Why wasn't mama happy? It was Christmas!

"Mama! Merry Christmas!" said Mukai as she tried to give mama one of the cookies that she and Shibata had made. She had been a very good helper, Shibata had said so, she had mixed up the dough and then put the colors on later. She put all the colors on the cookies. Colors made things taste better.

Especially red. Red was the best color of all.

"Mukai, no more cookies. You've had too many." Said mama as she took the cookie away…but didn't eat it! Mama just took the cookie and held it in her hands…and…and she didn't….no! More cookies!

"More cookies! It's Christmas!" shouted Mukai. She tried to get the cookie but mama held it up high…but wait! There were more cookies in the cookie pile!

"It's Christmas! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" shouted Mukai as she ran over to her cookie pile. She laid down on the top of them. She laid right down on the top of them so mamma couldn't take them away. She didn't know why mamma didn't like Christmas. She didn't know why…well she didn't know a lot of things.

Like why everyone wasn't as happy as she was!

"It's August thirty first." Said Mine. They were sitting in their spot reading another one of their books, the boring ones without any pictures. Mine wasn't nice at all. They didn't get a cookie. Mukai got up and pushed her cookie pile away from Mine…and mama too. Mama was getting up now…she needed mama to sit back down!

She tried to make her.

She tried to use her colors like everyone else could. Sho used his colors all the time and so did Shigeko and all of her other new friends. Everyone else could do it so why couldn't she? Even her old friends at her old house could do it! Mukai balled up her hands and tried harder. Mama was still coming over and…and mama would take her cookies away! She was never any fun! Mama always took the fun away!

It wasn't fair!

"Go away! Go away, mama! Over there!" shouted Mukai as she stood in front of her cookie pile. Mama kept on coming…and now she was getting down on the ground….right by the cookie pile!

"Mukai, come on. You've had enough cookies." Said Mama

"Mine! All my cookies!" shouted Mukai. She turned to the cookie pile and started putting them down the front of her overalls. She had to save the cookies. Mama took them away…she was going to take them away….and then they would be gone and Christmas would be over! This was Christmas and…and it was fun and…and mama was going to take them all away!

"Mukai…come on…" said Mama. Mukai didn't even look at her. She had to save all the cookies. Mama's hand came near the pile…and she wouldn't stop! She was reaching forwards with her hands and…and she was going to take all the cookies away! Just like she took all the jello and candy and…and everything else! She wasn't any fun at all! Mukai wished that mama would just go and sit somewhere else and let her have fun!

But not go away forever. Not like the others.

She used to have other friends but now they were gone. They were back at the old house…the one that fell down. One time there was a bright light and a loud sound…and a lot of colors…and then the house fell down…and now they lived here…with all their new friends….

But she missed her old friends!

"Go away! Go away!" shouted Mukai. She wanted to be back home with her old friends! She wanted to go home and…and be in her room with her toys and…and she wanted cookies! She wanted all of these cookies and mama was going to take them away just like home got taken away and…and everything got taken away! Everything got taken away and-

More cookies!

"Don't worry, Mukai! It's Christmas, you should be happy on-" said Shibata

"August thirty first." Said Minegishi

"Please don't give her any more cookies." Said mama. Mukai wiped her eyes. More cookies? Yes! Shibata had a whole plate of cookies! He had a whole new plate of them and they smelled good…and he'd put the colors on without her…but there were more cookies!

"More cookies! Over there!" shouted Mukai. She pointed to the cookie pile so he knew where they went. She needed all the cookies. If she had all the cookies then mama couldn't take them away from her. She could have them all forever and this could be her house and none of her friends could have any because they were all for her!

All for her and none for anyone else!

"Mob said to give her all the cookies she wanted." Said Shibata

"Shigeko is twelve…." Said mama. Mukai held out her fingers. Twelve was a number and fingers were numbers…and she had all the numbers. New person told her all about numbers….where was he? He had caterpillars. He had caterpillars and they were fuzzy…where was he? And where was Sho? Sho looked like him…and where was Shigeko? She was always with Sho? And where was Ryou? And Seri? And where was Hat…or…i?

"This is twelve!" shouted Mukai as she held up all of her fingers. This was the part where everyone told her how smart she was and how good at stuff she was. That was whatever everyone would have said but now the world felt weird and the weird sound was back….Ryou was back! And he was back with Sho! More people!

So it was ok, then, because her friends were back!

"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!" said Ryou. He said that and then he got right down on the floor….right by where the cookies were! Mukai pushed him away. These were HER cookies! Not his!

