December 24th, 1997
Twas Christmas Eve, and little Samantha Reynolds was having trouble sleeping, but it was not for the reason you would think. She was not like most children who would be bursting with energy, excited for what Santa may have brought them in the morning. She was not like her twin sister Melanie, who contained her excitement by screaming into a pillow for ten minutes before neatly tucking herself in. She was not like little Carly Shay and her big brother Spencer in Yakama, who's Grandpa had to convince them Santa would not come if she did not go to bed by midnight in order to get her to sleep, or little Freddie Benson, who's mother tied the poor three year old to his bed in an attempt to make sure he got some sleep. She was not like Spencer, who's friends teased him for still beleving in Santa at sixteen years old. The reason Samantha couldn't sleep was because she was scared. She had always thought there was something suspicious about a fat man sneaking in through the chimmeny and eating thier food, but every year, her daddy would hold her. Samantha never really saw Daddy around anymore. Instead, Samantha's mommy kept going to see some guy named Jeff. She says Jeff is Samantha's new daddy, but she doesn't like him, because always calls her Sam. Tonight, Melanie and Samantha were staying at Grandma Puckette's house while Mommy and Jeff went to a party. So tonight, Samantha was scared. Scared of being alone.
"Grandma?" She asks, tapping on her sleeping grandmother's shoulder.
"Samantha? What are you doing awake?" Grandma Puckett questions. "Are you trying to sneak a peek at your presents?"
Samantha twirls her pretty, curly blonde hair and stares at the floor before she answers. "No." She answers, truthfully. "I can't sleep."
"Why not, dear?" Grandma knows something is bothering Samantha. Samantha never twirls her hair like that.
"I'm scared without mommy and daddy." She said. She is not looking her grandmother in the eyes, but instead, she looks down at the floor.
"Come sleep in my bed tonight." She said, lifting Samantha and resting her on the bed. Grandma then gets out of bed and walks over to her shelf. She takes a little box down and walks back over to Samantha. She wonders what is in the box. Perhaps it's filled with jellybeans, or maybe even cookies. Grandma Puckette gently opens the box, but it is not what Samantha expects. Inside is blank. There is nothing there...but a tiny ballerina. Grandma turns a little knob on the side, and the ballerina slowly spins around. Suddenly, a soft, tune comes from the little box. Samantha wonders if the little ballerina is the one singing it.
And that's when she first heard the melody.
The beautiful, perfect melody that made all her worries seem to dissapear.
In fact, everything seemed to dissapear. Everything but her, and the music box.
And before she knew it....
"Samantha! Grandma! Wake up!" Samantha's twin sister Melanie screams happily. "It's Christmas!"
Samantha looks around to see her Grandmother's room, and a music box in her lap. She must have fallen asleep. Then she realizes....
"IT'S CHRISTMAS!" Samantha shouts, jumping up. The two small and fragile blonde girls ran to the tree and looked at thier presents, and Grandma Puckette just smiles.
--
December 25th, 2000
Another Christmas at Grandma's house, and Samantha Puckett was excited to open her gifts. That's right, Puckett. She hadn't seen her dad in three years, so about six months ago, Sam and her sister took thier mother's name. She also went by Sam a lot, too. Grandma Puckett became a big part of Samantha's life. Whenever her mom didn't want to deal with twin girls, Samantha and Melanie ended up at Grandma's, and every single time they were over, Sam became inseperable from her grandmother's music box. This time, however, the music box was nowhere to be found. She had asked her grandma several times where the music box was, but Grandma just told her to be patient. Samantha wondered what that meant, but decided she would just have to wait and see. Right now, she knew there were more important matters at hand. After all, it was Christmas morning, which meant lots of presents. Grandma handed Sam and Melanie their presents. Melanie's was the Rare Limited Edition Barbie Doll she had been asking for ever since she had seen a commercial for it on one of thier mother's old tapes. She screamed joyfully and hurridly took it out of the package. Sam's present was in a beautiful pink box.
She looked up at her Grandmother, dissapointed, and said "You gave me a box?"
Grandma chuckled. "Look inside the box, Sam."
Samantha did as she was told and opened the box. She gasped, eyes stuck to the box. "Is this for me...to keep?" Sam asked, sounding hopeful.
"Of course. It's your Christmas present."
Sam looked down at the open box, speechless. That beautiful music box that meant the world to her, was now hers to keep.
"Here, I'll take your photo with it." Grandma said, taking out her old camera. Samantha grinned widely, and held her beautiful new music box to her chest. "Say cheese." Said Grandma.
"Cheese!" Sam said happily, and the camera flashed.