At 11:30pm on Christmas Eve, Adam climbed down the stairs and headed towards the tree once more. Finally able to concentrate on it without distractions, he looked carefully at all the many and varied decorations and a bright smile lit his face. It was everything he had hoped and more. Even things like trash and bullets could be beautiful when they meant something to someone.
He then turned his attention to the large pile of gifts underneath the tree. Most of them seemed safe enough, but he did carefully seal off the vials of Agent Orange, napalm, arsenic, and other dangerous things the horsepeople were insisting on giving one another, in order to protect the mortals in his charge from their effects. Fortunately, the horsepeople would never realize they'd been tampered with, nor would Pestilence ever know that Adam altered his cookies to prevent people from actually getting sick. He felt bad for the retired horseman, though, and made it so the cookies would cause anyone who ate them to cough pitifully whenever Pestilence was around.
Adam's last bit of business was to give his own gifts. He'd thought long and hard about it for the last couple of weeks and decided that if he were truly going to be fair, he'd have to give the same gift to every inhabitant of the Manor. It had taken a great deal more thought to determine what this thing should and could be, but he finally had it and he concentrated on it now. As he did so, a golden light began to grow around him. Faint at first, then pulsing with bright energy it expanded to encompass the entire building and all its inhabitants. It flashed for a moment and then grew dim, never fading entirely.
The gift was a promise and nothing more. It was a promise that at some time during the next year every person that it touched would have a single day of perfect happiness. It was all he could give them now.
Exhausted, Adam made himself comfortable on the floor and gazed at the gentle beauty of the world's strangest Christmas tree as he waited for morning.
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He then turned his attention to the large pile of gifts underneath the tree. Most of them seemed safe enough, but he did carefully seal off the vials of Agent Orange, napalm, arsenic, and other dangerous things the horsepeople were insisting on giving one another, in order to protect the mortals in his charge from their effects. Fortunately, the horsepeople would never realize they'd been tampered with, nor would Pestilence ever know that Adam altered his cookies to prevent people from actually getting sick. He felt bad for the retired horseman, though, and made it so the cookies would cause anyone who ate them to cough pitifully whenever Pestilence was around.
Adam's last bit of business was to give his own gifts. He'd thought long and hard about it for the last couple of weeks and decided that if he were truly going to be fair, he'd have to give the same gift to every inhabitant of the Manor. It had taken a great deal more thought to determine what this thing should and could be, but he finally had it and he concentrated on it now. As he did so, a golden light began to grow around him. Faint at first, then pulsing with bright energy it expanded to encompass the entire building and all its inhabitants. It flashed for a moment and then grew dim, never fading entirely.
The gift was a promise and nothing more. It was a promise that at some time during the next year every person that it touched would have a single day of perfect happiness. It was all he could give them now.
Exhausted, Adam made himself comfortable on the floor and gazed at the gentle beauty of the world's strangest Christmas tree as he waited for morning.