
label ChristmasE3JamStoryline:
    stop music fadeout 1.0
    scene black with dissolve
    
    "201M2048 BC. December 24th. Christmas Eve."

    "The heaters are up full blast on account of how bad it is outside with the snowstorm."

    "I know many ask for a White Christmas to make it feel festive and traditional, but this is like Father Winter telling you “Fuck you. Get cold.”"

    "I even had to wear a sweater to bed last night. That’s how bad it got."

    "At least the kids aren’t complaining. The perks of being half-human."

    "Though they certainly inherited their father’s laziness when it comes to sleeping in late."
    play sound 'audio/effects/cellphone.ogg' volume 0.8

    "The Virta-Com rings and I already know who it is. Pressing the accept button I see Mom appear on the screen looking as youthful as ever despite her age. Christmas was always her favorite holiday."

    play sound 'audio/effects/cellphone.ogg' volume 0.8
    play music whitechristmas 

    scene Mouskitchen with dissolve

    show fang christmashappy:
        yalign 0.1
        xcenter 0.3
    with dissolve

    show kitchen behind Mouskitchen
    show Mouskitchen:
        xalign 0.0 yalign 0.0
        crop (0, 0, 1920, 1080)
        ease_quad 1.0 crop (0, 0, 960, 1080)
    pause 0.4
    show Sam ChristNeut:
        xcenter 0.8
        yalign 0.1
        xzoom -1.0
    with dissolve
    

    #show half room with Samantha

    Sam "Lucy! Merry Christmas Eve!"

    Sam "I just wanted to ask if you and the kids want blueberry or apple pie for dessert tomorrow when you come over!"

    Sam "I know the little ones can be picky on which of my pies they love."

    "That’s an understatement. Amber and Greene are like Allies and Axis when it comes to food requests from their “Grammy Sammy”"

    "Though it’s hard to say who's who when it comes to those wars."

    "They both cause equal amounts of terror."

    "Like that one time Amber forced Greene’s head into the toilet over brownies vs cookies a few Christmas’s ago."

    "Or when Greene hid her favorite guitar until she agreed to chicken marsala over strip stake."

    "The only thing they both ever agree on is when Chicken Nuggets and Fries are an option."

    "I raised my kids right."

    show fang christmassmug with dissolve

    Lucy "I had them snowball fight for it. Greene won. So go with apples this year."

    show fang christmashappy with dissolve

    Sam "Wonderful! I’ll get started right away!"

    Sam "Oh, Naser? Say hi to your sister! I’m going to get started on baking again! See you tomorrow, Sweet Tooth! And don’t forget to go to church!"

    Lucy "I won’t, Mom."
    hide Sam with easeoutright
    show naser christmasneut:
        yalign 0.1
        xzoom -1.0
        xcenter 0.8
    with easeinright

    "Naser soon enters wearing the ugliest holiday sweater I’ve seen from him so far. And that’s saying a lot given his wardrobe’s track record."

    "There is a reason he never loses the “Ugly Sweater” contests during the holidays."

    Nas "Morning, Sis. How are the kids?"

    Lucy "Still sleeping. But I suspect they’re just pretending so they don’t have to go to church. I’ll wake them up soon."

    Nas "Gonna dump snow in their beds like last time?"

    Lucy "You know it."

    show naser christmashappy with dissolve

    Nas "Nice. Take vids."

    Lucy "So what’s with the sweater?"

    show naser christmasblush with dissolve

    

    Nas "Aisha’s family celebrates Kwanza so I’m just showing support for my fiance."

    show naser christmashappy with dissolve

    Nas "I’m actually getting ready to head to their house to celebrate. She’ll be with us for Christmas though."

    "Still can’t believe my baby brother is gonna get married soon." 

    "Aisha is a good girl. Got the usual Triceratops attitude, but a good heart." 

    "I feel bad it didn’t work out between him and Naomi, but they’ve made up over the years."

    Nas "Gotta bring in all the Aarons. Even the soon to be ones. The whole family is gonna be there to-"

    show fang christmassad 
    show naser christmassad
    with dissolve 

    "The moment he says that my heart beats a bit and he quickly freezes."

