The Squirrel Girl was invited to a Christmas party by a friend. Her new friend Mia was concerned about the Squirrel Girl being alone on Christmas Day. Besides, it was a chance for Mia to feed her friend the Squirrel Girl. Among her friends, Mia was the only one who was truly concerned about the Squirrel Girl’s diet. It was a kind gesture by Mia and the Squirrel Girl was delighted to be eating Vietnamese foods. The party consisting mostly of family members were to wear the ugly Christmas sweaters. Unfortunately, the Squirrel Girl had none.

She told Mia, “I have nothing ugly.”

She was hoping that her friend Susan would come with extra ugly sweater, but she bailed out. She didn’t want to wear ugly sweater? Squirrel Girl was forced into wearing her usual black—it was slimming.

The family of Mia was welcoming and friendly. Mia excitedly offered cute slippers for the Squirrel Girl to wear. Somehow, Mia had a thing for slippers and her family gave her more slippers as her Christmas present during the gift exchange. The Squirrel Girl did wonder, how many pairs of slippers does Mia own? If Mia were given slippers every Christmas, the Squirrel Girl calculated that there would be a closet full of them. She made a mental note not to open any closets.

Thanks to the bottle of wine that the Squirrel Girl brought to the party, she relaxed and mingled with the family. One in-law of the family followed suit.

He asked, “Could I have some too?”

He looked relieved that alcohol was consumed. He was grateful that he didn’t need to sit there thinking about when to eat. What else could you do at a family gathering? The family Christmas parties for the in-laws could be awkward. The Girl offered the wine to him and chatted with the son-in-law of the matron. The matron was a lovely woman. She wore a cream colored sweater and someone had draped a necklace of Christmas lights around her neck. She made a pretty picture and the Squirrel Girl took a shot of her. The Matron smiled. She was an image of contentment and beauty. And yes, should you be wondering, the Christmas lights didn’t burn her.

Then the five sisters came in one after another with their spouses. One sister who came in with the ugliest sweater had a boyfriend who made awesome cookies. She offered some to the Squirrel Girl to take home. The Girl told the sister that she needed to keep her boyfriend because he was a keeper. The cookies were good. Boyfriends who made Christmas cookies didn’t grow on trees. 

Suddenly one sister asked the Squirrel Girl, “Do I know you?” 

The face of the younger sister looked familiar to the Squirrel Girl.

“I don’t think so, but you seem so familiar to me.”

Indeed, she recognized the voice but the Squirrel Girl could never remember faces. 

But then, the sister who was cleverer than the Squirrel Girl asked, “Do you take allergy shots?”

The Squirrel Girl was speechless. The younger sister of her new, close friend was related to her favorite nurse. The Girl knew that destiny existed but to face it was amazing.

“Oh my! You are my nurse!”

This nurse had a special request whenever the Girl got a shot: she had to keep her arms raised a bit. The Squirrel Girl could not forget the nurse, and here she was standing in front of her and was the younger sister of her new friend who was like an angel. Life was mysterious and bella. All the sisters of Mia were beautiful. They were very thoughtful and chastised Mia who appeared to be the rebel. Mia tended to openly express herself, and they worried that she was not kind. They did not know that Mia had the “light of men.” Mia was always worried about the Squirrel Girl.

She would ask almost every morning, “Girl, did you eat?”

So, the Girl defended Mia. The Squirrel Girl who lived on nuts and fruits knew who had the “light of men.” Perhaps it was the diet that caused this phenomenon? Who is to know?

It was time for the feast, and what a feast. The Vietnamese foods were fantastic. The Squirrel Girl needed to fatten up for hibernation and ate seconds. Some ate thirds. They ate nonstop. Why not when it’s the holiday? The son-in-law soon fell asleep on the couch and missed the ugly sweater contest. Of course the sister with the Christmas lights built into her sweater won. Yet, the ugliest sweater was kept hidden away by a gentleman who was also an in-law? When he took off his jacket, he had store coupons attached onto his sweater. The Girl laughed outright. It was the ugliest sweater she had ever seen. They were horrifying to behold. The dreaded store coupons. The Squirrel Girl laughed and was gratified that the Spirit of Christmas would always be present. It was a Christmas Day that the Girl would remember fondly.