Happy New Year's Eve (Oh & Christmas Came Back)

Well well, it's New Year's Eve. So Happy New Year's Eve. There is *only* 1 hour and 50 minutes left of 2007 as I type this, it's scary to say that one year passes by so fast. Time does fly by but I enjoyed 2007, and let's hope 2008 will be just as awesome. I had the best times at camp and 2007 will be the only year where i've been to camp (JP) 3 times (Jazz Camp- Apr 2007, Choir Camp- Oct 2007, & Senior Camp- Dec 2007).

I have so much to thank and people to thank this year for supporting me always and being there with me. Also for making and sharing so many memories with me. I have so much to look back at and just laugh, and remember all those good times. I've had so much fun in all the camps, in all the hangouts and all the music events we've been at. I've never had a better afterschool club then i did in grade 10. Most of all, I've been exposed to being fans of many things now- Toronto Maple Leafs (as always), DBSK (haha since last year summer), HSM (LOL, it was because of HSM 2) & lastly WongFu.

Without these types of entertainment, sometimes I don't even know what would happen, they can bring so many laughs to me when I need them. But also, there are people who's been there for me. Thanks everyone for an awesome 2007.

Now since 2007 is ending, we would need you know, new year resolutions. Mine is to "work out", i'm coughfatcough. Haha and probably just get more sleep in general too. So I'm assuming that's two new year resolutions, oh and less junk food (my pimples really get annoying >.>) That is all I can think of now.

Anyways, before the posting of my "second" story, (the first one will be posted another time) Happy 2008 everyone, best wishes and hope all goes well for you guys.

