm,” and also “The heart and mind are a connection that cannot be broken.”

“This is my first time going to a party on Christmas Eve,” Holly said, to break the silence. “What about you?”

“I went last year and couldn't bear the idea of missing. The aurora was just so powerful!” Cora giggled lightly. “Though I do think that perhaps it would be better if this year I didn’t try to read Chris’s cards. He didn’t like that much.” She said as she pulled a card from her jacket. Cora’s jacket was not normal, like the rest of herself. It was a punkified version of a jeans jacket and it had lots of neon colors and quotes from creepy old people. Also, it had pockets. It. Had. So. Many. Pockets. 

“I don’t think he would,” Holly said and then made a mental note to stay far away from Cora and Chris at the party. 

The guests reached the front door and found that another kid was already there, knocking. It was Theodore. He had dark hair and thick glasses. Along with the sort of hat you saw in old fashion movies or what drama teachers wore. Which was unsurprising as Theodore was a drama kid through and through. Holly had yet to meet him, but Cora was familiar with him. He was an excellent subject of fortune telling.

“Theo! It is lovely to see you,” Cora called out. 

“Oh. Cora. Hi,” Theodore said, much less enthusiastically.

“Your shoulders are tight! What troubles you, dear friend of mine?”

“Conner’s taking an eternity to answer the door. I shall likely perish before the night is out.'' Theodore always talked like that.

“Maybe he can't hear the doorbell over the music,” Holly suggested. Then the large front door swung open. In its midst stood Conner Everest. He was tall and blonde with a huge smile. He wore a very colorful, ugly sweater.

“Holly, Cora, Theo! You made it! Come in! Jakes’ manning the hot chocolate stand and he says he has the recipe perfected!” Jake was Conner’s brother. Conner stepped aside to let them in. Holly unwound her scarf and took off her coat. Her hair was long and red. The lights were turned off and the party was entirely lit by candles. Candles on the tables and floor. Candles on the huge Christmas tree and on the window seals. 

“GREAT SCOTT! The house is utterly candlelit,” Theodore gasped.

“Heads up,” came a cry from the living room. Holly distinctly heard something smash. She hoped none of the candles had been knocked over.

“Dude,” Conner yelled. “That better not be broken!”

“My bad,” the same voice called back. As Cora took off her scarf and boots, Conner eyed her.

“What?” She asked, eyeing him back. She smiled her slightly crooked smile.

“You didn’t bring your cards, right?”

Her smile widened and she said, “Ah. You’ve just reminded me.” Which Conner had no way of knowing was a lie. Cora had not forgotten. She’d just been waiting for him to ask for dramatic effect. Something Theodore appreciated. 

Conner groaned. “Nooooooo. Cora, last time you read someone’s cards, it ended out… badly.”

“Oh hush. I mean, that was Chris. Come now, it will be quick and painless,” Cora grinned.

“Well, I wasn't scared before you said that. Anyway, let's do that… later,” Conner chuckled nervously. Sort of in a “I’m trying to be nonchalant” way. He slowly backed away. Looking around desperately for someone to save him.

Holly and Theodore rolled their eyes in unison as they strolled into the party room. Cora just shuffled her cards and mumbled something about “no one is adventurous anymore” as she strode off towards Conner.

“Three of spades…tragedy…. maiden of the sea…disaster…ace of diamonds! Diamonds! Oh, oh! Diamonds,” Cora muttered. “Conner! Come on! I wasn’t joking! It really isn’t painful,”

“Wow. So comforting.” But Conner sighed and ambled over. Cora seated herself on the edge of the couch and gestured for Conner to do the same. Holly sat on the ground next to Cora, sort of curious to see what happened next.

“Breathe deep through your heart. See the possibilities before you and the challenges that lay beyond,” Cora murmured. She pulled out a deck of velvet cards seemingly from nowhere. She shuffled them and then held out her deck to Conner.

“Choose.” she said. Conner grabbed one at random. The card showed a man in a clown mask surrounded by flames. Cora gasped.

“Heavens deliver us! The Jack of Deceit! Of lies and trickery!”

“What…are you saying,” Conner asked.

“The Jack…of fire, Conner. Fire,” Cora said, impressively. The candlelight played hauntingly across her face. 

“I sense foreshadowment,” Theodore said, walking into the room with a mug of cocoa.

“Would it kill you to talk like a normal person every once in a while,” Holly asked. She sat up and almost knocked over a coffee table of candles. 

“Careful! Grandma made those herself!” Conner warned. “Also, since my fortune is fire, we don’t wanna set anything ablaze!” Conner laughed sarcastically at the end, but Holly could see the fear in Theodore’s eyes.

