[RevDWW]

It was when my eldest brother's girl friend and their twins come over on Christmas eve. My mother was so happy, even thought the twins were "crack babies" and cried constantly. I figured that if I got them a puppy it would make them happy. It really did until the puppy bit into the extension cord and was electrocuted. Smoke was coming off it's little body, so my drunken step dad, grabbed a glass off the table to douse the flames, unfortunately it contained whiskey and cause an even larger fire. Not until the tree caught fire did we really know how much combustible material was in the living room. Well I was had been wanting a fire truck for Christmas and even thought there was one melting under the tree, when a real one showed up it was awesome. We lost the house and the puppy was cremated so having to bury it was not a problem. That would have been a real bummer. The Christmas eve dinner at the Salvation Army Shelter was tasty and the homeless men where funny so we where entertained until the telegram arrived telling the folks that my eldest brother, who was in Vietnam, was missing in action. Mom cried as much as the twins. But then they passed out the wool blankets and we all hit the rack waking on Christmas morn with much to be merry about. At least there were no rats to scratch and bite us and we all had a good night sleep. I got a really good pair of snow boots and my feet were warm all winter. Florida never really gets all that cold anyway.












[The proceeding story was a sorry work of pure...well maybe impure fiction]