A/N: I wrote this up between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day just as a little way for me to say goodbye to 2010. Writing-wise, it was a year of improvement, sure, but certainly not of production. With 2011 and my looming senior project, I hope to be able to complete that and get back into the writing groove.
Based on the Relient k song "Merry Christmas, Here's to Many More", this one shot merely depicts the views of a fancharacter on Christmas Eve. However, the story is relatively loose on the identity of said character, which can give you readers freedom to place your own characters in her place, if you'd truly like. Or, you can just read it as is and take it for what you may.

That being said, Merry New Year everyone!

Here's to Many More

The night was rapt in a contrast all it's own, trees and sky above a captivating ebony, interrupted yet leaking upon the stark pallid background of the snow that seemed to stretch for miles. The harsh black and white antithesis left me alone within the grey, a solitary figure suspended within duality. Branches laden with the fruits of Mr. Winter's endeavors, the trees creaked and moaned, complaining to each other of the weight they were forced to bear. A few stray flakes drifted on the wind, adjusting their delicate flight with every light zephyr that happened by. They appeared as pulsars, illuminating the dark eventide with the smallest, yet brightest, reflections of any light present.

With the snow softly giving way beneath my feet, I coasted gingerly through this environment, coming to a standstill only upon reaching the fence that served as a boundary between the backyard and the forest beyond. Grasping one of the pickets, I gazed solemnly into that world beyond, which seemed to aggravate the case of winter blues that had so suddenly seized me. I hovered there, breath frosting the air in a thin lace, wondering why I hadn't yet disappeared as the little cloud did. Indeed, I remained. By nothing less than a sheer miracle, I had made it through the year. I did not accomplish this feat alone, though. As many times as I hit the ground a little too hard and shattered, someone was always there to help me gather the pieces, glue them back in place.

Eventually, though, even replacing the pieces in their typical locations could only serve as a temporary remedy. Like an ornament that had fallen off the tree one too many times, I was chipped. A few small fragments became lost in the carpet and, though I could still hang on the tree, I just wasn't quite suitable enough anymore.

Heaving a heavy sigh, I placed my back against the fence and slid into a seated position on the ground, letting my eyes fall to the stark, blank snow. Strange, really, that on one of the happiest nights of the year, I couldn't manage much more than a broken grin. I looked at my friends and found new facets, critical faces. I couldn't have fallen that far…

Right?

Where did I belong in that group anymore…?

They were all inside, laughing and merry-making together; perfect harmony… without me.

I stared for a long moment at the holiday card-worthy scene, fighting back tears and chewing uselessly on my chapped bottom lip. Telling myself this wasn't worth crying over was a lie. I knew that much, but I continued to do so anyway, to persist with what someone had once told me to cease. Rising to my feet, I took everything in one last time before turning my back. As I did, the Christmas lights on the outside of the house flickered on, casting a rainbow glow on the snow, smattering the landscape in a vast aurora, as if the very phenomenon was refracted from the North Pole thousands of miles away.

Rendered stationary, I lifted my face to the sky above, finding a star shining bright in the east. My initial thoughts turned to Sirius. However, I knew very well that Sirius was located to the south, hidden over the shoulders of the snow clouds.

I couldn't leave this…

Shifting my gaze back onto the house, I found all my friends—the only family I possessed now—beckoning me back indoors with fervent hand motions through the window and elated cheers, muffled poor singing to Christmas carols on the radio reaching my ears even at this distance. Without me, there really wasn't any harmony...

I simply smiled, rolling my eyes and treading back across the packed snow underfoot to the door. As I laid my hand upon the knob, I looked back at the scenery from which I'd come, knowing I was truly blessed not to be coming indoors to a hollow house, but to a vibrant home.

With one last look at the stars, I turned the knob and stepped indoors and out of the weather.