    Nas "Shoot. Sis, sorry. I didn’t mean..."

    Lucy "It’s fine, Naser."

    Nas "I’m sure he’s doing his best to get here. Maybe the weather will be better by tomorrow."

    Lucy "Yeah."

    #sad music

    scene black with dissolve

    "I say it’s no big deal but it kinda is to me. To the kids as well."

    "Anon has never once missed Christmas. It was the one holiday he was always home for."

    scene Mousflash with dissolve

    show anon c happy :
        xcenter 0.3
        yalign 0.1
    show fang c happy:
        xcenter 0.7
        yalign 0.1
        xzoom -1.0

    "Even before we got married, he never once let me spend Christmas alone. His job has him working outside the city at times. Especially around the holiday seasons. But he always came home."

    "For me."

    "For the kids."

    "For all of us."

    "I’m better than I was previously when he came back from the military. So dependent on him..."

    "But Christmas is special"

    "It’s the day he proposed to me."

    "The day we found out we were going to be parents the first time."

    "And the day I told him and Amber there was going to be a baby brother."

    "It’s our holiday."

    "I know it’s not his fault. The storm was worse than anyone predicted."

    "But still..."

    scene Mouskitchen with dissolve
    show kitchen behind Mouskitchen
    show Mouskitchen:
        xalign 0.0 yalign 0.0
        crop (0, 0, 1920, 1080)
        ease_quad 1.0 crop (0, 0, 960, 1080)
    pause 0.4

    show fang christmasshock:
        yalign 0.1
        xcenter 0.3
    show naser christmasshock:
        yalign 0.1
        xcenter 0.8
        xzoom-1.0
    with dissolve

    AmberE3 "Mom! Greene’s hogging the bathroom again and I need to piss!"

    GreeneE3 "I’ve only been in here for ten minutes! You can wait another five!"

    show fang christmashappy with dissolve

    show naser christmashappy with dissolve

    Lucy "Well, that’s my cue to deal with the terror duo. See you later?"

    Nas "Yup. And Merry Christmas Eve, Sis."

    AmberE3 "Hurry up or I’m kicking the door down! I don’t care if I have to see your ugly butt!"

    GreeneE3 "At least mine isn’t fat! Unless Jack’s into big bouncy booties!"

    AmberE3 "{b}THAT’S IT! YOU’RE DEAD!{/b}"

    "Ah. Tis the Season." 

    "I better make sure they don’t ruin the bathroom."

    show fang christmasunimp with dissolve

    "Or kill each other."

    #act2

    scene black with dissolve

    pause 0.5
    
    #amberb

    "Well, after Mom prevented me from killing my little brother and exchanging out Christmas wreaths for funeral ones, she made a deal with us."

    "If we agreed to go church without any more hassle then she’d let us open one Christmas gift now."

    "We agreed in 1.27 seconds."

    "I can always kill my brother on New Years."

    scene Mousliving
    show amber neutral:
        yalign 0.1
        xcenter 0.3
    show greene neutral:
        yalign 0.1
        xcenter 0.6
        xzoom -1.0
    with dissolve

    AmberE3 "Okay, let’s see. Which one should I open first?"

    GreeneE3 "Just hurry up and grab one already. I already picked mine."

    show amber unimpressed with dissolve

    AmberE3 "You just picked the closest one like the lazy boy you are."


    GreeneE3 "Least I can decide. Remember that Christmas where you wanted to go first and it took you twenty minutes to finally pick?"

    #smirk greene
    show greene smirk with dissolve

    GreeneE3 "And it ended up being socks?"

    show amber unimpressed with dissolve
    #narrow a,ber

    AmberE3 "At least I got a mountain of presents. It pays to have friends you know?"

    show greene neutral with dissolve

    GreeneE3 "I have friends."

