Done. My first completed work. I know it's weird. Y'all don't have to like it.

    Chloe stared up at her clock. “The second hand is too slow,” she groaned, tossing and turning in her bed. Though the Christmas Eve was cold, and the snow was piled out her window, the frost etched onto the glass, the quilts were unbearably hot, making Chloe even more anxious for her bedroom clock to tell midnight. She could sneak downstairs and see if Santa Claus had already arrived, but she was afraid of waking her brother and sister. She could read a book until she fell asleep, but the heat made her feel too lazy to reach for the fairytale book on her nightstand. She could talk to herself in the darkness. She could do anything but stay waiting. What time was it? 10:00 at night. Too long to wait. Chloe remained staring at the ceiling, thinking she could hear jingle bells, but not exactly sure of it. She looked up at the clock again. Still 10:00. When would a minute pass? “Now how long would it take at this rate for it to be midnight?” she said to herself. “Well, let’s see. If each minute actually equals 5 minutes, then you times that by… 12, I’m sure. And 5 times 12 is certainly 80.” Chloe was too tired to make proper math figures that she knew very well how to solve during the day. Her brain felt foggy. She felt too tired to fall asleep. “And if you times 80 by 2, because it’s two hours until midnight, you get 180. Yes, that’s right.” Not only did the heat make her feel anxious, but it also made her rather stupid.

    Chloe stood up on her bed, flipped the pillow over, and laid down again. “Bother, now my quilts are all messed up. Well, it doesn’t even matter, since I’m not going to get to sleep. I wonder if my eyes will have black circles around them if I don’t get to sleep. Like a raccoon. I wish I could see a raccoon, because I’ve only seen the skins. But don’t they bite people and eat raw eggs? Yes, just like the wolves. And raccoons are a member of the dog family. I wonder if I’ll get a dog for Christmas? Probably not. If anyone were to get a dog, it would be David. He’s wanted one longer than me. And Santa doesn’t even know if I want one? Do I want one? Oh no, I hope he won’t bite me. The dog, that is, not Santa. Then I’d have to get rid of him, how tragical! Who would I give the poor thing to? I don’t think Ada is allowed to have a dog, and Charlotte already has three. Oh dear. Whatever shall I do?”

    Once again, Chloe jerked up from her bed and kicked the blankets around. What time could it be now? Certainly 11:00 by now. She stared at the clock. It was only 10:02. “Augh, I will never get to sleep!” she shouted out loud, and immediately clapped her hands over her mouth. “That will never do, you bad girl Chloe. You’ll wake up Clara and David, and then imagine what great trouble you would be in,” she berated herself. She grumbled about how she hated this and once again how she would never fall asleep and then night would last for at least a week, and how she had never been awake for one entire week. “But Polly from school says she has, but I know how Polly is such a dreadful liar. When will something happen?” The clock read 10:03. Finally some time had passed. But not enough time. Chloe thought it rightly deserved to be 11:30 by now. She turned to look at her siblings. They were sleeping so quietly that she felt sorry that she might have disturbed their rest in the slightest. She feared she had disrupted one of their dreams, and perhaps have put a horrible monster in it, turning it into a nightmare. And what a horrible thing to have a nightmare on Christmas Eve! Chloe was in such fear that she had caused this that she became more agitated. The quilts were always soft, so why did they choose tonight to be scratchy. Why did her nightgown choose tonight to have an itchy place in the back where she couldn’t reach? Why did the candle decide to be so flickering, instead of keeping a steady light? She scolded the poor Candle, and told it that the flicker was making her stay awake, and hurting her eyes. It needed to decide to either keep a bright light or no light at all. The candle must have taken this scolding very harshly, because its wax tears began to fall down the candlestick.

    “I’m sorry, Mr. Candle. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry I lost my temper, oh, do forgive me.”

    The Candle showed no change of mind. It stopped crying, but kept flickering.

    “Now Candle dear, I apologized, so you should accept my apology. I shall hug you and then you shall forgive me, alright?”

    Chloe reached out with her thumb and her forefinger and tenderly wrapped them around the candlestick, when a drop of hot wax rolled down and burned her little finger. She shrieked and instantly jerked her hand away from the rebellious Candle. She sucked on her hurt finger. “Well, if that’s not the rudest thing ever been done to me!” She licked her thumb also, and put the candle out. “Serves him right. Awful thing.” After a long pause, she said, “Now I’m all alone in the dark.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “No, I must be brave. I am not alone, because David and Clara are still in here. And if I shut my eyes, it won’t seem dark anymore.” And thus, Chloe fell asleep in peace. Or so it would seem.

    to be continued.