Michelle woke up with a smile on her face when she remembered her little joke. She got dressed more cheerfully than she had in a while. She had never been a morning person, but that morning, she was.

She was still humming to herself when she headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She stopped in surprise when she noticed the wreaths hanging on the wall. Her mother had always been a bit of a Christmas person, but usually she'd start wrapping up the decorations by now. Maybe she was just feeling particularly festive for some reason.

Afterwards, she headed to the den, still smiling at the thought of the look on her father's face when he saw his precious cuckoo clock was damaged. When she arrived at the den, she stopped short again.

There were wreaths and holly hanging on the walls and miniature Christmas trees on the floor. They hadn't even started packing up the decorations. It looked exactly as it did on the day of the Christmas party.

Her mother smiled as she saw her. "Hi, Shel. Take a seat."

Michelle was surprised again. Her parents weren't usually that friendly to her in the morning. Her confusion increased when she walked to the table and saw what they were having.

Pancakes. Not just that, but drizzled in powdered sugar in maple syrup.

Her mother would have a heart attack looking at those calories, let alone making it, even if it wasn't healthy eating week. She was having a healthier breakfast, of course, but her father and brother were happily guzzling down like they hadn't tasted something so wonderful in ages–which, due to the week, they probably hadn't. Despite her confusion, Michelle had to wince at Tommy's eating habits. He had somehow managed to get maple syrup on his forehead.

"Uh, Mom?" she asked as she took a seat. "Why are we having this for breakfast?"

Mrs. Webster frowned at her. "Don't you like pancakes, Michelle?"

"I do," she replied hastily. "But what happened to healthy eating week?"

"Oh, Michelle, do you really think I wouldn't make an exception on Christmas day?"

Christmas day?

"I'm surprised you did," quipped Mr. Webster.

She frowned at him. "Do you want pancakes or not?"

"But Christmas day was four days ago," reminded Michelle. "Remember?"

Mrs. Webster frowned at her again. "Are you feeling alright, dear?"

"I think she hit her head or something," quipped Tommy. "Does she have anemia, Mom?"

"I think you mean amnesia, dear," corrected Mrs. Webster.

Wait a minute. Michelle wracked her brains. Didn't they have pancakes for breakfast on the day of the Christmas party?

"Mom? Are we going anywhere today?"

"Of course we are. Don't you remember? Your friend's Christmas party?"

She almost blurted out that the party was four days ago, but managed to stop herself. It'd look weird if she did. They seemed really convinced it was the day of the Christmas party.

After forcing a bit of pancake into her mouth, she asked, "Dad, how's the cuckoo clock? Is it working alright?" At this point, her excitement had been replaced by confusion, but she still wanted to know if her joke had worked.

But Mr. Webster just looked confused. "What cuckoo clock?"

Before Michelle could answer, he added, "oh! You mean the one I've been after? Surprised you remembered."

"How could she not?" quipped Mrs. Webster. "It's all you can talk about."

Oh, right. They hadn't bought the cuckoo clock until three days later. Michelle was tempted to run to the living room to see if it wasn't there, but decided against it. It'd just look weird.

"Maybe Michelle wants to buy it too," suggested Mr. Webster. "That's why she asked. Right, Michelle?"

Mrs. Webster groaned. "Not her too."

Michelle didn't answer. She forced herself to eat another bite of the pancake, her head spinning. What was going on?

She forced herself to eat the rest of her breakfast, though the delicious pancakes did nothing to clear her head. She might as well have been eating the runny eggs her mother was. Even Tommy's kicks under the table didn't have any effect on her.

After breakfast, she ran to the living room. The clock was gone. In its place was a big Christmas tree.

The Christmas tree they had on the day of the party.

Michelle's mind raced. This was impossible. There was no explanation for this. Except...

That she had gone back in time.

Either that, or her family was playing some really elaborate, mean joke on her. But this seemed a little much, even for them.

She almost scoffed at the ridiculous thought, but then cheered up. If she really had gone back in time–which she might not even have, but if she had–she had a second chance at this party. A second chance to make things better. This time, it'd be better.