Just gonna point out that I know absolutely nothing about Hanukkah, so I apologize to any readers who actually celebrate. -Mal.
It was a cold December night in the city of Brighton. Actually, it was the eighth night of Hanukkah to be more specific. If I'm being honest, I never knew much about the holiday. Even after meeting Libby, I still don't. Speaking of which, Libby and her mom invited us to the bookstore for Hanukkah. "Whoo! It's the eighth night of Hanukkah!" Molly exclaimed. "Thanks for having us, Libby!" "Yeah, Happy Hanukkah, guys. I'm so glad you're all here!" Libby exclaimed. "My mom and I have never had this many people... or ghosts, over for Hanukkah before." "Yeah, plenty of turtles though, huh?" Scratch asked. "Yeesh. Their beady reptilian eyes are looking straight into my soul." "Maybe that's because animals can see you no matter what." I commented. "Shalom, McGees! Be with you in a second!" Leah greeted. "Got the fryer going upstairs. Customers downstairs! Busy, busy, busy." "I wanted to be prepared, so I did a lot of research into Hanukkah, which I now know unfolds over eight subsequent nights and is also called the Festival of..." Molly said, just as the power went out for the entire town. "...Lights." "Might wanna double check that." Darryl pointed out. "Looks like the whole city is out!" Mom gasped. "Not to worry!" Leah reassured everyone. "I'd never be caught without a generator during a Midwest winter!"
My entire family went outside with Leah to help with the generator. Only problem was that it was gas powered. "Of course I forgot to stock up on fuel." Leah complained. "Oh, well, looks like we've only got enough juice to last an hour." "I'm going inside." I said, shivering in the cold air. "I don't want to get frostbite."
Hour 1
After heading back inside, we started getting comfortable in the bookstore. Luckily, I made some hot chocolate before the power went out. "Well, what a great Hanukkah it's been, but you know what, it's half past snack o'clock. McGees, let's roll." Scratch yawned, smelling some fried food that Libby was setting out for everyone. I wanna say Sufganiyot to be specific, which are basically jelly filled donuts. "What is that heavenly smell?" "Oh, if you're hungry, Mom made plenty of food." Libby explained. "And since it's Hanukkah, it's all fried in oil." "Good luck." I warned. "Once he eats, he won't stop. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Hour 2
Libby decided to show Molly, Darryl, Scratch, and I how to play dreidel. "Okay, the name of the game is dreidel." Libby explains. "You spin and if it comes up gimel, you win... all the gelt." Scratch spun the dreidel first. "Nun!" Scratch exclaimed. "Wait. As in, "none-none?"" "Sorry, Scratch, that's just how the dreidel spins." Molly said, placing another bet and spinning the dreidel. "Ooh! Shin. As in "win?"" "Uh-uh. As in, "put in."" Libby explained as Molly put more gelt in the middle.
During our game, I landed on shin every turn. Libby won this stressful game after spinning gimel. "And now, to taste this sweet victory..." Libby sighed, unwrapping the gelt. Scratch stopped her before she could take a bite. "Wait! The gelt is candy?!" Scratch gasped. "We were playing for candy?!
Hour 3
Libby hosted a spelling bee back down in the bookstore. "Welcome to the first annual Mega-McGee Hanukkah Spelling Bee!" Libby announced. "Your first and only word is, "Hanukkah."" Molly was up first, and I could tell she was a little nervous. "Uh, H-A-N-A?" Molly began before Libby hit her buzzer.
Darryl was up next. The first thing I thought was he was gonna be an easy out. "K." Darryl said as the buzzer went off. Called it.
Dad was looking more nervous than Molly was when it came his turn. "Can you use it in a sentence?" Dad asked as Libby hit the buzzer again.
Mom on the other hand, seemed very confident about her upcoming attempt. "H-A-N-U..." Mom began. "I wanna say... C?" Libby hits the buzzer again.
Finally, it was my turn. I took a deep breath and began to spell it out. "H-A-N-U-K-K-A-H." I spelled. "Correct, Amber!" Libby exclaimed. "That's my favorite way to spell it. There's also..." "C-H-A-N-U-K-A-H." I interrupted. "What? I'm good at spelling." "Correct again." Libby smiled. "Hey! I feel like I said that one!" Molly complained as the buzzer went off again.
