Christmas from years gone by
by
Marco

Nathan West sat out in the field, the snow white on his clothes. He giggled as his brother started to tickle him.

"Neil!" Stop…please!"

Neil laughed as his older brother pushed him off.

"Wanna go and build a snowman?"

Nathan smiled. "Yeah, do you think Kylen wanna come along?"

Neil backed up. "Yeah, y'know…you two are gonna get married some day," he said and rantowards the house.

"Eat Worms!" Nathan said and ran after Neil. They stopped as they reached Kylen's house. A boy opened. "Hi, Maarten. Is Kylen in?"

"No, she went over to your house. Hey, can I come along?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, sure! The more the merrier!" Neil told him.

The boys ran off again, leaving Nathan behind. He looked up at the stars so beautiful and bright on the black background. He saw some soldiers patrolling the area in search for AI's. Since Nathan was 12 he knew what was going on. He walked home.

Kylen greeted him out of the porch. "Hi, Nathan."

"Hello, Kylen" he replied shyly.

"Dinner is almost finished, and the presents are under the tree," she informed him with that childish voice.

"Aha…yeah…" he said, trying to get in but was blocked by Kylen.

"We are standing under a mistletoe. You have to kiss me..."

"Kiss you? But you are a GIRL!" he yelled. The room went silence. Kylen looked angry with him and his mother wasn't so glad either. "Do I have to?"

"Nate, it's a tradition! You have to or else…or else you won't get any presents!" she said stubbornly.

Nathan moaned sourly, and then he bent forward, his eyes closed. Kylen took his head and kissed him on the mouth. He jumped back, his hand over his mouth.

"OH MAN! That's sick!!" he yelled.

Neil and Maarten started to laugh along with Kylen and Nathan's family. Nathan held himself on his stomach, like he was going to be sick. "Grow up!" Kylen yelled and walked to her father.

After the meal they all gathered around the tree to sing Christmas-songs. Nathan was sure he kept his hands 3 feet away from Kylen. They sat down and opened the presents.

---

2065

Nathan smiled at memory. Schjerven came up behind him and looked at the photo of four kids with lots of presents. The rest of the 58th stood around the artificial tree on the floor. She smiled at him.

"West, are you coming?" she asked.

"Yeah" he said. "As soon I am through thinking about a Christmas so many years gone by."

The End



© Marco