t'was the night before christmas | round i

[Anahera]

while the morning stars sang together

She walked quietly through the trees, pregnant, not a care in the world, when in an instant, everything went black...

Here she sleeps....in a fluffy pink canopy bed, the room of a daughter, young, naive, and innocent. She was just in her 4th elementary year and living in a fantasy world, so of course it was only natural she would believe in Santa and her younger brother.....wait...She shakes her head slightly, snorting a little in her "sleep".....her mind reels in her "dreams"....she then thinks back....she was a horse not too long ago..and an.adult, AND PREGANT.....that is right...she was walking through the woods when suddenly she went dizzy and now she is here, in a bed, not a sign of her baby bump or wings, and HUMAN.

this must be a dream...I will flow with it...I am spending christmas at the family homestead, this will be a pleasantly interesting dream...

She wakes, a clatter on the roof above that sounds as if it were Santa's reindeer brings her to an upright position. She leaps out of bed with an excited curiosity, her blonde curls bounced as socked feet quickly bounded down the hall and to the stairs. She felt excited, could it really be!? But, this is...not right. Her gut is telling her something is wrong. But how could Santa be bad? How could he be? But soon down the chimney elves came, but they were not what they seemed in the stories....they were distorted and menacing, ripping at the stockings hung perfectly on the mantle. Anahera steps back slowly, quietly....ducking herself behind the stair railing. Blue eyes wide with the bubbling up of her fears. She thinks a moment...what to do...what to do...She looks to her left, she sees the flight of stairs leading to she and her brother's bedrooms and mother and father's room. To her right, there was a doorway that lead into the kitchen...she does not have much time....for the clatter on the roof turned into loud bangs. She begins to feel trapped....what should she do???

How is it that no one is waking up?! These...THINGS are destroying our home!! I have to do something quick...

Her fear makes her freeze momentarily as what is dressed like Santa emerged from the fireplace in a poof of soot. Her eyes grow wider, fear gripping her in the likeness of being dunked into a tank of water while being strapped into a straight jacket. Her usual timid and passive nature is shoved aside by intense rush of adrenaline...the "Grinch" lets out a nasty snarl and speaks in a tongue unknown to her, his gnarly minions scattered about the house, ripping family photos off the walls and destroying every beloved possession in the home. The Grinch's menacing eyes burned into hers...contact was made. He lets out a thunderous laugh and his minions began ripping apart the presents...he then turned to reach for the angel atop the tree, ripping her wings off one by one...symbolism? maybe, but this is her chance. She turns quickly to the right and slips into the kitchen, in her blind rage, the blonde, red pajama clad girl forgets which drawer the knives are in. There is no time to search, she had to think fast. Then it hit her, she was going full on Rapunzel.

Overhead a rack of hanging pots and pans hovered. Anahera grabbed the largest, most hold-able frying pan she could find, and quickly slipped to put her back against the wall right on the left of the doorway. She can hear the beast jangle and thud down the hall toward the door, she tightens her grip on the handle of the pan. She takes a quick moment to survey her surroundings, she sees there is a window over the kitchen sink, and a back door. She wonders if she could make it to the door...but that would be too loud when she shuts it....the window would be her best bet. But....the family...she couldn't risk running out into the hall and up the stairs now....

Suddenly an imp drops down from the cabinet overhead and starts pulling at her hair. She stipends a screech and struggles to get the demon off of her. It laughs as it scratches at her face and continues to rip at her hair. She manages to flip her long hair down far enough from her face to take a swat at it with the pan. It dodges the first swing but the second was much more successful...it fell to the floor..not dead...just out of order for a little while...obviously she had gained some unwanted attention now. She had to find somewhere to perch....then she sees it...a pass through. She beams...this used to be "daddy"'s booze storage, but he acquired a new one and "mother" had conveniently cleaned it out a few nights prior. She has to move fast.

Anahera quietly and swiftly skittered across the cold tile floor to the unlocked side of the pass through. She fit perfectly, and closed the door just enough so she could see....on the other side of the pass through is the living room/dining room...there the imps could be heard giggling and screeching foreign words...and the beast....soon she can hear the Grinch...he is just on the other side of the pass through in the living room....his breathing is practically right in her ear. The tears well up in her blue eyes....this nightmare...she had to wake up....she just had to...silent sobs shake her body...she can't help herself...she hopes he does not hear her...but he is RIGHT THERE....and the imps are now making their way into the kitchen....going through the fridge and climbing on the light over the table...she is in a bad spot...bad bad bad....what now...what is she to do now....what would happen if he caught her..??? This was a dream....a bad dream....this literally could not be real...

ANAHERA

Marijuana x Freiya