Egg Nog

As the car approaches the street it is bathed in the warm glow of Christmas lights strung on all the houses down the block. It is a beautiful display of the spirit and joy of the holidays. You can see Frosty on brilliant display beside Santa. A huge snowflake is centering a huge yard full of candles and peppermint canes and elves dressed in red and a flock of reindeer waiting to pull a sleigh. Lights are also strung over the roadway from house to house. Sounds of Christmas songs fill the air. This is gonna be great for the granddaughter.

The car parks in front of Frosty where a space has opened up by the leaving of another family. Grandpa gets out and goes to get his granddaughter out of her car seat. Her eyes are big with wonder and delight and her smile makes Grandpa's heart skip a beat. He remembers his son at this age. Same big eyes and smile. Grandpa wipes away a joyful and love filled tear. He lifts his 4 year old granddaughter into his arms. Closing the car door he turns to his wife and all three look up and down the street at the displays. Their faces are shining. Grandpa reaches for Grandma's hand. Life is good.

They spend the next hour examining the displays. The little girl giggled for almost the whole of it. The grandparents laughed and reminisced. The lights dazzled. The moving displays of all sorts went through their routines without fail. The night air cold and the night sky clear. No white Christmas in Southern California this year. At least this night.

The last two houses they visited were the most magnificent of them all. Besides the light displays they held something very special, personal involvement of the families that lived in them. The first house occupants dressed as the Holy Family with baby Jesus in the manger and live farm animals all around. Even the Three Wise Men stood in adoration. "Away in a Manger" played softly from strategically placed yard speakers. The young granddaughter clapped her small hands together and giggled with glee.

The final house had the usual light displays but they provided snacks and beverages. Most did not know how thirsty and hungry you get walking around being amazed and thrilled by the lights and sounds of Christmas. Or how far you have walked. Grandpa and Grandma get a paper cup of egg nog with cinnamon sprinkled onto the top while the granddaughter got a cup of cold milk and a chocolate chip cookie. The movie crowd really know how to celebrate Christmas.

Later, traveling back to Fillmore through Grimes Canyon to return the very tired girl back to her parents, Grandpa has a massive heart attack and dies behind the wheel. The car plunges down the embankment. All perish in the crash.

Four and a half months later the family serving drinks and snacks were arrested for murder. They were fanatical Muslim and the egg nog was spiked with poison. They managed to poison many that night.

Merry Christmas.