December is a Lonely Month.
Shrek was feeling lonely. Fiona and the triplets were in Far, Far Away spending the day Christmas shopping. He was putting up the Christmas tree on his own.
"Maybe later we can do things together as a family. It's lonely doing this stuff on my own. It's much better when Fiona and the kids do it too." He thought as he put the tree topper on the tree. He'd made it himself. He then went into the village and got the turkey and Christmas presents early this year unlike last year.
He smiled as he remembered Christmas Eve last year. He then poured himself some egg nog when he got back home. In Far,Far Away Fiona sighed. She was missing her husband as she was helping her mother decorate the Christmas tree. The triplets were playing with the baubles. That made her laugh. "I hope Shrek's okay on his own. I know how much Christmas means to him. I never meant to leave him out of the plans. Maybe I should go get him." She thought as Lillian put the star on top. "What's wrong honey? Is something the matter?" she asked gently.
"We left Shrek out of our plans. He's probably in a bad mood. Christmas means so much to him. He probably thinks we... forgot him. Would it be alright if I went and brought him back here? That way we can be together at Christmas." Fiona told her. "Go ahead. I know Christmas is a time for family." Lillian replied. As she set off in the onion carriage, a blizzard was starting in Duloc and it was getting worse. Shrek woke up to find himself outside and knee deep in snow. "What's going on?" he asked shivering. The house was lying on it's side. "It figures that Christmas has to be worse this year." he thought as he walked in the snow. He felt tired but knew he couldn't fall asleep. Fiona was worried the next morning as she woke up. She then saw her husband lying in the snow and ran over to him. His eyes were closed and his ears had turned blue. "Please don't leave me!" she whispered as she brought him inside the onion carriage. She felt for his pulse. It was there but weak. "I'll have you warm in no time." she whispered as she wrapped him in blankets. She watched him closely as they arrived in Far, Far Away.
"Is he okay?" Lillian asked as Fiona dragged Shrek into the living room carefully near the fire. "I'm not sure. I think he was trying to find us but he got lost in the blizzard. I'm worried for him." she answered. The triplets then hugged their father. Fiona then heard her husband sneeze. "Bless you honey." Fiona said as she saw him open his eyes. "Hey honey. How did I get here?" he told her coughing. "It's okay honey. You got lost in the snow. I found you and brought you here. I'm so glad you're alright." she answered him. He smiled as he drank some hot chocolate. He was holding a box of tissues beside him. He smiled a little but was feeling depressed. Because of the blizzard , the house was wrecked and all the Christmas decorations he'd worked so hard on had been destroyed. At least he'd brought the gifts with him. Lillian saw a small tear in his eye but ignored it. "What's wrong honey?" Fiona asked him. "That blizzard I got lost in... It destroyed the house. I'm sorry. Now we've nowhere to go. I didn't wanna tell ya until after the holidays but I couldn't keep it a secret." he explained sadly as his ears drooped.
Lillian was worried at hearing that her family was homeless. Artie then came into the room. He was happy to see Shrek. "Hey man Merry Christmas!" he said to him. He was wearing red, long sleeved pyjamas with snow flakes on them and fluffy slippers. "Hey Artie. It mightn't be a Merry Christmas." he replied softly. "Why not?" Artie asked worried hearing the sadness in his friend's voice. "There was this huge blizzard and it destroyed the house. Now I'm worried because we've nowhere to go." Shrek explained.
Artie felt sad for him as he went to bed that night. He wished there was something he could do. He hated seeing his friend miserable at the most happiest time of the year. Fiona noticed her husband was sad as they lay in bed that night. "Don't worry honey. We'll think of something." she reassured him, He felt better with her beside him. "I know but it's the kids I'm worried about. Where're we gonna live now? We can't live in a village because the humans would be at our door every night. It looks like the only thing to do is... to stay here." he replied sighing. He didn't know somebody was watching dressed in a big red suit. "Maybe a Christmas miracle is in orser here." Ogre Claus thought as he drove off in his sleigh to his home in the Swampy North Pole...