What Christmas Means To Me

Day 2

Kenny woke startled, forgetting that he had set his alarm the night before. The glorious golden sun greeted his gloomy gaze. A distant chirp of a kookaburra brought him back to reality. He remembered now - today was the audition. The door creaked open once more, still attached to the two rusty hinges. Kenny bounded down the stairs. Today he feels like he could jump to the sky, not having to lug his mail-stuffed bag along with him. It being early, the scent of freshly cut grass is rampant throughout the streets as the cars had not yet come out to pollute the air. Kenny whistled as he entered the grocery store, greeting the workers and tossing coin to the guide dogs. “Thanks for your donation,” one said in a gruff voice. Today is a good day. The audition went well, but he didn’t get the part. Turns out today was not a good day. The magpies who ran the auditions were kind, but didn’t think that Kenny really understood the meaning of Christmas. They told him to come back once he really understood what Christmas was. What did that even mean? Kenny walked home. The ugly calls of seagulls echoed throughout the street. The scent of cut grass was gone, all that remained was gasoline. The grocery store workers looked disgruntled - fed up with their jobs. The guide dogs looked tired, no longer bothering to ask for a donation. The door creaked open, now only with one rusty hinge left attached. Parker greeted him, saw his somber expression and knew what had happened. Kenny arrived at the community hall where the auditions were taking place. All his practice had led up to this moment, he had this in the bag...or so he thought.

“I didn’t get the part, Parker. They said I didn’t know what Christmas is truly about.” Kenny said glumly.

“Well, you know that project I’ve been working on?” Parker asked.

“Yeah, what about it?” Kenny replied, confused how this had anything to do with his failed audition.

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