Tick, Tock. Tick, Tock. The clock’s everlasting clicks ring in my head. Gosh, I’m trying to sleep! I think to myself. Drifting off into an unfathomable slumber, I – RING! DING! RING! The clock’s hands strike 10 o’ clock as I lift my head up in a frustrated rage. I sat there for a couple of RING!s, unable to trick my brain into even the shortest of naps. Midnight came, and I laid there listening to my heart pound repeatedly, silence enveloping me in its oddly comforting presence when suddenly I hear a CRASH! I rose from the bed, sleepy but startled nevertheless. My knees turned to rubber, my body trembling. "Something is down there!" I thought frantically as the noises continued. I forced my brain to move my unstable legs - right foot, left foot. Soon I was standing against the edge of the bed, my bare feet turning clammy as a result of the transition from my secure bed to the shockingly frigid wood floor. I inched towards the door cautiously, trying my best not to squeak the floorboards. Seizing the closest thing I had - an umbrella - I turned the brass doorknob and opened the door with a CREEEEEK. I waited a minute, praying the sounds would disappear, and hoping that it was just my imagination. But the sounds never faded, and it wasn't my mind's eye playing jokes on me. I maintained my trek through the doorway and down the hall, SQUEAK!ing occasionally. As I began to climb down the multiple steps of the staircase, each one seemed to be a mile long path to nowhere. After about seven minutes of tiptoeing down the stairway, I came to the last step. Peering around the corner of the railing cautiously, I noticed the shadow of a figure illuminated by the flickering lights of the Christmas tree. Although I couldn’t exactly make out a face, I immediately recognized the body of this person. I got a glimpse of a long protrusion coming from the chin, seemingly long and maybe fluffy, and a startlingly giant gut, perhaps a beer belly of an old man. Precipitously, I soared off of the bottom step, aiming for the figure but leaping into the dining room table instead. Sinking to the floor, pain filled my body with its unwelcome discomfort, causing my body the disability to stand up. I could hear the person walking towards me, each footstep THUMP!ing the floor. First I saw his pitch black boots, perfectly shined. Next I saw his bright red suit, then his black belt, and finally his cherry nose, rosy cheeks, and jolly smile. “Ho, Ho, Ho! You took a great fall there! May I help you up young lady?”