J R Wirth

The Christmas Town Calls J R Wirth

It's been a few years since there was any strange Christmas occurrences in the lives of Hailey and her cousins-and times were a changin'. Each member of the Christmas brigade had fallen in love with technology. From video games-played with online friends, to video chats with friends from school, to hours of YouTube watching, the cousins were hooked. Each had grown and matured as well. Isaiah had made the biggest jump, going from college student to full-time employee to help support his new family. Suddenly the brigade had grown from six to eight with the addition of their newborn, nephew-Nathan, and his mother-Karina. It was never an issue, however, as they fit right in. Despite their individual developmental changes, and their new love of all things technological, the Christmas brigade never lost its hope for a new Christmas adventure. But it seemed like the Christmas magic that they had come to love and expect, particularly the little ones, had all but gone away. The cousins continued their annual ritual of assembling the town beneath their grandfather's Christmas tree, and then donning the tree with decorations of love. And Harper continued to abscond with the baby Jesus and the manger, when the season was over, keeping it safely tucked away in her chest of drawers, waiting to be placed back under the tree when the timing was right. Sensing it was time for a change, their grandfather decided to buy a new tree and to donate the aging tree that had been the symbol of the magic of Christmas. The cousins knew that this was no ordinary tree, which was proven when it refused to be given away. Each time the donations were picked up, the tree ended up safely back in the garage, yet no one knew how. But on that fateful Thanksgiving afternoon, all that was about to change. Shortly after completing the annual ritual, while enjoying the decorations, fire, and Christmas music, the impossible happened. In a heartbeat, all the screens of their devices switched to a streaming connection with the townsfolk who were connecting electronically. From there things got real sticky. Some of the brigade got transported to the town beneath the tree, while the baby Jesus got transported to their grandfather's garage. Hailey, Isaiah, and Harper are left to figure out how to get the others back-and what the heck do they do with the now living, and breathing, baby Jesus.