Annie LVIII: Christmas

(Chronological index: Raymond in Middle School)

She woke up slowly. It was unusual for Annie, but she was wrapped deep in something warm and cozy. She didn't want to wake up any more than she wanted to get up.

A bit of cold air nipped at her nose. It was the only part exposed through the fleecy blanket.

She wasn't used to cold weather. In Jacksonville, they only saw it-

Christmas! She woke instantly. Boaz had promised her a very special Christmas Day! That was today!

And since he thought hitting 90 on the freeway was a god-given right, his idea of special was significant.

She rose and turned to slide her feet to the side of the bed. They got tangled in the thumb of the mitten she was sleeping in. Dueling realities fought in her mind as she tried to hold onto the better one.

Boaz lost, though. By the time she'd rolled all the way over to slide off her bed, she was back in the cage.

Back in the kid's bedroom.

Through the cage bars she saw Raymond pop up on his own bed. Her noise had served as a starter's gun.

"You're awake!" he said. "It's Christmas!"

"I know, Raymond," she said. She slid up and out of the mitten to stand by her water dish. "I know because my water froze over."

"It did?" he asked. He stood and leaned over. "Hey, there's no water in your dish." She only raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Whoops." He walked quickly to the door, then paused.

"I'm not supposed to leave the room until they come and get me," he said.

"What, you're going to accidentally look down three flights of stairs, down the hall and around a corner to see what Santa left under the Tree?" she sneered.

"It's the rule," he said. She stopped sneering. She did like that he obeyed the rules the parents put down. If nothing else, it kept her out of radio controlled planes and off kites.

"Well," she said. "Are you allowed to go to the bathroom?"

"Quickly," he said. He came back and opened the cage, taking her out and putting her in his pocket. She automatically glanced down at the floor below to see if the grownup door was open. Not yet.

Raymond slid into the attic bathroom and placed her down next to the tiny sink. He started water running and handed her a Dixie cup.

"What am I going to do with this?" she asked.

"I really have to pee," he said. "Get your own water."

He turned away and she kicked the cold water handle. The flowing water almost drowned out the noise of his own flow.

She pushed the cup under the water. It was yanked out of her hand by the pressure. That tipped her over into the basin. Icy water flowed around her. She stood and sputtered. It was up to her knees and the current bumped the cup against her every few seconds.

The sylph knelt and drank from cupped hands. Raymond's hands were shoved into the water so he could wash. Cold spray inundated the tiny young woman.

She screamed. "OOPS!" He apologized and plucked her up. Cold wet fingers wrapped her in his pajama top to dry.

"No towels?" she sneered.

"Yeah," he said, "but I figure my clothes are heated from my body."

"Ah," she allowed. It was cozy warm in his clothing, wrapped inside his fist. She'd never compliment his quick thinking but she did appreciate it.

The soft material wicked the water away and she started to regain sensation in her legs.

Just as he got back to the door of his room, The Dad called out his and Annie's names.

Annie sneered. It wasn't like she could choose not to come down to see the tree, not cramped in the kid's fist.

They'd tried hard to make her feel like part of the family for the Christmas season. But the traditions at this house weren't the ones she'd grown up with.

Rather, she thought with a snort, these were the traditions she'd grown down with. So she didn't sing, she didn't play 'I hope Santa brings you,' she didn't even touch her stocking as Raymond hung it.

All she really wanted was Boaz... Or to wake up from this nightmare.

By the time she finished that line of thought, Raymond was at the door to the living room.

The Mom and Dad were there, too. Everyone wished everyone else a Merry Christmas. Annie grunted in response.

They entered the room. The tree shone and light glinted off toys. Annie could possibly have cared a little less. With drugs, maybe.

Raymond cheered at the bike by the tree but veered to the side. He placed his sylph down on the coffee table. Then he lowered her stocking beside her.

"Here. You, uh, want me to dump it out for you, Annie? Or do you want to get the stuff?"

Arms crossed, she glanced to the side. A few candy bars spilled out of the stocking. "I, uh...." She paused to lick her lips. "I think I can do this."

Unwrapping sounds surrounded her as she mined the stocking. Candy bars were stacked according to nougat content. Truffles she stacked in a pyramid like cannonballs. And when she crawled to the bottom and found the Toblerone, she spooned it like a lover for a few moments.

"Oh, Santa!" she cooed. "I may start believing in you!"

She pushed it out in front of her to find something else on her table. A large black wire bird cage loomed over her head.

"A bird cage? As a gift?" she said. She kicked the candy in spite.

"Not a gift," The Mom said. She knelt by the table and reached out. Annie was lifted to her face. "I did think that maybe you didn't want to sleep with Thrud the Fluffinator any more. So we got you your own room."

She pet the sylph's hair a few times. "We just couldn't give you the cage gifts until we gave you the cage."

"Gifts?" Annie asked.

The Dad lay a couple of gifts down between Annie's candy stash and the cage. The Mom lowered her back to the table.

It was only the lightest of tissue on the gifts, but it still took some effort to clear it away.

Inside was a bed. A real bed. A frame. A mattress with a sheet that could be changed. And, she pressed on it with both hands, not filled with wood shavings. Was this gel?

The pillow.... "What's in this?"

"Goose down," The Dad said.

"No," she protested. It couldn’t be down. A goose feather was as long as her arm.

"Raymond cut a bunch of feathers into teeny tiny bits," The Mom explained. "Coughed for days."

"I thought he was becoming allergic to me," Annie said softly.

Raymond came over as his parents were helping her stack the candy in her new cage. "Hey! She can't have all that! I'm trying to limit her sugar intake."

"Okay," The Dad said all too agreeably. "But then, it makes more sense to limit your sugar intake."

"What? No, it doesn't!" he protested.

"How about, every time you take a bite of candy, she gets a bite?" The Mom suggested.

"Ooh, no," Dad pointed out, "He can eat an entire bar in three bites, so-"

"Two bites," Annie interjected. "He's been practicing. He's an Olympic contender for consuming mass quantities."

"Hey!" Raymond blurted.

"Shut up, Raymond," The Mom said. "Okay. How's this? All this candy belongs to Annie but it's in Raymond's control."

"HEY!" Annie blurted.

"WHEN," The Mom continued, "Raymond takes a bit of his Christmas candy, he turns one of the pieces over to Annie. She can eat as much as she wants whenever she wants."

Which, Annie realized, would mean that her owner would have to choose between indulging her and controlling her. She hoped The Mom never turned her evil powers of momipulation against the little sylph.

"Sounds fair," she said out loud. Raymond stared down at her. He carefully unwrapped a Lindt truffle and popped it into his mouth. Annie turned to the pyramid of truffles.

To her surprise, Raymond's finger pushed the Toblerone towards her...

"Merry Christmas, Annie."

"Merry Christmas, Raymond!" She ran over to grab the finger and give it a hug. Then she remembered herself and pushed it away. "Eugh! You smell like tree sap! I'm going to be sticky for days!"

Raymond laughed and pet her hair with his other hand.









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