"It doesn't work without the Santa costume." Said Sho. He sat down by the cookies too…but that was ok. He could have one. Mukai handed him one without good colors on it, not a lot of red, but a lot of green. Sho liked green and Sho liked cookies and she liked Sho.

She was her favorite friend in the whole world!

"Well, hey, we tried our best. You guys would not believe how hard it is to find a Santa costume this time of year." Said Ryou. He tried to take a cookie but she kicked him. She would have used her colors if she could but her feet would work too. She had on her red socks, good for kicking.

"I'd believe it…because it's August thirty first." Said Mine. They didn't stop looking at their book. Mukai had no idea why they were looking at a book without pictures…or why they weren't trying to take some of her cookies. They were weird. Mama said that they were sick. They needed to see Fuckuda if they were sick. Fuckuda could fic anything.

Even really had owies.

"The spirit of Christmas lives within the hearts and minds of us all." said Ryou before he disappeared. He was right next to Mine now, right by their spot. They got mad when people were in their spot. They were always mad about something. They needed cookies! But not now! These were Mukai' cookies.

"Not for Mine…" said Mukai as she fed some cookies to Sho. These were for her and Sho and Ryou, too, if he came back…but no one else!

"These are good, baby sis, did you make these?" asked Sho

"I make these…I help." Said Mukai

"Well you did a good job, baby sis, you're the best cookie helper in the whole world." Said Sho

"I did a good job!" shouted Mukai. She did do a good job. She did the best job! She was the best cookie helper in the whole world! She was the best and these cookies were the best and Christmas was the best!

"You did, Mukai, you really did…now let's save these cookies for later. How about that? We can put them in the cookie jar and-" said Mama

"No! No cookies later! Cookies now! Cookies, now, mama!" shouted Mukai. Why did mama always have to be like this? Sho was never like this…none of her friends were like this!

"Yeah, cookies now mom. Come on, it's Christmas." Said Ryou

"It's August-" said Mine

"Our exalted leader said that today was Christmas so that's what today is, Toshi, it's Christmas…and you know what that means…" said Ryou

"One of you is going to help me do the dishes for once?" asked Shibata

"Not even close." Said Ryou

"Suzuki is so delusional that he thinks he can change the calendar around so he feels like a less terrible father than he is?" asked Mine

"Don't say things like that…" said mama. She was scared now…ok. She could have one cookie since her colors and her voice and her face and her arms were being all scared. Mukai put a cookie in mama's hand but she didn't even hold onto it. Maybe she forgot how her fingers worked. Mukai tried to close her fingers around the cookie but it didn't work.

"What? You think he's listening right now?" asked Mine

"Well he does have Hatori with him…" said Shibata

"Dad doesn't care what happens around here. Dad doesn't care about anyone but himself." Said Sho as he…took another cookie! No way! Mukai slapped the cookie out of his hand.

"No. My cookies." Said Mukai

"Mukai, don't hit." Said Tsuchiya

"I don't mind, she's not strong enough to hurt me. Besides, it's not like we're going to take her presents away and give her like…coal…or something if she's bad…and she's never bad. She's the best baby sis in the whole world." Said Sho

"So that's what's in that garbage bag." Said Mine. They pointed to the big black bag….it had presents in it! There were presents in there…for her! Like on Christmas! Like on TV! She had presents and…and she couldn't leave the cookies all alone…but…but presents!

"Don't eat! Not for you!" shouted Mukai. She made sure she was really loud and pointed at the cookies, too, so that she knew that they all knew to stay away from her cookies. Everyone but Ryou looked but that was ok because he had no eyes.

"But…I helped you make them." Said Shibata

"All for me and not for you"! said Mukai

"Mukai…" said mama. She said it like she was upset….ok. If mama had a frowny face then she could have one more cookie even though she didn't even eat her first cookie. Mukai threw one more cookie, a red one, at mama before she went over to the bag that Ryou and Sho brought for her. Sho followed her…

Which was not good.

These were her presents! They were for her, Ryou said so, and…and Sho…he could have his own presents! He could have another cookie or…or Shigeko could make him presents. That was her job, she made things, like mama did and Shibata did. Some people were for making things. That was how Shigeko was and…and she could make things for Sho…because these were Mukai things…

All the things belonged to Mukai!

"All for me! None of you!" said Mukai as she tried to push Sho away with her colors. Sho couldn't have her presents…and neither could mama! She was reaching out with her hands and she was trying to catch Mukai…but she could move fast! She moved fast enough that she made it to the present bag and nobody could stop her….

Toys!

Books!

