Authors' Note: Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Here's a little "Christmas Card" from all of us at the Botosphere. Here's hoping for a happy New Year, too!
At five years old, Daemon didn't remember a life before "the tower." As far as he knew, it was perfectly normal to live on the twentieth story of a building with a private, indoor pool two stories down.
And he had no clue whatsoever that most people didn't go visit their uncles on tropical islands every other Christmas. He did, however, have a sense that it was a special thing to fly on the ginormous airplane. He'd flown on a regular airplane a couple of times with his parents and baby sister, and this was way more awesome.
For one thing, he didn't have to squish into a narrow seat and stay buckled in for hours and hours. For another, Mom and Dad brought their cars with them. When he got bored, Cam (who sometimes went by the nickname 'Bee) suggested that he climb into the front driver's seat of Dad's yellow Camaro and pretend he was in a race or something. Usually, the front seat was off limits, but on the ginormous plane, this was allowed. Cam even sat in the passenger seat beside him and made all kinds of fun sound effects as they came up with the story of how he and 'Bee won the race.
Everybody ate special snacks on the plane called MRE's that Daemon didn't get anywhere else, and lots of Army guys were on the plane, too, but they weren't scary and were extra nice to his dad and the whole family. The Army guys even brought out folding beds when Daemon and his family started to get sleepy.
Once they arrived on the island the next day, though, 'Bee went to go visit a friend, and so Uncle Optimus picked them up. That was the most awesome part of all – riding in Uncle Optimus' big rig. He and Dad sat in the front seat, while Daemon got to jump on the bed in the back. Beatrice was old enough this year that she got to jump, too, as the semi swayed slowly along the island's road. Mom's friend Rebecca followed in the station wagon.
Then they got to the Lennoxes' house. Mrs. Lennox came outside to say hi to everyone and gave Mom a hug. Mr. Lennox was still at work and would be home soon. Annabelle was down at the beach, so Daemon ran down to the shore to go swimming, too. ('Trice wasn't old enough to go near the ocean without Mom or Dad.)
He remembered Annabelle as the fun kid who was so good at everything. She could ride a bike faster than him and had graduated from microwave popcorn to cooking mac and cheese on the stove. He kind of wanted to be like her some day. He was almost startled on the shoreline when he looked to see a tall girl running toward him and waving. She was so much… curvier than before. Before he could really make sense of that, she caught him in a hug and they both laughed because she was still soaking wet from swimming. "Hey Daemon!" she said, ruffling his hair. "Glad you made it!"
"Me too!" he said. "Is the water cold?"
"Are you kidding me? Come on!" and then she was sprinting faster than he could run back toward the waves. He ran anyway, and he spent a good hour of Christmas Eve Day playing with Annabelle in the surf.
Eventually Mrs. Lennox called them both back up to the house, though, where Mr. Lennox and a couple of other people were talking with Uncle Optimus and said something about 'Bee that made everyone laugh. Daemon didn't get it.
Mom said something about little ears, and Uncle Optimus asked Daemon if he wanted to ride with him again.
"Well yeah!" Daemon exclaimed.
They all piled back into the cars and drove to the R&R cabins. There, they got out and Dad said with a happy sigh, "Our home away from home."
"It doesn't look much like Christmas, though," Mom said.
"That's what this is for," Rebecca said, pulling a Christmas tree box out of her trunk.
Uncle Optimus helped Dad bring in the luggage, and it didn't take long. Then they were cutting open the box for the Christmas tree and setting it up. Mom brought in a box of all their usual Christmas ornaments.
"Hey!" Daemon exclaimed as he pulled out a glitter-covered pine cone on a string. "I remember this."
"Yep," Dad said. "You made that in preschool."
"That was, like, forever ago," he said.
"Ages and ages," Mom said with a grin.
Ornament by ornament, they filled up the tree with baubles, bells, tinsel, and candy canes.
"Do you really think Santa will find us here?" Daemon asked Uncle Optimus.
But it was Dad who said, "Yes. That is what the star is for," and handed it to Daemon.
Leaning close almost conspiratorially, Uncle Optimus said, "In our darkest hour, we seek for the light."
Dad snorted a laugh, but Daemon looked down at the electric star in his hands. "Light in the darkest hour?"
Uncle Optimus knelt beside him. "Christmas used to be on the solstice, on the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere."
"Huh?" Daemon asked.
"Earth is a globe, like a ball. It spins as it goes around the Sun, and it wobbles while it spins. That's why you have seasons like summer and winter. As fall moves into winter, the days get shorter and shorter until the wobble shifts again and the days start to get longer. That pivot point, when the dark is turned back and the days start to become longer, is called the solstice. And during that deep dark, we – all of us – instinctively reach for light, whether it's a fire in the hearth, fireworks for the New Year, or a star atop a tree."
Dad coughed something that sounded like "my-ache-ix" and Uncle Optimus looked at him with a small smile and a nod of his head. Then he looked at Daemon again. "Joy and affection are always within reach, if you but seek it."
"Quit breaking the kid's brain," Mom said with a chuckle. "Let's finish this thing so we can get some kind of dinner before Christmas cookies."
But what Uncle Optimus said made a certain sense to Daemon. Back home it was dark before dinner time, and the snow and cold had been enough to keep them in from recess a couple of times now. The light and heat of the island was much better. Uncle Optimus was so grown up and so smart! He met his uncle's gaze with serious eyes. "I hope I can grow up as tall as you some day."
Mom and Dad both burst out laughing, and even Uncle Optimus chuckled. Daemon didn't know why everyone thought that was funny, but before his embarrassment could deepen to anger, Dad caught him up and set him on Uncle Optimus' shoulders. "Maybe you will, Daemon. Maybe someday you will."
"And in the meantime," Uncle Optimus said, rising to his feet and making Daemon hang on to his head from his precarious perch, "I'm happy to give you a boost. Now place the star on the top of the tree."
With one arm still wrapped around Uncle Optimus' head, Daemon reached out and placed it on the tallest branch. Mom, Dad, and Rebecca clapped their hands and Daemon grinned. It was kind of fun being the tallest one there, and Uncle Optimus let him stay on his shoulders until Mom declared that dinner was ready.
Even from the ground, though Daemon felt a swell of pride whenever he looked at that star. He'd helped to light their darkest hour.