and began to sink into the
ground. When it had disappeared, a gush of air and mist blew into
Daycare, then quickly dissipated. The black space left in the wall
reminded me of the gap left in Geebo’s grin when he’d lost his
front tooth.
They entered Daycare cautiously and
looked the way they had last year, tall, taller even than Deemi.
They wore bulky white clothing, their heads helmeted. Their weapons
holstered, but their hands rested on them. More dults followed
them. They brought Christmas into Daycare. Some had their arms full
of presents while others carried glitter and lights. Another
brought a tree.
They placed the parcels and packages on
the ground and decorated a small area around the gifts. The tree
was raised and powered up. It was a magnificent tree which rotated
at the base with the centre section slowly rotating in the opposite
direction. The branches shone, blinking on and off in many colors.
More and more gifts were brought in, until the area in front of the
wall gate was nearly covered. The presents that didn’t give off
their own light reflected those of the Christmas tree.
Some of the tree ornaments played soft
music which drifted upward, to me. The tree smelled fresh, too.
Everything was beautiful, better than the light shows Ceep would
put on to entertain us. It was a warm, enticing scene and before I
realized what I had done, I was down from the tree and wading
knee-deep among the presents. I wanted to hold one, feel the
smoothness of its wrapping and the crispness of a bow. I picked up
a small package that glowed softly. It was wrapped in gold and
trimmed with a pink ribbon and bow. I could smell the newness of it
and felt whatever was inside slip and slide around. As I turned it
over, the small identification tag lit up. It was for
Snuks.
“Put that present down. It’s not yours
yet.”
It was Deemi. I dropped the gift and
ran towards a bush, trampling gifts as I went. I could hear Deemi
right behind me as I dove for the bush. To my surprise Snuks had
been hiding there all along, and she sprung at Deemi. I watched
them tumble among the gifts and reached in my pocket for one of the
Velcro bombs I’d taken from Geebo. She was no match for Deemi, but
she’d taken him by surprise. At last Snuks fell away from him but
when I stood to throw; I had a severe pain in my ribs. I couldn’t
throw the small explosive without risking the chance that it would
miss Deemi and cling to Snuks. Suddenly, two of the dults were
keeping Snuks and Deemi apart with the threat of their
weapons.
They threatened to blast all the gifts
if Deemi and Snuks didn’t stop fighting immediately. They stopped
and Snuks walked back towards me. Someone touched me from
behind.
It was the two new kids.
“I found them taking apart all the
trapth in Daycare,” Snuks said. “They don’t want to fight for
Chrithmath all the time.”
“Geebo’s dead.” I looked at them. Snuks
started to cry quietly.
“Teb.” I waited until one of the kids
looked at me so that I could identify Teb, whose clown face had
been wiped off. “What did you do to Ceep back at the
unit?”
“Just adjusted the problem that caused
him to make that funny noise. It would have eventually caused
severe problems,” he said.
“They fixthed Theep. Now he doth
everything on time, like thnow for Chrithmath,” Snuks
said.
“That’s all? You just fixed
him?”
The kids looked at each other, and I
had this sick feeling there was more.
“We did some security bypasses,” Teb
said.
“It was all done at Ceep’s request,
which was made before we arrived at Daycare,” the other one
added.
“What does all that mean?” I
asked.
“Geebo won’t be back,” Teb
answered.
“Geebo only died twith. He’ll be back,”
Snuks said.
“None of the kids killed this Christmas
will be back,” Teb told her.
There was a commotion beyond the tree.
We turned to see Deemi jump onto the dult guard who had separated
him and Snuks. A second dult guard was on
ground. When it had disappeared, a gush of air and mist blew into
Daycare, then quickly dissipated. The black space left in the wall
reminded me of the gap left in Geebo’s grin when he’d lost his
front tooth.
They entered Daycare cautiously and
looked the way they had last year, tall, taller even than Deemi.
They wore bulky white clothing, their heads helmeted. Their weapons
holstered, but their hands rested on them. More dults followed
them. They brought Christmas into Daycare. Some had their arms full
of presents while others carried glitter and lights. Another
brought a tree.
They placed the parcels and packages on
the ground and decorated a small area around the gifts. The tree
was raised and powered up. It was a magnificent tree which rotated
at the base with the centre section slowly rotating in the opposite
direction. The branches shone, blinking on and off in many colors.
More and more gifts were brought in, until the area in front of the
wall gate was nearly covered. The presents that didn’t give off
their own light reflected those of the Christmas tree.
Some of the tree ornaments played soft
music which drifted upward, to me. The tree smelled fresh, too.
Everything was beautiful, better than the light shows Ceep would
put on to entertain us. It was a warm, enticing scene and before I
realized what I had done, I was down from the tree and wading
knee-deep among the presents. I wanted to hold one, feel the
smoothness of its wrapping and the crispness of a bow. I picked up
a small package that glowed softly. It was wrapped in gold and
trimmed with a pink ribbon and bow. I could smell the newness of it
and felt whatever was inside slip and slide around. As I turned it
over, the small identification tag lit up. It was for
Snuks.
“Put that present down. It’s not yours
yet.”
It was Deemi. I dropped the gift and
ran towards a bush, trampling gifts as I went. I could hear Deemi
right behind me as I dove for the bush. To my surprise Snuks had
been hiding there all along, and she sprung at Deemi. I watched
them tumble among the gifts and reached in my pocket for one of the
Velcro bombs I’d taken from Geebo. She was no match for Deemi, but
she’d taken him by surprise. At last Snuks fell away from him but
when I stood to throw; I had a severe pain in my ribs. I couldn’t
throw the small explosive without risking the chance that it would
miss Deemi and cling to Snuks. Suddenly, two of the dults were
keeping Snuks and Deemi apart with the threat of their
weapons.
They threatened to blast all the gifts
if Deemi and Snuks didn’t stop fighting immediately. They stopped
and Snuks walked back towards me. Someone touched me from
behind.
It was the two new kids.
“I found them taking apart all the
trapth in Daycare,” Snuks said. “They don’t want to fight for
Chrithmath all the time.”
“Geebo’s dead.” I looked at them. Snuks
started to cry quietly.
“Teb.” I waited until one of the kids
looked at me so that I could identify Teb, whose clown face had
been wiped off. “What did you do to Ceep back at the
unit?”
“Just adjusted the problem that caused
him to make that funny noise. It would have eventually caused
severe problems,” he said.
“They fixthed Theep. Now he doth
everything on time, like thnow for Chrithmath,” Snuks
said.
“That’s all? You just fixed
him?”
The kids looked at each other, and I
had this sick feeling there was more.
“We did some security bypasses,” Teb
said.
“It was all done at Ceep’s request,
which was made before we arrived at Daycare,” the other one
added.
“What does all that mean?” I
asked.
“Geebo won’t be back,” Teb
answered.
“Geebo only died twith. He’ll be back,”
Snuks said.
“None of the kids killed this Christmas
will be back,” Teb told her.
There was a commotion beyond the tree.
We turned to see Deemi jump onto the dult guard who had separated
him and Snuks. A second dult guard was on
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