This Christmas was perhaps not for me. The beautifully-lit trees appeared no more than dark, grotesque silhouettes. The aroma of flowers was painful. The smell of cakes and cookies agonised me. And Santa--Santa stood too far from the newly-orphaned to be seen or heard clearly.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning changed everything.
Someone took me to roses and served me cakes and cookies. Then the trees turned into beings with lustrous eyes and lively smiles on familiar faces and with hands so raised as to bless me.