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December 23th,2004.
It’s the holiday season in faraway town. While most kids would be happily spending time with family,Kel was not one of those kids. Instead of spending time with his family,he was out in the cold delivering presents to his old friends. The friend group had broken up a few months prior,After their friend Mari had seemingly committed suicide. Her death hit the group like a Truck,forever tearing them apart. But Kel still had hope. He hoped and prayed that things would one day magically go back to normal. He knew deep down that it wouldn’t but he still wanted to attempt to help what was broken. His first stop was Basil’s house. He stopped outside his front door,heart heavy. He took a deep breath in and tried his best to act happy. He then rang the doorbell. Kel was then greeted by Polly,Basil’s guardian. “Kel? What are you doing here?” She asked. “Is Basil here?” Kel asked in a depressing tone. “Well,yes. But he hasn’t come out of his room in days!” Responded Polly. “Oh.. well you can just give it to him yourself then.” Kel said,passing over the gift to Polly. “May I ask what it is?” Polly asked. Kel paused for a moment. “Sunflower seeds. He said he always wanted to face towards the sun.” Kel said,tears swelling in his eyes. Polly took his gift and shut the door. The next house was the one he dreaded the most. Aubrey’s house.
Kel walked as slowly as possible to Aubrey’s house. Hearing the sound of faint Christmas music on his way. Usually,he would sing along to the carols but this year was different. This year,Mari was gone. Her absence had changed everything,Classic happy kel was going through a sadness he had never experienced before in his life. But however sad he was could never compare to the sadness of his brother,Hero. Mari was the love of his life,the girl who he knew one day would be his bride. And suddenly,the universe took her away from him. Stripping Hero of the best thing he ever had,Mari. This sent Hero into a downward spiral. For weeks he didn’t speak,move or get out of bed. And when Kel tried to help him,Hero snapped. They got into a huge fight and afterwards,Only their parents comforted Hero. Kel didn’t blame them though,they shouldn’t have comforted him. He was only a burden to everyone around him and he knew it. Kel stopped outside of Aubrey’s door and lightly knocked. A minute later,She opened the door. When Aubrey saw him,she looked confused. “Kel? What are you doing here?” She asked. He held out the gift,”Merry Christmas,Aubrey.” He said. Aubrey just stared at him,”No..You don’t get it. What are you doing here.” She said again. Kel paused,”Well uh..I just wanted to give you thi-.” He replied. Aubrey cut him off,”N-no! No! Just stop!” She yelled. Kel froze. “You don’t talk to me for two months and then you just barge back into my life trying to act like nothings wrong?! Well something is wrong Kel! Mari’s dead! She’s dead and she’s not coming back!” Yelled Aubrey. In that moment,something snapped in Kel. “YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT!? IT’S ALL EVERYONE REMINDS ME ABOUT! Do you think I want to act so happy all the time,it’s exhausting.” Kel cried. Aubrey scoffed at him,”You don’t get it do you? Nothing will ever be the same,Kel.” Aubrey said. Kel paused. Aubrey took the gift from his hands.”Go.” She said. Kel backed up slowly. “GO! LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK!” Yelled Aubrey. Kel ran away from her house,on the verge of tears. He noticed that Aubrey was crying too and for a moment,he felt bad for her. It was beginning to get dark outside and Kel figured that he should head home. But still,there was one present left to deliver.
Kel examined the present in his hands. It was for Sunny. But before he could deliver the present to him,he another place to visit first. Kel walked to the church and then went around to the back of the church where the graveyard was. He always had gotten the creeps from that graveyard but he needed to talk to someone. He needed to talk to Mari. He stopped at her grave and sat down next to it. He took note of the inscription on her grave,”Mari Mitsaki,1989-2004. The sun shined brighter when she was here.”Kel took a deep breath in and then started to speak. “Hey Mari. It’s me,Kel.” He said. Kel tried to think of something to say but then he broke into tears. “It’s just…I don’t know what to do! It was j-just…more simple when you were here and now..Basil’s acting weird and Aubrey’s being a prick and..Sunny hasn’t been outside in a while. I’m really worried about him. I-if you can hear me,please give me some guidance. I-I don’t know what to do!” Kel said,as he cried. Kel rubbed the tears out of his eyes and began to walk to Sunny’s house. Once he reached Sunny’s house,he knocked on the door and waited. A minute later,no one had opened the door. Kel waited another minute,still nothing. He pressed his ear against the door and heard someone crying. “Sunny?” He asked. No response. Kel then sat down on Sunny’s doorstep. “Sunny,if you’re in there. I just wanted to say…t-that I have a gift for you!” Kel said. He sighed,”I know..that things have been hard lately. But things will look up eventually..I just know it!” Kel exclaimed. Kel stood up,”The gift is on the doorstep. Merry Christmas.” He said,walking away from Sunny’s house.
Kel swung open his front door and saw his mom baking some Christmas cookies. “Oh hey Kel! How did your present delivering go?” She asked. Kel looked down,”Fine.” He said. “Did my advice work,are you all friends again?” She asked. “It’s not that simple,mom! Basil won’t come out of his room,Aubrey’s a jerk and Sunny…won’t come out of his house at all.” Kel explained. His mother sighed. “Look,I know things are tough for you and your brother right now but I promise,things will get better. You just need to try to stay positive! Let’s all just forget about what’s happening and enjoy our Christmas,okay?” She said. Kel looked up at her,”Okay mom,I’ll try my best.” He said. Kel then laid down on his couch and stared up at the ceiling. Would having a positive attitude really change things? He tried his best in the moment to just be happy and forget about Mari but he never did. No one forgot about her,ever.