A Not So Jolly Christmas Day

My family was an ordinary family. Everything about us was average. There were four of us, my mom, my dad, my brother, and me. My brother, Carter was fifteen and I was seventeen. Today marked the 24th of December, Christmas Eve.

My parents were the type that didn't shop beforehand for Christmas. They would wait until tonight every year and once we all fell asleep they would go to the store and buy us gifts. Sometimes depending on what we want they would order them beforehand and just hide them from us.

We were all getting ready to have dinner. I sat in my room playing my PlayStation 3 until I heard my mother call for me.

"Dinner is ready!" She called for my brother and me.

I turned off my game and headed downstairs. My brother came running down the stairs past me. I rolled my eyes at his back while I continued down the stairs to the kitchen. I made myself a plate and sat down at the dinner table. My parents had already made themselves a plate.

Carter was stuffing his face so full of food that he looked like a chipmunk gathering food for the winter. My dad looked at Carter and back to my mom who gave him a stern look.

"Carter, if you don't slow down you're going to choke on your food," my mother warned my stubborn brother.

He obeyed mom and began eating slower while watching her out of the corner of his eye. He just wanted to get back to bed so Christmas Day would hurry up and he could open the presents that he thinks he's getting.

After we all finished our dinner we all went to our rooms to get ready for bed. I put on a slim, black t-shirt and a loosely fitting pair of gray sweatpants before heading to the bathroom. Carter had beat me to it.

"Hurry up, I have to pee!" I shouted while pounding my fist on the door.

Carter opened the door and shot me an angry glance before dashing off to his room. I rolled my eyes again before using the bathroom, washing my hands, and brushing my teeth.

It didn't take long for me to fall asleep when I went back to my room.

Christmas Day (December 25th)

I woke up to my brother shaking me violently.

"Wake up! We gotta go open presents!" He shouted while still rocking my body back and forth.

"I'm up already! Stop!" I yelled while grabbing his arms and pushing him off me.

I sat up and was eyeing him. He was laughing and ran back out of my room. I could hear his loud feet hitting each step on his way downstairs. I climbed out of my bed and walked downstairs to join my family.

We opened all of our presents and Carter was already playing with his things. He even got his own PlayStation.

"Mom! Can I go hook it up?" Carter asked while jumping up and down.

"Yes, but hurry back down we have more presents!" Mom told him.

She handed me a small box probably a little smaller than the size of my head. It was a perfect square. The wrapping on it looked a little weird though. I started tearing the wrapping paper when I noticed there was something oozing from the box. It was a deep red and it was warm.

"Ew," I breathed while wiping my hand on my sweats and ripping the rest of the paper off.

It was a plain box with a red liquid dripping from the corners. I opened the top and let out a terrified scream. Inside was a decapitated puppy head.

My brother came running down the stairs wanting to know what he was missing out on when he tripped down the stairs and collided with the wall. My mom and dad started yelling out towards Carter and forgot all about the bloody mess in my present box. Dad rushed to grab Carter checking him over. He went unconscious. The wind began picking up outside and I ran to the window to see snow coming down in a storm. It was horrible. Suddenly something broke the window and glass went everywhere. My first instinct was to cover my neck and duck.

I heard my mother scream as two huge chunks of glass impaled her. One sat right below her ear and the other was in her arm. My dad pointed at my arm and when I looked I had a decent-sized piece stuck in my shoulder. I couldn't even feel it. The adrenaline from the shock of the situation had me feeling numb.

Then something crashed into my head and I was knocked unconscious.

Finally, I woke up to my head pounding and my shoulder hurt like hell. I pulled the glass out with a scream and looked around. My entire family was on the floor and they were all dead. When I looked outside the storm was gone with nothing but snow to prove it had happened.

I slowly stand up as my whole body continued to shiver. I began to limp towards the door while choking on my tears and my blood. I had to shove open the door from all the snow that was entrapping the house. I grimaced in pain. The sight of the trees in the distance and the sound of the wind frightened me even more. I was alone. I didn't want to give up though.

I started dragging my leg through the thick snow. I wasn't even wearing the appropriate attire for being outside let alone walking a couple of miles down the road to find help. However, I still carried on.

I'm slow because of my limp, and it seemed the night sky was creeping on me at such a faster pace. The darker it got, the more the snow started to glisten in front of me. As I moved through the snow I was staining it red with my blood. I was turning a beautiful thing into something terrifying, and ugly.

The temperature dropped tremendously in the dark. I could see snow glistening off the ground, the trees, and any rocks I came across.

I walked for almost an hour before I found my way to town. I was standing limply on a hill that slightly overlooked the town. I could see the lights clear as day in the dark.

I had just climbed out of the trees when my legs turned to jelly and I crashed into the cold snow. My body was so stiff and numb from the cold. I tried to speak, but I could barely get anything out. I was slowly feeling the life creep out of me while I laid with my upper body in someone's backyard and the other half laying still in the woods. I could only hope that someone would see me and come get me.

> >

But, nobody came to my rescue.

I took my last breath in that spot.

I was found the next morning frozen completely and that's when they went to my parent's house and found the rest of them dead.

If I'm dead though... how am I telling you my story?

The answer to that question is simple. I am Hadley Wright, the girl who froze to death, and I am here to let you know that....

Y O U ' R E N E X T !