Repose

[Delivered in the mail, a couple days after the conversation. This wrapped in pale green tissue, these, and these. There's a note that reads 'For Mallory, brussell sprouts worth eating, J']

Are you one of those ones that wants money donated to charity?

What sort of name is that?

[Patrick G]
Are you fond of the holidays?

[Stephanie M]

Do you wonder if the people that do not celebrate Christmas get annoyed by having to do these sorts of town events?

Are you the secretive type?

Don't make me guess this.

Wish I may, wish I might; what would you wish on a star tonight?

Would you say that you've been good this year?

Ho ho ho.

So, any particular feelings about gifts? Cash, sports car, boat?

This will be interesting. How do I even begin? It's like holiday truth or dare right? Or twenty questions. So, do you have a tree set up?

[At midnight (just to be extra dramatic), a single heavier gust of wind cuts from one end of town to the other. That's it, just the once. Many people are asleep, and so won't notice it. Others are watching tv, or listening to music, or other less wholesome things, and don't hear that single rush. For those few that do, it almost sounds like the beat of a giant wing - just once, and then no more. It's easily missed and easily ignored.

Then the silence returns, the snow falls steadily to the ground, and there's no other sign of anything strange happening. Even with the late hour, a young man checks into the motel at the north end of town. His jacket sleeves are pulled down against the winter chill, but when handing over the cash for the room, his left one rides up enough to reveal the ankh tattooed on the inside of his wrist. He's quiet, doesn't give a name (but the clerk doesn't seem to remember to ask), and he takes up residence in one of the rooms on the second floor.]

So hi. I was going to ask about your Christmas spirit on a scale of Charlie Brown to the Grinch, but then I realized that scale might be misleading because Charlie Brown was suffering seasonal depression and the Grinch was actually ready to make the most of Christmas night. Even if he was robbing the whole town blind, he was having a blast. Also, in the end they both arrive at the same warm place of appreciating the true meaning of Christmas. So instead, I think we will go with the standard 1-10 scale. I will also accept 11 as a reasonable answer, but only if you you make your own eggnog from scratch.