    AmberE3 "Your Online Clans don’t count."

    show greene angry with dissolve

    GreeneE3 "Whatever. Just pick something."

    show greene considering with dissolve

    GreeneE3 "And for the love of Raptor-Jesus don’t let it be Cynthia’s."

    show greene considering:
        linear 0.09 xoffset -2 #move left 20 pixel in 0.2 seconds
        linear 0.09 xoffset +2 #move right 20 pixel in 0.2 seconds
        repeat
    show amber unimpressed:
        linear 0.09 xoffset -2 #move left 20 pixel in 0.2 seconds
        linear 0.09 xoffset +2 #move right 20 pixel in 0.2 seconds
        repeat 
    with dissolve
    "A shiver goes down both our spines." 

    show greene considering:
        xcenter 0.6
    show amber unimpressed:
        xcenter 0.3
    with dissolve

    "Cynthia’s presents tend to be...something else..."

    "I’d feel really guilty if we had to bring a biohazard team over in this weather."

    show amber happy with dissolve

    #smile amber

    "I pick what looks to be a fluffy one decorated in a reindeer cartoon wrapping." 

    "Feels good so far."

    "Doesn’t smell bad."

    "I think this will do."

    AmberE3 "On the count of three. Ready?"

    AmberE3 "One."

    show greene happy with dissolve

    #smile greene

    GreeneE3 "Two."

    sibs "THREE!"

    show greene happy:
        linear 0.2 xcenter 0.55 yoffset +60
    show amber happy:
        linear 0.2 xcenter 0.35 yoffset +60
    

    #paper rip sounds

    "We tear them up at the same time and it’s..."

    show greene angry
    show amber unimpressed
    with dissolve

    #narrowed amber and greene

    show amber unimpressed:
        linear 0.2 yoffset -60

    AmberE3 "Socks?!"

    show greene angry:
        linear 0.2 yoffset -60

    GreeneE3 "Goodbye Nest High?!"

    #upset sublings

    sibs "Ughhhhhh!"

    AmberE3 "What’s Goodbye Nest High?"

    show greene neutral with dissolve 

    GreeneE3 "Some lame ass Canadian visual novel game about a world where avians rule the world and a big ice age is coming to kill them all so a non-binary student hosts a farewell concert with their friends."

    GreeneE3 "Saw the walkthrough on SnootTube."

    GreeneE3 "The story sucked ass. The gameplay was dumb. The choices make no major difference. And the characters are mostly unlikable or poorly designed."

    GreeneE3 "Music wasn’t bad though."

    AmberE3 "It’s Canada. What do you expect?"

    GreeneE3 "I was expecting a decent game. This is why I give my gaming wish list to Dad and not Uncle Naser. He at least understands the proper needs of us gamers."

    show amber sad
    show greene sad
    with dissolve
    
    #sad greene and amber

    "Hearing Greene mention Dad makes him get all sad and it makes me sad too."

    show amber sad:
        linear 0.5 xzoom -1.0
    with dissolve

    "I look out the window and it’s still as bad as it looks." 

    "Makes me think Mom is crazy for having us go to Church in this weather."

    "I mean. I think Raptor-Jesus would be fine with us celebrating his birthday indoors without freezing our wings off."

    "But then again, if he can get Dad home..."

    "Maybe I’m fine getting frostbite."

    GreeneE3 "He’s not going to miss it...is he?"

    show amber sad:
        linear 0.5 xzoom 1.0
    with dissolve

    AmberE3 "Greene..."

    #angry greene

    show greene angry with dissolve

    GreeneE3 "He promised he wouldn’t! It was the one day he always promised us!"

    GreeneE3 "...Promised me..."
    show greene sad behind amber
    show amber sad :
        linear 0.5 xcenter 0.5
    with dissolve

    pause 0.5

    
    #sad greene
    #move amber

    "I go over and give my brother a big hug."

    "He doesn’t say anything but he hugs me back."

    "We know our Dad loves us. But his job sometimes requires him to leave Volcaldera Bluffs for a long time."

    "He’s missed some important days."

    "First Days of School. Graduations. Fourth of July. New Years. My Softball Championship when I was ten."

    "The worst was Greene’s Birthday two years ago."

