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Author's Note: These events are based off of a true story.
I woke up with sweat pouring down my face. I had a horrible nightmare of viewing my father being murdered in Afghanistan. I felt a churning in my stomach. I immediately knew what was coming. I rushed to my bathroom with as much stealth as I could. I busted open the bathroom door, lifted the toilet seat, and vomited. I hurled several times. I grabbed the tissues and blew my nose, trying to get rid of the vomit in my nose. I cupped water from the faucet into my hands. I slurped the water down, trying to clear the vomit from my throat. Then I brushed my teeth to get the horrid enamel-eating acids out of my mouth. I wait for an extra thirty minutes in the bathroom just in case I had to throw up again. I didn't. I went back to my bed to see that the digital clock was labeled 5:15 in dark red numbers. "I guess that nobody saw nor heard me," I thought. I flipped on the television to found nothing on. I took my book that I was reading for a history report. The book was about the Civil War. I read the book for the next couple of hours until it dawned on me that it was Christmas Day. That thought had made my day a bit brighter than from the beginning.
I silently went down the stairs and stared at the abundant presents under the glowing Christmas tree. One by one, everyone joined me in the living room. Tammy was the third one, right after Gramps. "Would you like to go and make some cinnamon buns?" She asked as she walked into the living room. "That sounds delicious," I replied. We walked into the kitchen and popped open the buns out of it's canister. Tammy sliced the rolls and placed them onto two separate pans to throw into the oven. She set the timer and temperature and we walked back into the living room. We saw that everyone had awoken from their dreams. We all greeted one another and sat down for a bit, waiting for the cinnamon buns to finish up. Everyone made small talk that I didn't care anything about. The buzzer for our breakfast went off. Tammy and I went to tend to the breakfast. We put the pans on the stove and drizzled the creamy icing over the buns. We waited for everything to cool off for a minute or so and the stampede herded themselves in after we had called them in for breakfast. Tammy bought enough buns for everyone to have two each.
We all chowed down and talked about our sleep. Everyone told one another that they had a good rest. They turned to me and my oblivious face. I couldn't really tell them that I vomited. "My sleep was difficult," I stammered. "Why?" Dad asked. "Well, the thought of Christmastime was still wavering in my head. You know I can hardly go to sleep on the night of Christmas Eve," I told them. "Yeah. I remember having that exact problem when I was younger," everyone agreed on. "Phew," I thought to myself, "That was a close call." We all nibbled on our food and talked. We all finished up and I cleaned the kitchen. When I finished, one thought came through my head. That thought was, "Presents!"
We all got into a circle and began distributing assortments of bags and packages, making sure that everyone got one package at a time. We all get lovely clothes, movies, and delicious candy. Tammy and I finally got to open this one gift that Dad had told us to wait until last to open. We opened it at the same time. "Kindle" was labeled on the side of the box. I opened up the box oh so fast. A shiny, black Kindle Fire was shown right in the center. We gasped at the sight of this. I knew I had asked for several books, but I definitely wasn't expecting a Kindle Fire! I gently pressed the power button. "This is an amazing gift!" I exclaimed to Dad. "Oh, this is wonderful!" Tammy said. "Well, thanks! I knew that you both wanted so many books. So, I figured, that I would get you both Kindle Fires," Dad said to us," Oh yeah! Here you go!" Dad handed us both a small envelope. We opened them up and they were fifty dollar gift cards for the Kindle store. "Thank you!" We say at the same time. We all got together and put in a new movie that we had received.
We watched the movie until it was over. By that time, it was time for lunch. We all fixed ham and turkey sandwiches. We ate until we were full, which left us a lot of food for dinner. So we got done and Dad started talking about something that I hated talking about. "So I was thinking that you could take Trent with you tomorrow when you leave," Dad said. "That won't be a problem," Gramps replied. I sighed, I really wanted to spend as much time with my dad as possible now that I knew what he'd be doing, where he'd be going. "I already sent an e-mail to your mother, asking if I could have you over spring break," Dad said. "Have you gotten a reply?" I asked. "Not yet," Dad answers. "Okay. I'm fine with going with the others tomorrow," I said, "and I'll try to convince Mom to let me come back over Spring Break." "I'm sure that she'll let you," Dad said, "Well now that that's settled, I figures that we could go chill in the living room."
"Oh, dang! Is it 3:00 already?" I exclaimed. "Wow! Time flies, I suppose," Dad said. We all huddled up together in the living room and watched some television. At 7:00 we decided to go to the kitchen and fix ourselves plates of corn, mashed potatoes, and leftover ham and turkey. After we finish our meal, we get out decks of different game cards and start playing. We shared stories, jokes, laughs, and just about everything else that you could do in a group conversation. We wrapped it up at about half past midnight. "Well, Bud, I guess it's time for you to get to bed," Dad says. "Oh, alright," I replied. We headed upstairs and he tucked me in with a silent, "Goodnight." I turned the television on and set the timer for two hours, for I knew that I would have a hard time falling asleep. It actually didn't take that long for me to fall asleep throughout my predicament of thoughts. It was about one o'clock when I finally drifted off into my slumber, though.
I woke up at seven o'clock to pack my bags. I got everything packed. I got my hygienic routine cleared out of the way and I headed downstairs with my belongings. "Hey, Trent," Dad greeted me with a smile. "Hey," I replied. We fixed everyone a plate of biscuits and we chewed on those. I took the longest, for I didn't want to leave. By the time I finally finish, it is eight o'clock. "Well, you have to go here in a bit," Dad says. I gave Tammy a hug and a kiss goodbye. Then I turned myself to Dad. I stared at him. He held his arms out and I practically flung myself into them. Tears streamed down my face into his shoulder. I held on for a few moments until I was finally rid of my tears. "Well, I'll guess I'll see you over Spring Break?" Dad asked in a choked up tone. "I will try my very best to make that happen," I replied. Sniffles filled the room. I said my goodbyes and got into the car with Gramps and his crew. I waved until I could see Dad and Tammy no more. And when that happened, I began to sob.
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