Posted Dec 19, 2013
December 15th, ten years after blackout
Winter was approaching quite fast to Wisconsin and the upper Midwest.
"Damn Canadian weather systems," grumbled Caleb as he and the majority of the other residents of Sylvania Estates were hunkering down for an especially brutal winter. At least, that is what this year's farmer's almanac predicted. After a somewhat mild October and November, December came roaring in with what some Midwesterners called a "parade of snowstorms." One after another, there were already 3 snowstorms blanketing the ground with over a foot of snow in total over the past week and a half. At least the village's Thanksgiving feast was held in relatively mild weather. It was tradition for everyone to gather in the center of the cul-de-sac and eat together.
Christmas was only 10 days away. Although there was some talk that the Monroe Militia would deliver some small toys for the children of the Republic, the plan fell through. There was great hope that it would happen next year.
Ben watched his children play in the fields and thought about whether he could do anything special for this Christmas.
A month and a half ago, during Ben's Halloween expedition to a few of the surrounding communities, he was somewhat impressed by the town of Millersville. In particular, he was a surprised that the town was able to keep somewhat of a commercial economy. He knew that the large cities like Milwaukee and Chicago would be able to. But Millersville's town square had at least three shops facing the town square. There were more, but Ben was only in the town square for a couple of hours and almost all of that time was spent distributing candy to the town's children who had lined up in the square. Ben had time to visit the town bakery and a store that seemed to sell a little bit of everything except for food, which was sold in the grocery store next door. While walking around and browsing, he noticed that there were some items which he could have bought for his children if he had carried some money with him. Although he didn't have much, he had a few dozen silver coins and even a couple of gold coins. He kept them in a lockbox in his bedroom in Sylvania Estates.
Lieutenant Vinson joined Ben as he explored the shop.
"It's funny how all the small towns in Wisconsin carry virtually the same knick-knacks," commented Grace.
Ben nodded.
"The same raggedy dolls with fiery red hair," Grace said as she pointed to a red-headed doll with freckles wearing a blue dress. "The same wooden cars and trains. I mean, real cars don't even work anymore."
It had been the first time Ben saw such toys in many years, but he nodded in agreement.
"Maybe it's nostalgia on the part of the woodworkers," said Ben
The two of them perused through the rest of the store. There were home goods such as plates and cups. One section had curtains and tablecloths. After making a circle around the store, they were back to the entrance/exit, where the toys were displayed.
"You would think they'd have a teddy bear or two," added Ben. "That's a pretty basic toy."
Grace smiled.
Ben thought about how hard it would be to actually make a small teddy bear by hand. He could probably gather the required materials. Cloth, stuffing, a few buttons for the eyes and nose. Then again, he wasn't exactly sure whether Charlie or Danny would even want a teddy bear. Who wouldn't want a teddy bear? It was a different world from the one Ben grew up in.
Flashback: a few days after the blackout
"Honey, we only have space for the essentials. Food and clothes," said a somewhat frazzled Ben. He tried to be sympathetic to his children's desires, but he had to do what was best for the family.
"But dad…." said Charlie with a bit of a whine. "Uncle Miles got this for me."
"Honey, we can't take it with us," said Rachel.
Charlie was saddened. She was within an inch of throwing a fit, but she knew that there was an emergency. She didn't quite understand it all, but she knew something serious had happened. She started cranking her toy one last time and heard the whimsical theme of "pop goes the weasel" before the box popped open and a clownish head sprang up. She pushed the head back into the box and then placed the box on her bed.
December 21st, ten years after the blackout
Ben visited his friend Aaron. Aaron lived in a house that he shared with two other housemates. His housemates were fans of the Christmas season. Aaron was not.
"Hey Aaron, how goes it?"
"Things are well," said Aaron. He was a little bit bored. School was out for the next couple of weeks
"I wanted to come by and wish you a happy winter solstice," said Ben with a smile. Ben knew that sometimes, atheists appreciated people wishing them a happy solstice instead of a happy holiday. Plus, solstice meant that the days would finally be getting longer. At least, the sun would be up longer. The days would be cold for a while.
"Thank you, Ben," said Aaron.