“Oh, Cora. Stop messing with him. Actually…I kind of enjoy the entertainment. Continue.” Holly said.

“Okay,” Cora said. Theodore felt beads of sweat slip down his face as she pulled a star chart from one of her random pockets.

Holly walked into the kitchen with Conner. Away from the fortune-telling. 

“Sometimes Cora can be…,” Conner said as they grabbed plastic cups of Hot chocolate. Conner didn’t know how to describe her. Odd? Interesting? Strange? Bizarre? Peculiar? Abnormal?

“Frightening? Blood-curdling? Alarming? Chilli-,” Jake said before he was cut off. He looked a lot like Conner. 

“Bro. She’s not scary,” Conner said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Speak for yourself,” Jake said and then he turned away to help some other kids get their cocoa. Conner sat on the counter and leaned back. Accidentally crushing a wreath of holly and some poinsettias. They really had done a lot of decorations. He felt completely calm. Meanwhile Holly felt unbearably awkward.

“Soooooo,” she pushed out. Maybe she should have been more worried about socializing. 

“Yep,” Conner smirked.

“Cool.” Holly wanted to crawl under a table.

“Nice.” Conner was having fun bugging Holly.

Sometimes Holly and Conner were awkward together. 

“Yeah. So. Yep.” Holly had to force the words out, but now she wished she could unsay them. Wasn’t Christmas supposed to be the most wonderful time of year? More like the most awkward time of year.

“So, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” Conner said. He loved tongue twisters, because he went to a club at school called The Tongue Twisting Twisteroos.

“42,” Holly said without hesitation. Holly felt the soft silk of her shirt that read: “Fa (La)x8”.

“Nope. A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood,” Conner said, thinking he had tricked her.

“Wrong. 42 is the answer to everything,” Holly said, recalling it from The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy. Conner nodded and conceded defeat.

“Yo, Conner! Are we doin’ a bonfire,” yelled a boy from Conner’s Baking and Eating club.

“Uh…no?”

“Huh. Kinda smells like it.” The Baking and Eating club kid (his name was Ethan) walked away. Only slightly confused and not worried in the least. 

“Yeah, it does smell…smokey. Are you baking something?” Holly asked. If he was, then that would be the explanation for the odor. He was so bad at baking. That’s why he joined a baking club. He wanted to get better.

“No…” Conner said, sniffing the air. Conner started to grow worried. Had the pot of water for Hot cocoa boiled over? Jake was supposed to be watching it but maybe something had distracted him. Conner told himself not to worry. He gave Holly a reassuring smile. 

That was when the screaming started.

Meanwhile, Cora looked up from her detailed explanation of the position of mars to look for the source of the yells. Theodore looked up too. He frowned. It did not sound like a “Oh my goodness, I’m so happy you're here” yell or “Wow this is so fun” shouts or even “I’m being an idiot” cries. It sounded like a plea for help.

“Troubling,” Cora said, simply. Theodore kept looking for the source of the sound. He did not find a person, but he did find a reason to scream.

“BY JOVE! The place is-is-is AFLAME!” Theodore added the stutters for dramatic effect. Even in a time like this.

“Dude,” Conner said, entering the room. “Now is not the time for drama.” Then he saw the flames and his annoyance vanished. He had bigger issues. The fire had spread across the entire carpet and up one wall. Teens were rushing to windows and doors for escape. Smoke was slowly filling the room. Almost all of the candles had been knocked over. So much for the holiday spirit. Some candles went out but others…

Cora pulled out a new deck of cards. She pulled a random card and frowned. “Skull of death potions. I don't think I even bought that one. Well friends, our time is nigh. The fates have decided.” Cora eyed the card then put it in a pocket that looked like a secret compartment.

“No! You're wrong. Our time is not ‘nigh’! We are going to get out, and we’re gonna do it now," Holly said. She was good in a crisis.

“Also, we’re not friends,” Ethan said. He had come into the living room as the kitchen was entirely filled with smoke. He’d always thought that the candles were a bad idea.

“Uh, who are you,” Holly asked.

“I don’t think she was talking to you, bro,” Conner reminded, before he turned around looking for an escape route. He bent low to the ground. The air was growing thick with smoke. He pulled his shirt over his nose. He’d seen it in a movie once.

Cora was already heading for the door, along with Ethan (who was mumbling something about “they should have listened to me”), Theodoor, and a few remaining teens. They were all on the ground crawling, to prevent themselves from breathing in too much smoke. But they couldn't reach it in time.

 A side of the wall caved in, and fire bloomed everywhere. Girls screamed and boys let out embarrassing yelps that they tried to blame on the person next to them. The smoke was so thick that Conner couldn’t breathe. Holly was gasping for air next to him. He tried to tell her to put her shirt over her nose too.

