As promised, a more cheerful holiday segment after my “Ghosts of Christmas Past” blog which turned out a bit darker than expected. These are still based on the “Twelve Days of Christmas” writing prompt, which is quite interesting! If you try to recall past holidays, not just from videos or photos, what comes to mind? You might be surprised.
 
1) I’m at the mall, working at a gift wrap station as a fundraiser for our figure skating team. I’m about sixteen. After a couple of hours wrapping gift boxes and toys, a man walks over with a brand-new, full-sized floor lamp to be wrapped.

It’s interesting, the way we associate the holidays with “joy” and “cheer,” but sometimes those emotions do not predominate, despite the blessed abundance we enjoy. Recently, a writing prompt said “write twelve segments based on past memories of the holidays, eg. The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Obviously, those celebrating Hanukkah, Diwali, or other events could adjust as they wished. For me, a few of the memories that came were strangely dark, despite all the feasting and gifts and cookies and music. Like attending a birth, which I did for many years, the assumption is that the holidays are a happy time, so everything will be perfect.
 
1)  I’m a young child, maybe six or seven. My father loves to watch Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” on TV, and his particular favourite is the old black-and-white version featuring Alistair Sims.