AN: Hey, everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I decided to publish my own original series on FictionPress. The first book is called Animation Halation Episode 1: A New Adventure. The basic idea is that a man named Joseph "Lanky" Sykes has to go dimension hopping in order to find his father, who got stuck in limbo two years prior. Along the way, he has to recruit people from across the dimensions to aid him in his mission. If that synopsis interests you in any way, you can check out the series' first book in FictionPress' Sci-Fi section. My username on FictionPress is StarlitDuck, same as here.

Anyway, onto the chapter!

Chapter 20 Cheerful and Festive

"Hey, Morton, can you give me a hand?"

Morton nodded and went over to Lemmy, who was struggling to lift a wreath onto the front of Bob's door. He picked up the wreath. Now that he was holding it, he realized how heavy it actually was. It was like Bob had hidden slabs of concrete inside the thing. Seriously, it wasn't even that big; how was it as heavy as it was?

Needless to say, Morton had to exert all of his strength into lifting the ridiculously heavy decoration. He only barely managed to hang on the door, and once he did, it stayed in one place for a second or two before it caused the nail to snap in half. Morton sighed and rubbed his temples as the wreath fell back to the floor, taking a piece of wood from the door with it.

"This is ridiculous."

Lemmy snickered. "You can say that again. I think it would probably be best if we help someone else."

Morton nodded as Lemmy skipped away. He continued massaging his temples, trying to get rid of the horrible headache he was experiencing. He did this even though he knew it would be gone tomorrow, just like everything that occurred in a time loop.

"Hey!" Morton heard Bob call out. He flew down from the roof and pointed across the street, a giddy expression plastered to his face. "Guys, look!"

Morton looked where Bob was pointing, and immediately, he felt his headache lift a little. There were two people walking down the road, both smiling up a storm. One of them was pushing a cart, and another was carrying a basket. The side of the cart read "Koopsmas Cheer Charity."

Larry, who had been helping Roy put reindeer lawn ornaments in the yard, raised an eyebrow and put his hands on his hips. "What's so great about that?"

"They're a charity!" Bob exclaimed. "They use the donations they get to help provide food for the families who can't get a good meal on Koopsmas!" He ran over to the people. "Say, would you mind if I make a donation?"

The person carrying the basket smiled as Morton came over to observe. "Not at all! Would you like to donate money or an item?"

"Well, I don't have any items on me at the moment, so I'll go with money." He reached into his hammerspace and pulled out his wallet. "Okay," he muttered as he put a coin in the basket. He hesitated before putting in another coin. Then he said "oh what the hell," and dumped all of the contents of his wallet into the basket.

The person manning the cart laughed. "Thank you! That will definitely be put to good use!"

"And I would expect nothing less!" Bob waved at the people as they began walking away. "Bye!"

The people waved back. Morton, who was honestly shocked at the generosity Bob had displayed, waved at them as well. He followed Bob, who skipped and hummed, as he made his way back.

"I didn't know they did charities on Koopsmas" Morton told his brother's clone.

"Mmhm! They do!" Bob kept the smile on his face. "I found out about them last year. I was really impressed by the effort that they put into helping the less fortunate." His eyes glittered as he turned to face Morton. "That's what I like to believe Koopsmas is all about."

Morton thought about this. It did seem to be a very good viewpoint to have. Now that he thought about it, he wondered how many people really believed and practiced that mindset. It would certainly make the holiday a lot less unbearable for him if more than just the people in Sparksville put the effort in.

For the next hour or so, the Koopas continued with putting up the decorations. One funny moment for Morton was when Roy had gotten tangled up in a string of lights. They entangled him like a spider web, covering him like a strong rope. He could barely walk around, instead having to resort to rabbit hopping. Every single member of the Koopa family had to help the poor brute escape. By the time that they did, everyone was laughing up a storm, much to Roy's chagrin.

"It's not funny!" He said. "It could have happened to anyone!"

"We know," said Larry. "It's just that the fact that it happened to you makes it so much funnier."

Roy shot him a glare. "Shut up!"

"Alright, alright," Bowser said, "that's enough." He turned to Bob. "Do you think I can get a picture of your house now that it's finished?"

"Oh sure!" Bob said. "I just need to turn on the lights." With that, he went behind the house and plugged in the string. Although, in all honesty, Morton thought that was pretty pointless, as it was nearly impossible to see the lights during the daytime. Bowser must have agreed with him, because he gave Bob a funny look when he came back around.

"Uhhh," he said. He chuckled. "Maybe we should wait until after sunset."

Bob looked at the house and nodded. "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." He ran back to the back, turned off the lights, and returned without breaking a sweat. "So, what do you want to do now?"

Wendy beamed. "Well, we could go shopping." She pulled out her list. "I still want to hunt for the items on my list."

Iggy laughed. "It will require more than a day in order to acquire all of those items, Wendy." He turned to Bob. "How about we go to the Bridge of Flowers?"

Bob's face lit up. "Ooh, yes! That would be an awesome thing to do!" He looked down at his empty wallet and chuckled. "Although, first, I need to go to the bank." He cleared his throat. "Everyone, follow me!"

With that, Bob led the way as the Koopas marched to the bank, which was apparently in the center of the town. They passed by many different types of people along the way; some of them window shoppers, some of them couples, and some of carolers. Unlike the carolers in Stonebrim, most of the carolers here in Sparksville actually knew how to carry a tune, which both Morton and his eardrums really appreciated.

On top of seeing carolers, Morton also noticed more people with the Koopsmas Cheer Charity baskets and carts. They made their way all over the town collecting donations. Morton observed that not only were the collectors smiling, but the givers were as happy as could be. This actually brought a smile to the dark skinned Koopaling's face. This was a stark contrast to how people usually acted on Koopsmas.

Actually….could it be possible that Morton was so wrapped up in his own narrow minded view about Koopsmas that he just assumed the things he believed about the holiday? Was he so wrapped up in his depression that he couldn't see the forest for the trees? Was he so blind that he couldn't see the good effect it had on the people around him?

Now that he thought about it, his siblings did have a very different view on Koopsmas than he did. Could it be possible that Morton just used Koopsmas as an excuse to wallow in his depression?

That possibility….actually terrified Morton a little. He didn't want to believe that he was that miserable. He didn't want to believe that he was that caught up in his problems. Did he really let his depression define him that much? He felt a lump build in his throat and a pit build in his stomach. His face fell, but since he was at the back of the group, no one noticed.

Surely, he wasn't that depressed. Surely, he wasn't. He couldn't be. After all, the things he still believed about Koopsmas were unequivocally true.

Although, as he passed by yet another donation collector, he felt as if he was in the wrong. Maybe there was more to Koopsmas. Perhaps it didn't come from a store. Perhaps, there was a reason why it caused people to sing with cheer. Maybe Iggy and the rest of Morton's siblings had been right in their interpretation about Koopsmas.

Well, even if they were, he couldn't dwell on that for long. He had to live in the present moment. After all, this scenario was a scenario that he had crafted himself, one that made him less paranoid and less saddened. He should enjoy it before the day inevitably resets.