Chloe slowly opened her eyes, expecting it to be morning. But it was still dark. Very dark. Then she remembered she had put out the candle. She turned over to see if her siblings were still in their beds, but they weren’t, and the beds were gone, too. She wished she could look at the clock, but it was too black to read it. “I wonder how long I’ve been asleep?” she wondered, “Or is this a dream?” It was rather difficult to tell whether this was a dream, because everything was as it had been before she fell asleep, except for David and Clara’s beds. “Dreams usually happen quicker than this. If I was in a dream, then something would have happened by now, would it not?” Chloe’s thoughts changed quickly. “But what if this isn’t my dream, what if it is someone else’s? Ha, what a funny thought! Perhaps someone in China is having this dream. How queer this is. But maybe it is my dream. I do wish I could know!”

    “Well then, I shall have to look about the room and see if this is still my room.” Slowly, gradually, the light of a candle appeared at the other end of the bedroom. “Why, thank you,” said Chloe. She did not even begin to wonder why a candle came out of nowhere and whether anyone or anything was holding it.

    She looked around the room, and seeing that the dressing table and the washstand and the dresser and her bed were in place, she decided that this was indeed her room. Chloe noticed the candlelight was growing brighter, and it seemed it was coming closer to her. By now, it was halfway across the room, but she could not tell if it was floating on its own or being carried. “Perhaps it’s the ghost of the Candle that I put out earlier? How I regret that now. I never should’ve done the thing. Now this Ghost Candle will haunt me for the rest of my life.” Chloe sighed hopelessly. “There’s a slight chance he might forgive me, if I apologize really from my heart. And then he might come back to life! How lovely that would be. Then we would have a tea party celebrating…” She was going to finish her sentence, when she saw the most shocking sight, which took her breath away and made her heart skip two beats.

    What was holding the candle was a man, eight inches tall. He had a hunchback and wore a green hooded cloak. His face was white and wrinkled, his enormous eyes all black. He had a large hooked nose, crooked teeth, and a wart above his bushy eyebrows. And to Chloe’s surprise, he didn’t walk, but float over to her. Slowly, slowly, slowly, until he reached her face.

    Chloe screamed and tried to hide from it, but it was of no use. The ugly old man was already staring into her eyes, hunched over his candle. “Who, who, who are you, Mister?” she shrieked.

    “Me?” he replied, in a low, raspy, whispery voice. “I’m me. And who are you? You are you, but that doesn’t matter now, does it?” Before waiting for Chloe to answer, he said, “Good. Now, Mees Chloe, I haf come to tell you that eet ees Christmas Eve, late Christmas Eve.

    She nodded her head slowly. She did not know what he might say next, and if she was in trouble for anything.

    “Good, good. Miss Chloe, you will be ebble to have one gift early. What would you think af that?”

    Chloe swallowed and said in a whisper, “That would be splendid, Me.”

    “Me? No, I’m me. You’re you.”

    “Oh, I’m sorry, You.”

    “No. You’re you, I’m me!” the old man said, becoming very agitated.

    “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what to call you. But yes, I would love to have one of my presents early, sir.”

    “And what would you think eef you could choose the one you would have?”

    “All the better, sir.”

    “Very well then, Mees Chloe, you wheel be ebble to choose between three geefts tonight… you may only keep one. Understewed?”

    Chloe, shaking with fear, answered, “Yes, sir.”

    “Wonderfool. A person wheel come with a geeft, woon at a time. Understewed?”

     She nodded her head slowly. She wished desperately that she could say something to make this old man go away, but she couldn’t think of anything. Chloe was worried that he might talk all night instead of letting her see the “geefts”. Every moment she was growing more frightened of him.

    “Very well then, Chloe, you shall see your first geeft. Soon.”

    “But Mr. Me, I mean You, I mean whatever your name is, why are you staying here and talking? I only want to see my gifts.”

     “Oh, yes, yes, I forgoat ebbout that. I shall haf to depart.”

    At these words, Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. She watched the eight inch tall man dissolve into the air like sugar into tea. Sitting in the darkness once again, she waited for the first gift to arrive.

    to be continued.......