Page 13 of Stuck in Christmas

Alarm crossed Bonnie’s face. “Oh, my goodness. I bet Mr. Renee is wondering where you are.”

“There is no Mister in my life.” I shook my head. “Didn’t take.”

Joe furrowed his brow. “I find that hard to believe.”

“What about your other family?” Bonnie asked. " Wouldn’t they want to know where you are for the holidays?”

I gently placed the fork on the edge of the pie plate and folded my hands in my lap. I hated this part. I hated telling people what happened to my family because I couldn’t bear the pity in their eyes.It was always pity. How would I ever get through this if people kept giving me pity looks?

“My mom died a few Christmases ago, but that’s why I was headed to the spa—to get out of New Orleans and away from all the holiday celebrations that people were having with their families. And then I wound up here, stuck in Christmas.”

“What if this isn’t a bad thing?” Joe suggested gently.

“What isn’t bad?” I shot back, my frustration clashing with curiosity.

“Getting stuck. Why not have some fun with it?”

I rolled my eyes. “Fun? Don’t you see me eating an entire pie without worrying about the caloric consequences?”

“Yes. Fun. But even more fun than the pie. It doesn’t sound like you were having that before,” Joe answered.

“I agree. All work and no play makes Renee a dull… something that rhymes with play and doesn’t matter now. Maybe this is a chance to have fun—and keep having fun until you get it right.” Bonnie’s enthusiasm was infectious.

I found myself smiling at her despite myself. “How do you get fun right?”

“You’ll know it when you get there.” Joe rubbed his hands together.

“In the meantime, you need to get some rest. Let’s get you settled upstairs and get you some rest. You’re going to need it,” Bonnie instructed, taking charge of the moment with effortless grace.

“How do you know I’ll need my rest?”

“Call it ahunch.” Bonnie winked.

At this point, I was willing to try anything, so I followed Bonnie upstairs and considered the situation. If I was stuck in Christmas, Mississippi, maybe it was time to have a little fun with it.

Just as soon as I got a good night’s sleep.

Six

The sound of my alarm pierced my slumber and brought me back to the land of the living. It was still dark in my room, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

A dream. It was all a dream. An intricately woven, strange, acid-like trip of a dream. But it was over, and I could get on with the business of my life.

So, why was I so sad all of a sudden?

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stretched in the bed.

So comfortable. So much larger than…

I sat straight up in bed, reached for the lamp, and clicked on the light.

Dang it.

The Mistletoe Suite stared back at me in all of its Christmas glory.

“Well, at least it isn’t a snowbank.” I reached for my phone, only to be greeted by the “no service” message on the screen. I sighed in frustration—just my luck. With the enthusiasm of a tortoise, I rolled out of bed, threw on my clothes, and pulled back the drapes on the window. A light dusting of snowclung to the window panes, and the blanketing winter wonderland across the town square sparkled in the early morning sunlight.

It would be a beautiful, cold day here in the Twilight Zone.

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