Hour 4
Libby brought us between bookshelves to show my family one of her favorite traditions. "Okay, time for a Stein-Torres Hanukkah tradition! The Miracle Box!" Libby announced. "Now, everyone, write down a miracle that happened to you this year, and stick it in this box." We each took a piece of paper and wrote down one of our miracles. Molly put hers in almost immediately. Me and the others put our answers in the box shortly afterwords. "Ah, yes." Dad said, putting his paper in the box. "Aw, man! I thought of a better one." "Now we read them aloud." Libby explained. "We don't really need to do that, do we?" Scratch gasped. "Pfft, it'd be pretty weird if we didn't celebrate our miracles aloud and in public!" Libby scoffed. "Scratch, did you find an afterlife partner?!" I joked. "Eh, well, you see, my miracle is just so miraculous, I don't wanna show up everybody else by having mine be read out loud, so I should probably just take it..." Scratch said, trying to grab his paper, only to have his ghostly hand smashed by the lid of the box. "No cheating! Here, I'll show you how it's done." Libby demonstrates, grabbing one of the miracles from the box. ""A ghost became my BFF." That's Molly's." "You got me." Molly laughed. "Libby, did you tell them my miracle?" Leah asked as Scratch turned invisible. "It's me." Libby chuckled. "Every year, she says that I'm her..." "Libby's my miracle!" Leah shouted, leaving to dust another bookshelf. "Aww!" We all cooed. "So sweet. I mean, no one can top that." Scratch said. "More dreidel anyone?" "No, this is fun!" Mom exclaimed, grabbing a paper from the box. "It's a miracle I didn't get caught."" "For your own safety, it's best you don't know more than that." Darryl explained. "My turn!" "Please don't." I heard Scratch mumble. ""I finally have a real friend for the first time."" Darryl read. "That's the best you can come up with, Amber?" "That's all I could think of, twerp!" I exclaimed, pulling a miracle from the box. ""I'm grateful that our family has found a forever home." This you, Dad?" "Wow, you're good at this, sweetie." Dad complimented. "Is it feeling warm in here to anybody else?" Scratch asked as Molly pulled out a paper. "No? Just me?" ""The van's still running."" Molly read. "Is that really a miracle, Mom?" "Oh, trust me. It is." Mom replied. "Your turn, Pete." Before Dad could begin his turn, Scratch tried to stall for time. "Pause!" Scratch panicked. "Uh, you know what? I really gotta go use the little ghost's room." As soon as Scratch left, Dad pulled out his card, and also Scratch. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you didn't want us to read yours!" Dad smirked. "I don't! I thought we were doing funny ones, so, you know, boy, I real mean with mine." Scratch lied. "Ooh, I was real... no one was safe. But, you know, I see now, you know, I misread the room, so uh..." ""I used to haunt a house, now I haunt a home."" Dad read. "Aww!" The rest of my family and Libby cooed. "Scratch! I knew you were a gooey marshmallow!" Molly exclaimed, pulling Scratch into a hug, followed by the others. "Come here, buddy!" "You see, this is why I don't say nice things." Scratch admitted. "Aww! Cleo just sent me a video of her dogs playing in the snow!" I exclaimed. "Ooh! Let me see!" Molly gasped.
Hour 5
Molly played a set of drums while Libby was doing her Hanukkah themed slam poetry for everyone.
Their temple was dark, destroyed by the fight.
All they had was a few drops of oil to light.
But the flame kept burning all throughout the night.
"Look," they said, "Still lit."
The next day, the third day, the fourth day again, as they rebuilt the sacred spaces within.
Their temples, menorahs, stood up to the wind.
"Look," they said, "Still lit."
They marveled, happily wondering why as the sixth and seventh days went by.
"It must be a miracle sent from on high."
"Look," they said, "Still lit."
In the end, it was eight days and nights it would last till the temple was fixed by the light that it cast.
"We weathered the worst, the storms have blown past. And look! Still lit."
When I think of that story, deep down I know that no matter the battles we fight as we go, inside of us all, a Hanukiah glows.
And look, still lit.
Everyone snapped at the end of Libby's poem. "Free bird!" Someone shouted. "This poetry appreciation is making me peckish." Scratch commented. "I'm going on a latke run."
Hour 6 (Scratch's POV)
So, I ate a lot of latkes this hour.
Hour 7 and 8 (Amber's POV)
We just enjoyed the rest of the party for the last two hours. I didn't get much to eat due to Scratch eating everything off my plate. Gotta admit, I'm actually surprised that the generator stayed on this long. All of a sudden, the generator died, turning off the backup power, but the power in Brighton was restored not long after. Scratch even got to help himself to more latkes.