Fireproof // H.S.

3. Bad Memories

"What do you want for Christmas, sweetie?" my mom asked eagerly. She smoothed out the tangles in my hair lovingly and peered over my shoulder to see what I was drawing. "What's that?"

"A reindeer!" I beamed at her. "Do you like it?"

"I love it." I gave the picture to my mom and she kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks for the picture. So what do you want for Christmas?" she asked again as she withdrew from her kiss.

"Lots of things! I want a Barbie, a Tamagotchi, an Nintendo 64. Oh! And I want a puppy!" My mom laughed. "So what are you getting me?"

"It's a surprise. You have to wait until Christmas morning." Christmas morning? But that's two weeks away! After that day, I asked my parents everyday what they got me and they would always smile and say I had to wait.

Presents started to appear under the tree a few days before Christmas. I looked at each gift until I finally found the one addressed to me from mom and dad. I looked to see if mom and dad were around before I picked the present up and shook it. I knew right away that it wasn't a puppy because it's wrong to put puppies in boxes with no holes in it. I frowned. It could be anything, really. I was so tempted to open it.

It was finally the night before Christmas. My parents and relatives were happy and drunk on the couch, chatting away. I stared at the fireplace hoping time would pass quickly. The flames danced and licked the wood. I was told not to play with fire but fire has always fascinated me. There was something about it that excited me.

"Go to sleep, Violet. It's getting late," my dad said.

"But I'm not sleepy!"

"You have to wait until morning to open up the presents. Going to sleep will help pass the time."

I sighed. "Fine." I grabbed Teddy my teddy bear and went towards the stairs.

"Take Jacob with you." I stopped in my tracks.

"Jacob!" I yelled.

"What is it this time?" I heard Jacob yell back.

"Dad says we have to go to sleep."

"But I don't want to!"

"Go to sleep or Santa will put you on the naughty list," my dad joked.

I crossed my arms. "Santa's not real."

"Santa's not real?" Jacob asked. I could see that he was sad, almost on the verge of tears.

"No! Santa's real. Tell him you lied, Violet," dad said quickly, slightly panicked.

I rolled my eyes at how naive Jacob was. "I lied. Sorry." Jacob's face lit up and he ran up the stairs.

"I hope I was a good boy this year!" I heard him yell. I went up the stairs after him.

I tried so hard to fall asleep but I couldn't. I wanted to know what mom and dad got me. I turned to look at the clock. It was 5:35 AM. It's basically morning, right? I slipped out of bed and crept out into the hallway. I could hear my dad's soft snores through the door which meant mom and dad were asleep and that all my relatives went home. I silently went down the stairs and walked up to the tree. I was mesmerized by the gift. As I reached for the gift, I saw a gift for Jacob from Santa. My parents try too hard to make him happy. I think it's because of the goldfish incident. When Jacob's goldfish died, my parents lied to him saying his fish was spending the night at Grandma's. Eventually he found out the truth and cried for a week. What a cry baby.