You Have 86,400 Seconds To Find Me

Five Years Ago (Before the countdown)

     My family never really did anything special to celebrate Christmas. I was an only child so, it wasn't like I had any siblings or anything. As a matter of fact, the year I found out Santa didn't really exist, I wasn't even sad. Christmas was kind of just another day for me. Sure, every year my Dad bought a Christmas tree and we decorated the house all up with lights and we hung our stockings along the mantle but, the Christmas spirit was always lacking. 

   That was, at least, until I met Macy. 

   Macy loved Christmas. It was her favorite holiday, she would sing Christmas carols non-stop from right after Thanksgiving dinner all the way up until she went to bed on Christmas night. She even had a red Santa hat she would wear with her dark mahagony coat, and whenever we were driving around, doing some Christmas shopping, and we would come across one of those dress up Santa's ringing a bell, collecting change for the needy, Macy would always pull over and throw a few dollars into the container. 

   That was one of the first things I noticed about Macy. One of the first things I fell in love with. Macy's ability to always put others before herself. 

   I remember the day I went over Macy's house, I believe it was the day, literally the day, after Thanksgiving, and I had ran up the stairs two at a time, like I always did. I remember my jaw dropping to the floor as I turned around the corner to find Macy's room completely covered in Chistmas lights. There were white, red and green lights surrounding every corner of the room. They edged along Macy's ceiling and down the sides of the walls, she had a wreath pinned up against the inside of her bedroom door, and she had four stockings hanging up on the wall next to her bed. One was red with a gingerbread girl on it, in a pink dress. That one read Mom in big green letters. Next to that one, was a green one with a gingerbread boy on it, and that one read Dad in big red letters. There was also one with a snowman on it, it was ice blue, with a snowflake hidden right in the middle of the a in Macy's name. Then, last but not least, there was a gold one, with a reindeer on it. In dark red fabric, Macy had cut out the letters of my name and sewed them onto the top of the stocking, so it now read Max. 

   "Do you like it?" Macy had asked, from the side of her bed, a smile peeking it's way out through the side of her lips.

   I stood there for a moment, my mouth still slightly ajar. No one had ever gone through the trouble to stitch my name into a stocking before. Even my stocking at home didn't have my name on it. It was solid red with a bell on it, nothing special, but this? Macy had given me something so special, I couldn't even find the words. No way a simple thank you would ever suffice, but it would have to do. 

   "I love it, Mace," I said, closing the distance between us and pulling her in for a hug. "Thank you."

   "You're welcome," she said, and I could hear the smile on her face when she spoke. "Why don't you look inside it?" 

   "What?" I asked, not understanding. "Why?"

   "Because maybe Santa got you an early present this year."

   I walked over to Macy's bed and carefully pulled my stocking off of the wall, careful not to rip it. And then I stuck my hand in to find a small piece of paper hidden inside the toes. 

   "What did Santa leave you, Max?" Macy asked me, faking surprise. 

   I turned the piece of paper around. "It's a ticket to Hanover Theatre," I said. "It's to go see A Christmas Carol."

   "No way!," Macy said, walking over to the bottom drawer of her desk and pulling three tickets out from it. "Santa left the same thing in our stockings! I guess we're all going to see it together!"