“Ho-hol-ho…pu… shir…o-” Cough. “Over… n…ose…” Cough. His voice was too scratchy. He gestured with his hands instead. Holly understood and put her shirt up over her nose. The “Fa La La La's" seemed less funny now.

“G-goodness to betsy,” Theodore was saying on the other side of the room. Away from Holly and Conner. He watched a mistletoe toe burn up in front of him. The bells and hot cocoa were littered around the house. It was sad, really. Conner and Jake had spent so much time decorating. Some Christmas party this had turned out to be. What if he never got to see Christmas?

“I must s-say I did not f-foresee this,” Cora admitted. She had privately hoped that her card had meant something less drastic. Like a burnt piece of pie. Or a single fallen candle. She was sitting by the wall and silently praying it did not cave in. What had happened to Christmas miracles? Theodore was next to her. He seemed to be quoting shakespeare. 

“‘T-t-to be, or n-not to be: that is the question.’ Yes, yes. That indeed is…is the…question,” he wheezed out. Cora wondered if his brains were melting. Perhaps that was what the card had meant? 

Slam!

Cora turned without flinching towards the sound. The same could not be said for Theodore who yelled and clutched his chest melodramatically. A large cloak had fallen from the wall in front of them. It lay at their feet. Somehow it still seemed to work. Fate, most likely. 

Cora pulled a last card from her deck. Hopefully not for the last time but destiny had its own timeline. One not aligned with hers. It was…she leaned in closer. The smoke and fire and soot made it hard to see. The king of hearts. Huh. It showed a large man in red handing out gifts to his people. Whatever did that mean?

Back by the kitchen, Conner and Holly were standing so close, they touched. A burning beam fell in front of them, and they sprang backwards. They continued to dodge flaming objects. It was getting hot. Really hot. The red-hot fire was scorching them. It raged on and the broiling, sweltering heat was unbearable. Soon Holly collapsed. Wheezing, coughing, and hacking. While Holly was struggling for her breath, Conner helped her up. She clung to his dirty hand, and with some struggle, stood up.

Meanwhile, Theodore was staring at the clock. Three minutes until Christmas. Maybe he could get to see it in his final hour. Theodore’s eyes started to droop.

Two minutes…

The walls were trembling.

One minute…

Cora grabbed his hand. His eyes closed. The walls would cave soon…

Thirty seconds…

Ten…

Five…

WHOOSH!

Theodore and Cora, really everyone in the house, gasped. The fires all, simultaneously, went out.

In his head, Theodore thought, Merry Christmas!

“What on earth,” Ethan said. Rubbing his eyes. He was pretty sure he had fainted at some point, but he would take that secret to his grave.

“G-guys,” Holly called, voice still raspy. She scrambled to them from the kitchen. Conner behind her, covered in soot.

“I have no insight on these incredible events,” Cora said. Though that wasn’t entirely true. 

“Nor I,” Theodore said.

“What are you all waiting for,” Conner yelled, and surprisingly his smile was back. “Let's get outta here!” The four of them (and Ethan but he wasn’t really part of the group) walked over chairs and broken furniture to the door and, with some pushing and shoving, managed to get it open.

Fire trucks were everywhere and there were a vast number of worried parents. Crying out for their children. A firefighter came up to them and helped them to an ambulance.

“D-did everyone g-get out,” Holly asked.

“It must be some sort of miracle, because we think so-” the fireman said. Someone interrupted him.

“ETHAN,” yelled somebody. Supposedly Eathan’s mom. 

“Over here!” Ethan squawked. His voice was still recovering. Jake ran over to his brother and Holly hugged Cora tightly.

“OBSERVE,” Called Theodore.

“What,” the fireman asked.

“I think he means ‘look’, "Conner said. Holly looked up.

“Oh my…” she started. 

A sleigh was flying through the sky. So quickly she almost didn’t see it. The reindeer furiously pumped their legs. A Large man in red stood up and waved to them. The kids (and a few observant firemen) shyly waved back.

“I knew it…” Cora muttered under her breath, pulling out the King of Hearts. No one heard her.

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night,” Santa’s voice boomed as he zipped away. Some people (including Ethan and his mother) looked around for the source of the sound. But not Cora. She fingered her last card smiling largely. Conner looked at the place where the sleigh had been, amazed. Holly stared dumbstruck and with significantly more Christmas spirit. Theodore’s mouth dropped open. Very dramatically.

For many Christmases to come people would discuss whether it was the fireman or Santa who put out the fire. Many thought it was Firefighters. But the kids at the Everest party knew. They knew they had seen Santa. And they never forgot.

They never forgot how they were saved by some holiday magic.

THE END.