A Maddening Christmas

On a snowy day in a small town, a family of three were driving into a neighborhood.

“Why did we have to move to small town Montana in the middle of winter?” asked the teenage daughter from the back seat as she looked out the window at all of the decorated houses. Her hair was as white as snow, but her eyes were a bright blue that almost shined like gems.

“Because it’s where my work took me,” said her father. He was a heavy-set man with a long white beard and the same blue eyes that she had.

“Your self-employed dad, you couldn’t have decided to take us to Florida?” asked the daughter.

“Just drop it, Sage,” said her mother from the passenger seat.

“You know how important your father’s job is,” she said.

“How important can a job that’s dying be?” grumbled Sage while rolling her eyes. The car then pulled into a driveway to a house on one of the corners which was covered in a fresh layer of snow.

“Maybe we should have hired someone to clear the walk before we got here,” said Sage as they got out.

“Let’s just get inside, all of our stuff should already be set up,” said the father. Once they stepped into the house, the three noticed the warmth in the air right away.

“Ah, that feels much better,” said the mother.

“Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Parkens, you finally made it,” said a man, who stood no taller than three feet, as he came out from the dining room.

“It’s good to see you, Frank,” said Mr. Parkens.

“And thank you again for always helping us when we move,” said Mrs. Parkens.

“Always happy to help you all out, my family owes you a lot after all for taking care of us for so long,” said Frank.

“Shouldn’t the debt be paid since they fired all of you years ago?” asked Sage while heading for the stairs.

“Sage, we had no choice but to shut the workshop down and let everyone go, we have talked about this before,” said Mr. Parkens.

“And no one holds it against them,” said Frank.

“That’s the thing, Frank, they did have a choice and now we all have to pay for it because they made the wrong one,” said Sage while heading off up the stairs with the eyes of the three adults following her until out of sight.