Curate, connect, and discover
A Very Special Lighting
The hero awoke with a groan. Their head was pounding, their body was freezing, and something was very, very wrong.
The first thing they noticed was an offensively loud countdown from what sounded like a cacophony of voices.
They(?) yelled excitedly, “THREE!…TWO!…”
The second thing that they noticed was that they were not horizontal—how one would typically wake up in the morning. Instead, they were vertical, and something was now insultingly bright for what they presumed to be dawn.
“ONE!!!”
Roaring cheers followed closely with the end of the suspicious countdown. Hero had barely had time to consider covering their ears before another one of their senses was assaulted, this time by the onslaught of light. They automatically blinked the blurs out of their eyes and were met with starbursts of twinkling yellow.
Were those…Christmas lights?
All their limbs were lost in the glow. They tried to move but found that they couldn’t. With what little sensation they held, they surmised there were some kind of restraints keeping their legs and arms spread like a starfish.
No, not a starfish.
A star.
Below them laid hundreds of green branches that stretched out to the edges of the square in the city’s center. Hundreds more dots (people?) lined around the ginormous skirt.
They were stuck on top of a giant Christmas tree.
And, if they weren’t mistaken,…they were the topper.
As if their day(…night?) couldn’t get any better, one aforementioned dot started to enlarge, making the flight up several stories to their level. They groaned in realization as the figure approached.
Hero only knew one dastardly mastermind who could fly.
Villain stopped to float only a few feet in front of them, greeting gleefully, “Hero! I’m so glad you could make it to the lighting ceremony! This is a very special day for lots of children, you know.”
Hero gaped, though they doubted their face could be seen with the intensity of the light source behind and around them.
Since when did Villain care about children?
And more importantly, since when did Villain have a beard?!
Fluffy white hair flowed down from their chin, and it took Hero a moment to connect the cherry red suit and matching floppy hat, not to mention the extra padding surrounding their midsection that looked far too impractical to be used as protection in a fight.
Villain was dressed as Santa.
Villain was dressed as Santa.
Their head pulsed again with pain. Feelings of confliction flooded their thoughts as they watched the joy swim below them.
They knew they should be focusing on taking down Villain but…would that…(and they couldn’t believe they were thinking this) ruin it?
They asked the only question they could think of, muttering the words through ridiculously chapped lips and chattering teeth, “What- what time is it?”
“Midnight, silly!”
Right. They were supposed to be watching this on TV right now, from the warmth of their heated blanket with a homemade mug of hot chocolate. As much as they would have loved to participate in the ceremony, this was…definitely not what they would have had in mind. A plan of their own would have involved a lot more marshmallows, and a lot less Villain.
“Are you…gonna let me down?”
“I’m afraid I don’t remember seeing that particular request on your Christmas list. Send me another letter, and I’ll see what I can do.”
Villain bellowed a rolling laugh that sounded suspiciously close to a classic ‘ho-ho-ho’. Before Hero could even begin to think of a retort to what they had suggested, Villain was already moving far enough away for them to deem the effort futile.
A bewildered Hero could only watch as they took off, having mounted a sled-looking contraption that they carried with them into the sky, led by several floating deer-looking animals, the nose of one of which was adorned with a small glowing red dot. The unmistakable sound of jingling bells followed.
Villain exclaimed merrily as they flew away into the night, “Merry Christmas, City!”
Apparently, even villains could enjoy the holidays.
Though, if you asked Hero, Villain was enjoying this one a little too much.