    "Greene refused to speak to him for two weeks. Until Dad took him to a big Gaming Convention to make up for it."

    "But Dad always promised that no matter what, he would be home for Christmas. Every single year. And he’s kept that promise to us."

    "It was our special holiday."

    "And now he might not come home because of the stupid weather."

    "Stupid snowstorm."

    show amber sad:
        linear 0.5 xcenter 0.3
    with dissolve

    pause 0.5

    AmberE3 "Hey, he still has time. He’s trying, Greene. He’s not Superman. Or Santa Claws."

    show amber happy with dissolve
    #smiling amber

    AmberE3 "That’s Grandpa’s job."

    show greene happy with dissolve
    #smiling greene

    "Every year Grandpa plays Santa Claws at the Policeman’s Holiday Ball for the kids. He did the same for us. "

    "And he still does it when we have the Christmas Dinner at their house."

    "One time he even had Dad and Uncle Naser dress up as Elves with the green little booties."

    "Mom still has the pictures."

    AmberE3 "So let’s not count Dad out until it’s over. Okay?"

    GreeneE3 "Okay."

    show fang christmashappy:
        yalign 0.1
        xcenter 0.8
        xzoom -1.0
    with easeinright

    #enter lucy happy right

    Lucy "Are you ready?"

    show greene happy:
        xzoom 1.0
    with dissolve

    #face both to lucy

    sibs "Yes, Mom."

    scene black with dissolve

    "I hope God really is hearing us today."

    "I really do want Dad to come home for Christmas."

    # act 3

    scene E3airport with dissolve

    play ambient 'audio/effects/teenageCrowdMurmurLoop.ogg' volume 1.4 fadein 3.0

    show anon c  Christneutral :
        yalign 0.1
        xcenter 0.5
    with dissolve

    "I hate airports. "

    "More importantly, I hate winter." 

    "Sunny Dinofornia my ass."

    "Here I am in Reef City, my plane had to make an emergency landing cause the storm was too bad to travel. No other flights are leaving. It’s cramped. Smells. And I hear screaming children wanting their parents to do something."

    "Dante’s Inferno was right. Hell is cold and chilly."

    play sound 'audio/effects/cellphone.ogg' volume 0.8

    "Hopefully that’s the solution to my problems."

    A "Ripley. Tell me you got someone coming."

    Rip "Sorry, Anon. I tried. I got every officer out on the streets because of this snowstorm and I’ve tried contacting the Chief of Reef City. No dice."

    A "What about Moe? Can he send someone?"

    Rip "Can’t get a hold of him. I think he’s got problems of his own. And I’ve tried car services. All of them are busy. What about your friends? Stella and Rosa?"

    A "Stella and her family are in Japan for Christmas this year. Rosa’s down visiting family in Rexicolt."

    Rip "Shit."

    Rip "I’ll keep trying with Moe but..."

    "Yeah. I can’t hope for a miracle."

    Rip "Anon. Listen. I’ve missed Christmas before. More than once because of my job."

    Rip "The kids won’t hate you. They know this was something beyond your control."

    A "I know."

    "We hung up. I look again at the bus terminals. All cancelled."

    show anon c  Christsad with dissolve

    "I hate this. I hate that I’m here. Christmas was the one day I always promised I would never miss."

    "I’ve missed a lot of days I regret. Amber’s Elementary Graduation. Greene’s first time Trick or Treating in his own costume. My 8th Anniversary with Lucy."

    "Thanksgiving. 4th of July. I even had to miss two New Year’s."

    "The worst was Greene’s Birthday two years ago."

    GreeneE3 "I HATE YOU! NEVER TALK TO ME AGAIN!"

    "That hurt so much. He didn’t speak to me for two weeks." 

    "After I took him to a gaming convention he cried and said he was sorry."

    "He didn’t need to apologize. I did."

    "I swore I would never be like my Dad. Neglectful. And I’m not. God knows I'm there and I love them both as if they were the world to me."

