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Show Science Fiction The First Christmas of its kind "My Mom and Dad are still asleep," Chris said. "That's all right. I'll leave the packages here, and when your parents wake up you can open the presents." When the man left, his parents came out of their bedroom. "Who was that at the door?" asked his Dad. "It was Santa!" cried Chris. "Then why don't we jpen the presents?" said his Mom. When the packages were open, they found spacesuits with a note which read: "We will be boarding the shuttles at noon tomorrow." At noon the next day the family entered the shuttle. --Scott Tomlin Eighth Grade P.G. Junior High It was an unusual Christmas Eve, thought Chris. It was snowing like it always did on Christmas, but the snow was gray instead of white, and the flakes didn't glisten by the light of the lamp post near the house. Nor did the snow stick when it hit the ground, even though it was bitterly cold. Instead it melted into nothingness. The snow wasn't affected by the wind either, even though it was howling loudly and shaking the branches of the nearby trees violently. The wind would make flying very difficult, Chris thought. Surely this would be a Christmas like no other. This would be the first Christmas after the earth had changed its orbit around the sun and started turning into a barren, dry, lifeless nothingness. The government was building more space shuttles and suits so everyone could go to the more habitable planets. Now all the people left alive were living in this single town. "Chris," cried his mother, "come to dinner!" He walked in and saw some dehydrated hamburger, wilted carrots and condensed milk. Chris had a hard time eating that night because he couldn't stand the thought of eating old, and dehydrated food on Christmas Eve. After dinner, the family went straight to bed. Early the next morning Chris got up to see what Santa had brought him, but nothing was there. Then he heard a knock at the door. It was a man dressed like Santa. "Ho-Ho-Ho," the man said. "Merry Christmas ! I' ve brought you and your family a present." |