Sam Sykes posted something on Twitter as a fun game where the war on Christmas hashtag was referring to battlefield correspondence from an actual war. I thought people here might enjoy posting short snippets based on this premise, just for fun.
"Day 33. They hit the toy shop just after dark. From the rooftop, the click click click of reindeer paws, then automatic weapons fire. I slide under my bench. We all do, huddled there with only the sound of our breathing and the approaching hooves. The light from that accursed red nose searches the room, seeks us out one by one. Hermey is too exposed, and the light finds him. Machine gun fire chews away the left side of his head. I have to look away. The hooves clatter between the benches as the reindeer and their armed riders--traitors, all of them--look for survivors. It seems to last forever, the gun shots, the screams, the smell of smoke and blood, but when it's over I'm still alive and the deer are leaving. I slump down, only now aware of how tense I've been. Every muscle in my body is clenched.
"I see the reindeer through a frost-rimmed window, leaping into the black sky behind the point of red light that is their leader. My hand moves to the knife at my side, which I'd been afraid to touch only moments before. I've tried to stay out of this senseless conflict up until now. I just wanted to make toys and pretend the fight was someone else's problem. But I can't do that after tonight. My knife is sharp, Rudolph, and when I see you again I've got something real for your ass."
"Day 33. They hit the toy shop just after dark. From the rooftop, the click click click of reindeer paws, then automatic weapons fire. I slide under my bench. We all do, huddled there with only the sound of our breathing and the approaching hooves. The light from that accursed red nose searches the room, seeks us out one by one. Hermey is too exposed, and the light finds him. Machine gun fire chews away the left side of his head. I have to look away. The hooves clatter between the benches as the reindeer and their armed riders--traitors, all of them--look for survivors. It seems to last forever, the gun shots, the screams, the smell of smoke and blood, but when it's over I'm still alive and the deer are leaving. I slump down, only now aware of how tense I've been. Every muscle in my body is clenched.
"I see the reindeer through a frost-rimmed window, leaping into the black sky behind the point of red light that is their leader. My hand moves to the knife at my side, which I'd been afraid to touch only moments before. I've tried to stay out of this senseless conflict up until now. I just wanted to make toys and pretend the fight was someone else's problem. But I can't do that after tonight. My knife is sharp, Rudolph, and when I see you again I've got something real for your ass."
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