But also clothes…

"No clothes!" said Mukai as she threw the clothes out of the bag. She was tired of clothes. All Shigeko did was put clothes on her. Her and her mean friend. Mukai hated clothes. She only wanted to wear her overalls. They were good pants, you could keep things in them, and these were the only clothes she ever wanted to wear….ever!

"Hey, come on. Those are really good clothes. I had some of the best times of my life…up to that point…in those clothes." Said Ryou

"That's….your old stuff?" asked mama. Mukai climbed more into the bag. Sho held the side of it up. She kicked him in case he tried to climb and take her stuff. He could have the clothes.

"Most of it. Books, toys, all kinds of shit I don't need any more and Sho's too old for. I figured if we're going to have Christmas in August I had might as well make it a good one for her." Said Ryou

"He's trying to relive his childhood since his life…is not something any of you want to hear about." Said Mine

"This has nothing to do with how I spent the first five years of my life completely unaware that there even was a world outside of my room. This is about how since these two are the closest thing I'll ever have to kids and-hey! Toshi! Where are you going?" Ryou was shouting now. Mukai decided to crawl out of the bag. There weren't any dolls in there. She didn't want to play with anything but dolls right now. These toys were that great…but Sho couldn't have them. She kicked Sho on the way out just so he knew not to go near her bag.

These were her presents.

These were all her presents and those were her cookies and these were her friends! Everything was hers and….where was Mine going? They were walking away….but they were supposed to be on the couch. That was their spot….but now Mukai could sit there! She got up and started to run! Now she could sit in the spot. Mama reached out to grab her but she was faster.

She was going to get to the spot!

"I sit there! My spot!" said Mukai. Ryou reached down and pulled her up. He was nice like that. He could have another cookie. She reached into her overalls and held out a cookie for him to have…but he didn't take it anyway. He just sort of sat there and looked at the hallway. There was a scary thing that was there sometimes…but the scary thing wasn't there. She pressed the cookie into his hand. At least he took it…

But he didn't eat it.

"Forget them. They don't know anything…now come on. We should wrap all of this up for baby sis." Said Sho as he went over to her present bag! Mukai threw a cookie at him. She couldn't come down. This wasn't her spot. If Mine came back then she was going to lose her spot!

"My presents!" said Mukai

"You have enough presents. Really, she does." Said mama. She said that in her mad voice…she was always using her mad voice these days.

"That's crazy talk, believe me I know. Kids can never have enough presents. Actually not getting enough presents…that really sucks. Doesn't it, tiny little boss lady, doesn't it? It would suck if you didn't get enough presents and then, by extension, you didn't get enough love…and then you spent your whole adult life equating material gifts with love…that would really suck, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it?" said Ryou. He said too many words. She hated it when people said too many words.

"Really sucks! Really sucks!" said Mukai. She had to say something so that was what she did. People used to be really happy when she talked. They used to clap and tell her that she was smart…but now nobody did that anymore. Only the new person did that…and also his caterpillars woke up when he did that. That was always funny…where was new person? She didn't see him….or even his colors…

Only Sho's red was there.

"Yeah, it really does suck. Kids like presents, Tsuchiya, that's just how we work and baby sis should get all the presents in the world." Said Sho

"All the presents!" said Mukai. She really did get all the presents. They were all for her, that was what Christmas was all about, she got all the presents.

"She has more than enough-" said mama

"Kids do love presents…and they only get a few years before Christmas stops being fun. Eventually everything stops being fun and the world just sort of grinds you down until there's almost nothing left…" said Shibata

"Nothing left!" said Mukai. There was nothing left….no! There wasn't anything gone! Everything was there and everything was hers!

"Mukai…" said mama. She was supposed to be happy. When good things happened then you were supposed to be happy….but mama had that same mad face she always had. Maybe she just wanted to go home. Maybe she wanted to take all of their new friends and then they could go to the old house….but it was broken…but they could go back to their old house and they could be with their new and old friends…

And presents!

She put a cookie on the couch before she climbed off. That way nobody would be able to sit down since her cookie was there. She needed to go back in the present bag. Sho opened it up and she went in, she made sure to kick him as she went in, he had to know that these were her things and…and all of the things were her things!

Everything was hers.

This was Christmas and on Christmas she got to do whatever she wanted just like on TV. She liked where she was and she liked her friends…even if mama was upset. Even if mama always had her mad face. Even if mama was always trying to put her in time out or make her have yoga time or make her nap or all of that other boring stuff that she didn't want to do. She was happy and…and she was….she was in a present bag with all of her friends…almost all of her friends…

Hey! More colors!