"You should come to one of our holiday celebrations," said Ben. "You'd have a good time. You don't have to sing if you don't want to."
"Thanks, Ben."
Aaron was a friendly person, but he was also a natural introvert. There was nothing especially wrong with that. Ben himself was a little bit of a natural introvert as well. Ben felt that Aaron should make a stronger attempt to be social.
"Well, think about it," said Ben.
Aaron nodded.
"How have you been?" asked Aaron. He hadn't talked to Ben in over a week, even though they lived so close to each other. "Not coming up with new ideas for the Monroe Militia to crush their enemies, are you?"
Ben shook his head. Some ideas had come to his mind since Halloween, but he didn't share them with Grace or any other militia officers. Somewhat related to his wooden tank idea that would be propelled by gears like a bicycle, Ben had thought about a flying glider that would be powered by bicycle gears. It would be similar, or exactly the same, as the Wright Brothers' first airplane. Such a vehicle could also give the militia an advantage. Ben figured the militia should have thought of such a thing by themselves.
"Actually, I've been thinking about making a teddy bear for Charlie and Danny."
Both Aaron and Ben laughed.
"Decided against it," said Ben
"Well, I think you'd be an excellent bear-maker," said Aaron.
"I would never stuff a real animal, of course," said Ben. "Only a fake toy."
"Of course!" said Aaron. It hadn't even occurred to him that Ben could kill a real animal and then stuff it. But it was a different world after the blackout and most people were a lot more comfortable with the idea of killing animals.
The two of them talked for a few more minutes about past holidays, when Christmas trees would have lights on them thanks to the wonders of electricity. Ben had always preferred the all-white holiday lights, but Aaron had a soft spot for the colored lights that were blue, green, red, and purple. Either that, or Aaron just felt like debating Ben.
Christmas Eve, ten years after the blackout
Maggie Foster was finally done baking her Christmas cookies. It didn't take her that long, but she wasn't used to baking. She found that she quite enjoyed it. Though, she wouldn't want to do it all the time.
After dinner, Maggie brought the cookies out for the Matheson family. Although she wasn't an official Matheson, she was Ben's girlfriend and Charlie and Danny's unofficial stepmother. She wanted to do something special for Charlie, since they had a fight recently.
As the cookies were place on the table, Ben could see Charlie's eyes light up. There were the typical cookies that were shaped like trees and snowflakes. And then there were much more complicated cookies in the shape of Santa, Snowmen, and reindeer. However, the ones especially made for Charlie were one of a jack-in-the-box and an elephant. Charlie wasn't sure whether she wanted to eat them or keep them uneaten so she can have them. She decided to wait until all the other cookies were gone and eat the special ones last.
"Thank you, Maggie," Charlie said sincerely. Maggie was glad she could make Charlie happy. Ben was glad that the two got along, at least for the time being.
Flashback: The December before the blackout.
The Matheson family walked through one of Chicago's largest shopping centers. It was the weekend before Christmas, and it seemed as if the entire city was out buying last minute gifts.
"Hey Miles, we're going to go this way to Carter's," said Ben as he pointed to his left at a boutique store that sold clothes for babies and toddlers.
"Kay, bro," said Miles. Charlie was tugging on Mile's sleeve and directing him to a nearby Barnes & Noble.
Rachel was a little bit harried, but it made her smile that Charlie and her Uncle Miles got along well. The two had fun together, even though Miles had been stationed overseas for most of the Charlie's life.
"Miles, we'll find you in the bookstore," said Rachel. "Call the cell if we get separated too long."
Miles nodded and allowed Charlie to take them to the bookstore as Ben and Rachel walked in the opposite direction with Rachel pushing Danny in a stroller.
Charlie had been attracted to the bookstore by the kid's section, the Dr. Suess books in particular. This store also had children's toys that went along with the books. The plush toys of the Dr. Suess characters were lined up next to the books. The Grinch toys seems to be the most prominent. Miles picked one of them up and laughed.
"You would think a green monster in a santa costume would scare the kids," he thought to himself. But the kids loved the character.
"Uncle Miles, what's that?" asked Charlie as she pointed to a small stuffed animal. It was an elephant with polka dots on it.
