Alone for the Holidays

Once, in the city of Seattle, lived a man that was alone. His name was Logan Blossom. Logan was constantly attracting attention because some people considered him to be weird.

Logan had been hurt by the people he thought he could trust. That caused him to keep to himself for than anything.

One day, Logan went for a walk around downtown Seattle near the ferry docks. He noticed that the city was starting to put up Christmas decorations for the season. Once he noticed the decorations, he was thrown into Memory Lane. Memories of Christmas cookies baking, of caroling with his parents, of seeing his father begin to drift away because of a new job in a different city. These memories brought tears to his eyes as he remembered the pain in his past. Logan decided to go back home to his apartment quickly. In next to no time, he was back home in his apartment. Once he got inside, he broke down and cried. The pain in his past caught up to him. Sadly, he didn't have many friends he could count on. Most were acquaintances to him. Logan had the habit of dwelling on the past and letting everything come out.

Out of the blue, Logan's friend,Larry, called on his phone.

"Hi, Larry, what cha doin?" Logan asked.

"Logan, we need to go to the Christmas party over at the Turner family home. It starts in a half hour. It will be a lot of fun."

"Larry, I don't really feel like going out to any activities right now. Go by yourself."

"Its the holidays, Logan. You should get out more."

"Larry, today is just not a good day. Maybe another time we can go do some activity."

"Logan, only if you are sure about this. We need to get together soon and hang out."

A moment later, Logan ended the phone call. Logan was remembering his mother passing away from cancer 8 years earlier. This time was just a hard time of year for Logan. Logan had no other family around. He was literally all alone.

Larry was Logan's closest friend and had been for a few years. Larry knew Logan was a lone wolf because of hard times hitting hard in his past. Larry always tried to cheer up Logan around December, though his attempts often seemed futile, but he was persistent in trying.

Logan glanced at his phone and saw it was nearly 9:30 and decided to go to bed. Tomorrow, he was going to the grocery store after he finished working from home. Logan plugged in his phone and let it charge as he started getting ready for bed.

In next to no time, Logan's alarm clock buzzed letting him know that it was 6AM. He got up, turned off his alarm clock, and got dressed for his job working at the computer store. He talked to customers and always prided himself on his customer service skills but never mingled with his colleagues after hours. He just wanted to go home as quickly as he could. Today promised to be a long day, Mondays usually were.

At 4, Logan got off for the day and went to the local Safeway. He went in and got enough groceries for the week. Logan also knew that Larry was going to call him and want to go out for a walk. Logan really didn't feel like going anywhere once he got home, but decided to humor Larry.

An hour later, Larry called and asked him about going on a walk. Logan agreed half heartedly to go.

Larry drove down to Logan's apartment building and asked, "Are you ready to go?"

Logan replied, "Let's go around the block twice."

Larry agreed. Larry worked in the cafeteria at the hospital and enjoyed serving food to the patients.

Logan was immersed in his painful memories and was barely paying attention to anything Larry said.

Suddenly, Larry stopped and said, "Its bad this year isn't it? Your pain is make it harder for you to do things isn't it? Logan replied, "It is. It never gets easier. Even though I am around people in the city all day, I feel left out, and don't want to get close to anyone. I think I might call it a night early. See you later, and you can forget about trying anything tomorrow. Just leave me alone."

Larry said, "Ok. I understand that. Have a good night. Hope you feel better tomorrow."

With that, the two friends parted ways and to their homes. Logan started getting ready for bed and tried to go to bed. Soon he fell asleep to try to be ready for everything the next day.

Larry got home and was concerned about his best friend in the world. Larry was planning on getting everything together for Logan to come over for Christmas. He was glad he had three weeks left to get it done.

Three weeks later, Logan decided to humor Larry by going over to his place for a few hours on Christmas day. Despite being around people, he felt hollow and more alone more so than ever before. Logan was able to put on a painted grin and pretend to have a good time, but he really wanted to go home and be alone. Larry had thought he was successful at last, but had no idea how Logan was feeling.

Logan was glad when everything was done that evening and he was able to go home and call it a night. He was content to be home and have Christmas behind him. It helped him to be feeling better about everything. Now everything could go back to normal for the time being. Sure Logan was alone, but he was happier that way. Another reason why Logan was glad to be done with the holidays was because he was used to being disappointed. Whenever people asked what he would like for his birthday or Christmas, they didn't really listen. They got him what they thought he would like even if he didn't need it for anything. Due to this, he learned to keep his expectations low so he couldn't be disappointed or discouraged by what people would think to give him.

Logan fell asleep that night feeling like the weight of the world was lifted off of him. It was a peaceful feeling that helped him to fall asleep quickly that night.