‘twas the season

sadie loathed the most.

october was over now.

halloween was over now.

no more black, orange, and purple.

only red, green, and gold.

no more jack-o-lanterns,

candy,

spooky stories,

monsters,

and terror.

only trees,

ornaments,

gingerbread houses,

santa claus,

and joy

for the next two months.

sadie hated it.

decked were the halls,

like that stupid song vowed,

with scarlet hollies

redder than that reindeer’s nose,

silver tinsel

brighter than obnoxious disco balls,

and christmas lights

illuminated with the rainbow.

christmas music contaminated the air,

every carol playing

on a constant,

never-ending,

sickening

loop.

worse than nails on a chalkboard,

than forks screeching against a plate.

the atmosphere reeked

of “christmas spirit.”

even the oxygen was tainted

with the scent of cinnamon and peppermint.

everything combined,

all the holly and tinsel,

all the lights and music,

all the general cheerfulness,

tormented sadie.

her head pounded with aggravation,

her eyes threw up at the decorations,

her ears screamed

at the constant carols,

begging to be ripped off.

if not for her solace,

earphones and halloween music,

she would’ve really considered it.

it would’ve been one less reminder

that her holiday of fear

was over now

and quickly replaced

by “christmas joy,”

because christmas

would never be scary

like halloween.

it was beautiful.

absolutely,

positively,

hauntingly,

disturbingly

beautiful.

a tap of her finger,

and the internet threw sadie

down,

down,

down

into a rabbit hole

of grotesque snowmen

with faces of nightmares

and sinister grins,

of black-needled trees

decorated with orange and purple,

of precious presents and toys

twisted into homicidal killing machines,

of an anti-santa claus

named krampus

who represented this genre,

this dark and beautiful genre,

of christmas.

seventeen years,

but only now

was sadie exploring this side

of her least favorite holiday.

never in a million years

would she ever believe

christmas could be worth celebrating.

never in a million years

would she ever believe

christmas could be creepy.

however,

the further she fell

down,

down,

down,

the further she was proven wrong,

and sadie had never been happier.

‘twas the season

sadie (almost) loved the most.

october was over now.

halloween? not exactly.

now there was black, orange, and crimson.

now there were black trees,

pumpkin ornaments,

hellish presents,

krampus,

and terror

for the next two months.

sadie loved it.