~mushroom-chan;;neutral.as.ever;;

~~~the story~~~
Christmas Came Back*

I was walking down rancliff lane, wondering why the snow was melting away 2 days before Christmas. Last year, it was a green Christmas; it wasn’t going to be another one again, right? What happened to that magical white Christmas I wanted? The perfect Christmas that I wish could happen this year, but will never come true. I know Christmas is about being together, but I love the snow. It just brings me so much more energy to be in that Christmas Spirit, something that has been coming and going for me a lot this year. I kept thinking of the reasons that this should be a magical & special Christmas even without a lot of snow.

But then something interrupted me, I stopped walking and turned my eyes to the left. There in front of my eyes were the best looking Christmas goodies I’ve seen for a long time and one of the biggest teddy bear I’ve ever seen. It reminded me of Spencer from WongFu’s Give and Take, but other than the huge teddy bear that caught my attention, it was the hot chocolate that was being sold. Even though most of the snow had melted away, it was still pretty cold and so I walked right in for a cup of heaven.

I walked inside, and there was a pretty long line. Some were buying Christmas pastries, others were getting hot chocolate and there were a few looking around for gifts. I wasn’t surprised that there were many customers as the whole store was filled with beautiful Christmas decorations; the Christmas Spirit here was great, so who wouldn’t want to be in here before Christmas Eve? The store really brought me back to my childhood memories when my family and I would always spend time together putting the Christmas tree up and all the presents my brother and I would get. As we got older, we bought ourselves a smaller tree with really pretty lights since we rarely had time to put up decorations on the tree. But we would still enjoy a nice Christmas dinner together until the year I turned 14. That year, there were no Christmas trees, no presents, no family dinner & just nothing, I spent that Christmas in the hospital with my brother. And ever since that year, Christmas never came to my home again, the last time we celebrated Christmas as a family was when I was 13.

It was my turn to take my order, and the hot chocolate looked so delicious that I ordered a large cup. I found a comfy seat in the sitting area to enjoy my drink. I sat down and took a sip of my hot chocolate. It was the best thing I’ve had for awhile and probably one of the things that reminded me of Christmas the most. I haven’t celebrated Christmas for 2 years, 3 including this year. The hot chocolate brought me back to the memories of my last Christmas 3 years ago. That year, my brother cooked us a big and delicious feast for dinner, and it was also my first time that I bought presents for my family. My brother had accompanied me to the mall to buy the gifts except for the one I got him, of course.

I still remember what my brother got me; it was a heart locket necklace that I am still wearing after all these years. Inside the locket was two stones, one was my birthstone and the other was my brothers. My brother told me it symbolized our relationship as siblings and that no matter where I was or where he was, we would always be together. I remember feeling kind of bad that his present has so much meaning behind it while mine was just a winter cap but he told me he really liked it, and he always wore it that year. My brother and I spent quite a handful of money on presents and the food for our Christmas dinner. I will never forget the fun we had making that cheesecake and it was the first & last cheesecake we made together. Although, it was our first time making it, my mom said it was really tasty.

I was almost done my hot chocolate, but it was still very warm just like even though Christmas was over, Boxing Day that year was fun. My parents didn’t want to be part of the crowd so they stayed home and my brother offered to bring me to the mall. So we went together in the morning, we bought some things together then we split off after lunch with our friends and met up again at around 4. After we left the mall, we went for a snack and came home. That night, instead of another meal made by my brother, my parents went out for dinner alone while my brother and I went to this random restaurant trying all kinds of different foods. For the rest of the holiday, we visited Niagara Falls and then we started to catch up on our homework since my brother was going to university in a year.

I finished the last sip of my hot chocolate and it was all gone just like how my last Christmas is only a memory now. We’re never going to celebrate Christmas and if we do, it will never be as this family again. I miss my brother, and we never knew that my 13th Christmas would be our last, never did he know that the year I turned 14 would be his last year here too. My brother was 18, and he never knew that my Christmases would never come back again. The year I turned 14, we spent our Christmas in the hospital, and then it all ended.

I held my necklace close to my heart and I remember that this wasn’t the last Christmas present I got from my brother. We were in the hospital and my brother did give me another present, it was a really big teddy bear wearing a Santa hat. He didn’t exactly give it to me in the hospital but he showed me a picture of it and told me it was waiting for me at home.

I stayed with my brother the whole night but then I had to leave. Before I left, he said “Merry Christmas, I love you” and those were his last words to me. On Boxing Day, I went back and he wasn’t there to wish me a Happy Boxing Day, he left me all alone only with a note.

Since I was young child, people said the only reason people would cry during Christmas is because they were happy. I learnt that those were tears of joy but now I know, they all lied to me. They said Christmas was happy, full of love, happiness. They told me that sometimes people were so happy during this time of the year that they would cry. Ever since that year to now, I sure had lost many tears during Christmas, but they were all tears for the wrong reason. They were definitely tears. But not the right ones. Not tears of joy.

I stood up and threw my cup into the trash can. I left all heated up but inside my heart, something felt cold.

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It was Christmas Eve, I looked outside and there was no snow in the air. What happened to my friend saying it would snow today and on Christmas? Just more lies to me again? I got up and went over to my desk and I spent the entire day writing Christmas cards for family & friends. I also went over to a friend’s house just so I wouldn’t go crazy at home since I would be spending Christmas at home with my own teddy bear, Avery, who looked just like Spencer.

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I was sitting in my room two days after Christmas looking at old photo albums and thinking back to my childhood memories. Now that Christmas was technically over, I had to get back on track this holiday before school started. It was a little hard since I’ve been on the other end of the bed for awhile so I wonder if I’ll be able to actually get my books out to study this holiday. I decided that if I wanted to get back on track with school and all, I should start it by taking another walk outside since I haven’t been away from my home for 3 days now. Fresh air is always good for the brain anyways.

I went out the door of my house and started walking. I ended up in the same street I was walking down 3 days ago, and I wasn’t surprised to know that I’ll probably pass down the same store too. I was only a few blocks away from it and I saw a few snowflakes fall down. A little part of me wished that more snowflakes would come down but I knew that it wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t going to snow today. It didn’t snow on Christmas and it wasn’t going to snow after either. I looked through the window of the store and saw that there were still many customers even though Christmas passed. Also, Mr. Teddybear was still sitting at the window greeting everyone just waiting for someone to claim it. The store looked just as filled as it was 3 days ago as if Christmas was still here. I decided to go in for another round of hot chocolate, as I was waiting to take my order, I thought I saw it snowing. But who was I kidding; it was only my own imagination.

Once I got my hot chocolate, I went home. I just had this sudden urge to go home and see Avery. It didn’t take me long to get home since I jogged all the way with my cup of hot chocolate in my hand. I ran inside and went to find Avery; I grabbed him and carried him downstairs. He was quite big so I had to be careful I didn’t spill my hot chocolate. With Avery, I left the house and went to visit the trees that my brother and I used to go to often. There were two trees that we loved, one was perfect for the summer and the other was perfect for the winter because it was like an evergreen tree. Every winter, the pine tree was usually decorated but I stopped decorating it ever since I was 14.

After a short walk, we were there, the tree was decorated a bit this year. It was probably some family that lived around there who did it. I sat down beside the big tree with Avery and stared at the pretty Christmas tree. I took a sip of my warm hot chocolate and I turned to face Avery and many memories started to come back again. Then I felt it, a cold droplet of water fell on my nose, but it wasn’t rain, it was a snowflake. I looked up and it was really snowing. Snowflakes fell on my hair and Avery. I wasn’t dreaming and this wasn’t my imagination, it was actually snowing and it was soo pretty. It wasn’t only a few snowflakes here and there, I held Avery and my necklace close to me. And then I felt a warm cozy air of happiness I haven’t felt for a long time. It finally came back to me after 3 years, it was finally Christmas again. I looked up into the clear blue sky, smiling and said “Merry Christmas Aaron!”

~mushroom-chan;;