    "But Christmas..."

    show anon c lockedin with dissolve

    "No"

    camera:
        linear 20 zoom 2 xpos -0.5 ypos 0.0

    play music rockring fadein 1 volume 1.5


    "I’m going to go out there and hike it to Volcaldera or at least close enough to a subway entrance. "

    "I am going to spend Christmas with my family."

    "I’ve survived years in the deserts. I can handle the snow."

    "It’s going to be just like powdered sand."

    "I can do this!"

    window hide
    window auto
    camera:
        zoom 1 xpos -1 ypos 0.0
    scene onehour with dissolve
    play sound hoursound

    pause
    stop music
    scene E3snowyStreet
    play ambient 'audio/effects/outdoorLoop.ogg' fadein 2 volume 2
    play music freezing
    show anon c Christshock:
        yalign 0.1
        xcenter 0.5
    show snowRoadLoop with dissolve
    with dissolve

    "OHMYGODTHISWASAMISTAKE!{w=1.0}{nw}"
    "ITISNOTLIKEPOWDEREDSAND!{w=1.0}{nw}"
    "NOTLIKEPOWDEREDSANDATALL!{w=1.0}{nw}" 
    "COLD!{w=1.0}{nw}"
    "COLD!{w=1.0}{nw}"
    "COLD!{w=1.0}{nw}"
    "COLD!{w=1.0}{nw}" 
    "COLD!!!!!"

    show anon c  Christsad:
        linear 0.09 xoffset -2 #move left 20 pixel in 0.2 seconds
        linear 0.09 xoffset +2 #move right 20 pixel in 0.2 seconds
        repeat 
    with dissolve

    "Another windy chill makes me shiver. This was a very big mistake."

    show anon c  Christneutral :
        xcenter 0.5
    with dissolve

    "Okay. New plan. Head back to the airport. Drink all the hot chocolate I can get. And see about getting family tickets to Florida."

    "Kids love Disneyland, right? Even if the movies suck."

    play sound pullup fadein 5

    pause 5

    show caaar :
        xcenter 0.6
        yalign 0.1
    with easeinright
    show anon c Christshock :
        linear 1 xcenter 0.2
    pause 1.0
    "What?"
    pause 2.0
    play sound cardooor
    "No....way...."
    pause 2.0
    scene Mousliving
    stop ambient
    play music whitechristmas
    show greene happy:
        xcenter 0.6
        yalign 0.1
        xzoom -1.0
    show amber happy:
        xcenter 0.8
        yalign 0.1
        xzoom -1.0
    show fang christmashappy:
        xcenter 0.3
        yalign 0.1
    with dissolve 

    GreeneE3 "Did the reverend really have to go on for like an hour in his speech? I felt by the time he was finished Raptor-Jesus himself was going to rapture us."

    Lucy "Reverend Harkwood does tend to ramble a lot on the holidays. But you can’t deny he’s passionate."

    AmberE3 "I don’t know. I’ve been to Maria’s church. Father Nunez can give him a run for his money."

    AmberE3 "It would be fun to see them debate."

    show fang christmasunimp with dissolve

    Lucy "I think that would quickly turn into a boxing match."

    AmberE3 "Even better. We can sell tickets and claim it’s a charity thing."

    AmberE3 "Lutheran Golden Gloves Reverend vs Catholic Kung Fu Priest! Who will God favor tonight in this twelve round free style match that will rumble the Heavens!"

    show greene smirk:
        xzoom 1.0
    with dissolve

    GreeneE3 "And then a giant Hindu Guru comes out of nowhere with a steel chair."

    show amber happy:
        linear 0.3 xzoom -1.0
    with dissolve

    AmberE3 "That would be awesome! A sudden surprise entry from a follower of Vishnu!"

    "As my kids continue to ramble their Religious Battle Royal idea, I figure I should head to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate. We all need it after freezing our tails off."