"That's the misfit elephant," said Miles. He knew the official name was either spotted elephant or dotted elephant, but he went with misfit.
"What's a misfit elephant?" asked Charlie.
Miles was a little bit surprised. "Didn't you ever see Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer?"
"Sure," said Charlie. "The reindeer that had a bright nose."
"Yea, the elephant's from the island of misfit toys."
"The what?"
A female store clerk overheard the conversation and couldn't help but be amused. She also thought Miles was quite cute, so she took the chance to start a conversation.
"Your niece probably only saw the shorter version of the tv special," said the clerk. Her nametag identified her as Wendy.
"I didn't know there were two versions of the story," said Miles.
"Yep. There's the longer version which includes the island of misfit toys, and the shorter version where Rudolph just saves Christmas."
"JUST saves Christmas?!" Miles asked with sarcastic outrage.
Wendy smiled. However, before they could continue the conversation, her walkie-talkie beeped and the voice on the other end said something like "Wendy to cashwrap." Wendy excused herself and left for the first floor.
"So, Uncle Miles, what is the island of misfit toys?"
Miles explained that when the other reindeer wouldn't let Rudolph play reindeer games and treated him like a misfit because of his bright red nose, Rudolph ran away from the North Pole and eventually stumbled into the Island of Misfit Toys. On the island were toys that had some strange quirks and that kids didn't seem to want. One of those toys was the elephant with the polka dots.
Miles browsed the shelves for a few seconds to find the children's picture book about Rudoph. He knew it should be placed somewhere near the elephant misfit toy. When he found it, he turned to the page talking about the island and showed it to Charlie.
"Do you know what that is?" asked Miles as he pointed to a Jack-in-the-box.
"Yea, Uncle Miles. That's a jack-in-the-box."
"Not quite. His name is Charlie, just like you," said Miles. "That's why he's different from all the other Jacks-in-the-box."
Charlie giggled. She thought it was funny.
"What's a sentry?" asked Charlie. She read from the book that Charlie-in-the-box was the island's sentry.
"Kind of a like a guard or a soldier," said Miles.
"You mean like you?" asked Charlie.
"Well, I'm a Marine, but the idea is similar."
"When I grow up, I'll be a soldier," said Charlie.
"Probably not a good idea kiddo," said Miles. "Robots will be doing everything soon." Miles didn't say that in a scary tone. More of a matter-of-fact tone. "You want to be a computer scientist like your mom and dad. In the future, they'll be the ones in charge of all the robots."
The two of them then browsed through all of the other children's books. Miles knew what he would get for his niece this Christmas. A Charlie-in-the-box toy.
Christmas Day, ten years after the blackout
Following the tradition of Sylvania Estates for the past several years, at noontime on Christmas Day, the village's residents all met at the community Christmas tree at the center of the cul-de-sac. There were usually a few dozen people who participated. They would come together, greet everyone with warm wishes, and then sing a song or two. The "must" song was always "Holly Jolly Christmas" every year. On some years, there would be a second song, which seemed to change from year to year. This year, the residents decided it would be "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."
In the morning, Ben gave his children their gifts. He wound up making a stuffed animal for Charlie after all. It wasn't a teddy bear. It was a small white elephant with dots. He told Charlie he was sorry that a jack-in-the-box was too hard for him to make, but Charlie was excited anyway and appreciated her father's efforts. For Danny, Ben made a wooden carving of a plane. Ben explained to Danny what a plane was. Danny had never seen an actual airplane before, but understood that it was a manmade vehicle that could fly like a bird. He held the plane in his hand and "flew" it through the air.
At about 11:50, Ben and his family walked out to the Christmas Tree and met some of the other families.
"Merry Christmas Ben," said Spencer.
"Merry Christmas Spence."
Spencer then went over to give holiday greetings to James, Caleb, and Marybeth.
To Ben's surprise, a minute before noon, Aaron also arrived at the tree.
"Benjamin," said Aaron formally. "I wish you a happy holiday." Aaron extended his hand for a handshake.
Ben smiled. Instead of shaking Aaron's hand, he gave Aaron a hug.
"Happy holidays, Aaron."
At noon, the residents all started to sing. But in a twist, they decided to sing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree first and they also started dancing.