"Shigeko! Shigeko! Over there!" said Mukai. She pointed at the door so people knew where Shigeko was, they needed to know that, and now they did! Mukai told them but nobody told her how smart she was or that she did good or…or anything! Not even Shibata and he always had nice things to say! Ryou even disappeared!

And then he was gone!

But that was ok! He was there again….well he was right by the door. So he did know where Shigeko was. She didn't know why he disappeared all the time. When he disappeared then he might not have come back. It was better when people walked. When they walked then you could see where they were walking to and you could have followed them! But she couldn't follow him and….and she couldn't stop him either….

And he was giving Shigeko one of the cookies!

"In the spirit of Christmas please accept this gently used cookie." Said Ryou. He was holding it out for Shigeko…no! That was her cookie! She had to get over there…she had to run….she had to move! But mama caught her! She was using her arms and her colors and…and now Mukai couldn't move!

She was as mad as Sho looked!

"Why are you giving her cookies?" asked Sho. He crossed his arms and he was all mad…and he was right to be mad!

"My cookie! Mine!" shouted Mukai

"I don't want a cookie, I'm fine. Come on let's have Christmas..." said Shigeko

"Don't we have to wait for dad?" asked Sho. He still had his mad face on…and she was mad….but also she knew who dad was! Dad was the new person with the caterpillars! He was so nice! And his caterpillars were fuzzy and funny and crawled around when you pulled on them! Why did Sho looked so sad? Dad was funny!

"Dad? Where's dad?" asked Mukai

"Don't ask about him…just…here. Play with Shimazaki's ponies or something…they probably want a girl to play with them for once." Said Sho. He reached into the bag and handed her a toy. She slapped it out of his hand. That wasn't what she wanted…how dare he hand her something that she didn't want!

"No! Not that! Dad! Caterpillars!" said Mukai as she slapped Sho's hand away. There wasn't anything worse than when people gave you stuff that you didn't want! She didn't want a toy! Sho didn't know what she wanted!

"Dad ruins everything and you shouldn't want-" said Sho

"It doesn't matter what he wants, he says that he's not coming. He and Hatori are working really hard today, he said, and he just told me to give Mukai her phone…sorry! I gave the present away…" said Shigeko. She covered her face like she was sad…but then Ryou gave her a hug and she was happy! But then Sho was mad…and now Shibata was making a lot of noise like he wanted people to look at him…but he didn't have any cookies! Why did he think that she wanted to look at him like he had cookies even though he didn't have any!

"Hey Mob….how about you come over here and leave Shimazaki over there and give Mukai her present and have some cookies…yeah. With Shimazaki right over there." said Shibata

"Presents now please and thank you." Said Mukai. She stood up and held her hands out. A box floated to her and then another and then another. There were almost as many presents as she had fingers on one hand. That was so many…and they were all for her!

Each and every one of them!

She loved Christmas. There were cookies for her and presents for her and friends for her….everything was for her! She took the presents out of the air and put them in her cookie pile. There. Now everyone knew that they were hers. Like how she claimed the couch…Ryou had moved the cookie! And he was eating it! And…and…and she was going to cry….she was going to cry and….oh! Now Sho was in her present pile!

Why did everyone want her stuff!?

"Mine! My present!" said Mukai

"I know it's yours. Here, you have to open it. See? You just rip the paper off." Said Sho as he tore the corner of her present….this was her present! Mama tried to grab her…but she got away…and…and this was hers! This was her Christmas present and this was her Christmas and…and she could open this herself….

There was a box inside…but there was a phone on the front...

"Oh…God…now…" said mama. She said it really sad and…that made sense. This was just a box. Boxes could be fun…but this was really small…and small boxes weren't fun! Why…why had…what was this!? This was not fun at all!

"Don't want a box for Christmas…" said Mukai. She tossed the box away but instead of hitting the ground Sho caught it with his colors. She tried to push it away with hers but it didn't work…it never worked.

"Here? See? You have to open the box and…see? There's a phone in here. Dad got you a phone…but don't let him trick you! Don't let him get you nice stuff just so that you think that he likes you. He's a dick hole's dick hole and he's trying-" said Sho

"Kid, stop it!" said mama

"Sho! How about you have a cookie…or two….or three even! Just please…stop talking." Said Shibata as he handed Sho one of her cookies. She slapped him with one hand, the less important one, the important one had the best present she had ever gotten ever!

"Please don't give him cookies when he curses, it's not good…Sho, please stop cursing." Said Shigeko. Mukai didn't say anything even though people were saying a lot of words. She didn't have time to say words…she had a phone! With games! Now mama couldn't say no! This was hers and…and it wouldn't turn on! This was terrible!

This was the worst Christmas ever!