“I don’t know how.” Carl reiterated as he came into the room. It wasn’t that he was putting things off and scrambling to get it together at the end. It was more of an inability to devote himself to focusing on the holiday cheer when they were imprisoned in a giant park. It felt stupid and pointless, but he’d let everyone down with the zoo already so being a sullen brat about their desire for Christmas celebrations wasn’t really an option. He followed Audrey to the table in the middle of the room and waited for her to clear a spot for him to pile the gifts on. “My mom always did it.” He admitted, stacking the little boxes into some semblance of order. “She did all of that.”
“Thank you.” Carl said with a nod at her offer of coffee. The warmth sounded nice after he’d snuck out into the snow to avoid that suffocating feeling of being so surrounded by this new version of normal. He was still a little chilled from it, but even with that brief escape he couldn’t seem to shake the sense that none of this was right. It made him think of what his dad had told him that night in the church. Never get comfortable. Never think you’re safe. That was what they were doing now. “Not just for this," He added, "for everything."