Holly
Holly smiled as she stepped back to savor all her hard work. After many long hours, the Christmas decorations in her apartment were nearing perfection.
There were festive garlands framing the mantle, wreaths on every door, and no fewer than seven different types of Christmas lights strung across every wall, merrily twinkling and blinking in the fading afternoon light.
And the tree? Every bough was festooned with ornaments, each one a treasured item from her vast collection, right down to the hand blown glass angel on the top. Christmas lights were carefully laid out in a perfect spiral, perfectly matching the garland she had made out of popcorn and dried cranberries. It looked like something out of a fairy tale.
Everywhere she looked, Holly saw Christmas, and that thought made her very happy, indeed. All year long, she had waited for the season to arrive, and now it was here! Sure, there was no snow outside, and her family was far away, but other than that, this was perfection.
Yes, she sighed to herself, at least she could relax and enjoy every single moment of this wonderful holiday, a time when it was okay to permit your neighbors good cheer, pray for world peace, and indulge herself in sweet treats like homemade cookies, gooey fudge, and, of course, steaming mugs of peppermint hot chocolate, her absolute favorite.
But just as she turned to head to the kitchen to pour herself another helping of hot chocolate, her foot caught on one of the Christmas tree light cables, knocking her to the floor. There was a loud hiss, and then a bright flash of light as several of the bulbs popped. And then Holly shrieked as a powerful jolt of electricity zapped her, momentarily causing her to lose consciousness.
Feeling woozy, Holly slowly sat up, wincing at the pain she felt in every muscle in her body. What had just happened? She then gasped in horror as she saw that all of her Christmas lights were now lifeless and dead. This was a disaster!
Holly bounded to her feet and then began frantically checking all the cables. Several of them had been fused into a nasty plastic mess that singed her fingers when she touched it. She tried unplugging them and then plugging them back in, but it was no use. Something had shorted them out, and now Christmas was completely ruined!
Dashing to the fuse box in the front hallway, Holly sent up a silent prayer, hoping that maybe all she needed to do was flip a switch, and then Christmas would come back. But to her dismay, nothing happened, and she spent several long moments angrily flipping the switches back and forth, cursing at their stubborn refusal to bring her Christmas lights back to life.
What was she going to do? Trapped in an apartment without her beautiful, wonderful lights was a nightmare. And for this to happen on Christmas Eve? A total catastrophe. There was no way that Santa was going to be able to find her now, not in a dark, empty apartment without a wonderland of lights to guide him.
Sobbing to herself, Holly paced around her apartment, trying to figure out what to do. Was there time to go to the store and buy some new ones? No, wait, it was already after five o’clock, and most of them shut down early because of the holiday. Order some lights online? No, they’d never get delivered on time, even if she paid extra for rush shipping.
It was all so hopeless! Christmas was utterly ruined. All those long hours and hard work of getting everything decorated to perfection, for naught. She had obviously been a Bad Girl this year, and this was Santa’s way of punishing her. That was the only explanation that made sense.
But then an idea struck her. Maybe this wasn’t Santa’s doing. Maybe there was some manufacturing defect in her lights. Yes! And so what she really needed to do was call in an electrician, someone who understood these things. Of course! And then he could use his skills to restore Christmas, and everything would be okay again.
Taking out her phone, Holly began going through all the listings for electricians in her city. But as she clicked through to voice call them, she got one recorded message after another, informing her with maddening cheerfulness that they were closed for the holidays. No! This couldn’t be happening. Surely, there had to be a man out there who could deliver her a Christmas miracle.
With grim determination, Holly went through every listing for an electrician that she could find. And then, at long last, a human being answered.
“Hello?” came the gruff male voice on the other end.
“Hi there!” said Holly, being sure to put on a cheerful Christmas smile as she spoke. “I’m so happy that you answered. I really need an electrician. Can you help me?”
“Oh shit,” said the man. “Sorry, I only answered by accident. We’re closed. Call back next week, miss.”
“Please, sir!” said Holly, fighting back years. “It’s a Christmas emergency!”
“Look, as I said, we’re closed,” said the man. “And my wife will tan my hide if I tell her I’m heading out to do a job right now, you feel me? But, um, if it’s really an emergency, I may know a guy who can help.”
“Yes, sir, it really is!” said Holly, her heart racing.
“Okay, hang on,” said the man, setting the phone down for a minute. “All right, are you still there? His name is Nick, and here’s his number. I’m... not sure if he’s still got his license or not, but he’s your best bet. I worked with him on a couple of jobs, and he knows his stuff.”
“Oh, thank you, sir! Thank you one million times,” gushed Holly. “And I wish you the very merriest Christmas.”
“Yeah, all right,” said the man with a wry chuckle before ending the call.
As quick as a wink, Holly dialed the number the man had given her. At first, she was excited to hear the call go through, but then it rang and rang with no answer. Just when she was about to give up, though, someone picked up.
“Um, hello?” came a male voice.
“Hello, is this Nick?” said Holly, remembering to use her cheerful Christmas tone of voice.
“Yeah, who’s this?” said the man on the other end.
“My name’s Holly. And I got your phone number from Jolt Brothers,” said Holly. “I’m in need of an electrician, and they said you might be able to help. It’s an emergency!”
“An emergency, eh?” said Nick after a long pause. “You do realize that it’s Christmas Eve, right?”
“Yes, of course,” said Holly. “That’s exactly why it’s an emergency! Something happened to my Christmas lights. And I just don’t know what I’d do without them. Christmas has to be perfect, you see.”
“Sure, right,” came Nick’s reply. “Listen, if I come out there, I’m gonna have to charge you a five hundred dollar callout free.”
“Oh, of course! No problem,” gushed Holly, her heart thumping in her chest. “I’m happy to pay it. Please, you have to help me.”
“All right, all right,” came Nick’s grumbling reply. “What’s your address?”
Holly told him, and she could hear the scratching of a pen as he took down the details. “All right, I’ll be there in an hour or so.”
“Thank you, Nick! You don’t know how much this means to me,” said Holly. “If you can get my lights working again, it’ll truly be a Christmas miracle.”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Nick. “Just sit tight.”
“Thank you,” said Holly, sighing with happiness after closing the connection.
See? She wasn’t a Bad Girl after all. Santa was just testing her to see if she was worthy. And she was, she really was! And after Nick came over and worked his magic, everything in the world would be okay again. There was still plenty of time before midnight for her to get everything ready for his arrival.