    #knock sfx
    play sound knocking
    pause 2.0

    "Huh, I wonder who that is?"

    scene Mousliving with dissolve

    show fang christmashappy:
        xcenter 0.7
        yalign 0.1
    with dissolve

    play sound dooropen

    pause 0.3

    show fang christmasshock:
        linear 0.5 xcenter 0.3
    with dissolve

    "...No way."
    play music christmastime fadein 2

    show anon c Christhappy:
        xcenter 0.8
        yalign 0.1
        xzoom -1.0
    with easeinright


    A "Hi, Lucy. Merry Christmas Eve."

    hide anon c Christhappy
    show fang christmashug:
        xcenter 0.7
        xzoom -1.0
    with vpunch

    Lucy "ANON! YOUR HOME!"

    A   "Of course I am."

    A   "It’s our holiday."

    A    "I promised to always be there."

    "He’s here. He’s really here."

    show anon c Christhappy:
        yalign 0.1
        xcenter 0.8
        xzoom -1.0
    show fang christmashappy:
        xcenter 0.5
        xzoom 1.0

    "Stupid dweeb. Making me worry so much."


    sibs "DAD!!!!"

    show amber happy:
        xcenter 0.7
        yalign 0.1
    show greene happy:
        xcenter 0.7
        yalign 0.1
    with easeinleft

    pause 0.2

    
    hide greene smirk
    hide amber happy
    show anon c familyhug:
        yalign 0.1
        xcenter 0.7
        xzoom 1.0
    with vpunch

    "Our kids are like bullets upon hearing their father. They all but tackle him off his feet as they embrace him. "

    "Just seeing their joyful smiles is the best Christmas present I could have ever asked for."

    "Amber’s beaming like a star. With eyes so bright that they could outshine the house lights."

    "Greene is giving the biggest smile I’ve ever seen from him. I think he’s even teary-eyed."

    "And Anon? He looks like a soldier coming home from the end of a war."

    "I wish I had a camera for this moment."

    show fang christmashappy:
        xcenter 0.3
        xzoom 1.0
    show greene smirk:
        xcenter 0.2
        yalign 0.1
    show amber happy:
        xcenter 0.5
        yalign 0.1
    show anon c Christhappy:
        xcenter 0.8
        yalign 0.1
        xzoom -1.0
    with dissolve

    AmberE3 "I told Greene you were going to be here for Christmas!"

    A "Of course. I promised, didn't I?"

    GreeneE3 "Dad..."

    GreeneE3 "I’m glad you’re here."

    GreeneE3 "Lucky you, by the way. You missed Church."

    Lucy "Guess that means you're going to Hell, Dweeb."

    A "Considering how cold it is? I’ll take the fire and brimstone."

    Lucy "How did you get here? Did you find a taxi service? Malcolm again?"

    A "Actually, I ran into some old faces."

    show anon c Christhappy:
        xzoom 1.0
    with dissolve

    A "Come on in, guys."

    show anon c Christhappy:
        linear 0.2 xcenter 0.5
    show greene neutral:
        linear 0.2 xcenter 0.1
    show amber neutral:
        linear 0.2 xcenter 0.3
    show fang christmasshock:
        linear 0.2 xcenter 0.2
    with dissolve
    
    show reed ChristNeut:
        xzoom -1.0
        xcenter 0.9
        yalign 0.1
    show trish ChristNeut:
        xzoom -1.0
        xcenter 0.7
        yalign 0.1    
    with easeinright

    "It’s..."

    T "H-Hey, Fang. I mean...Lucy."

    T "Been awhile."

    "Trish. Reed."

    "My old...friends..."

    "My old nightmares..."

    "I haven’t seen them since..."

    AmberE3 "Mom? Dad? Whose this?"

    Re "Never told them about us, huh? Guess that’s fair..."

    show fang christmassad with dissolve

    "Hearing him say that...looking at it now..."

    A "These are some old friends of ours from our high school days. They saw me in Reef City and gave me a lift."
    A "It’s thanks to them that I made it home."
    GreeneE3 "I thought Aunt Rosa and Aunt Stella were your friends from school?"

    T "We...we had a falling out...we lost touch..."

    show reed ChristHappy with dissolve

    Re "Until now! On our way to Volcaldera and look who we found freezing like a popsicle!"

    Re "Anon here thought he could walk all the way in the snow like he was Matthew Henson."

    show trish ChristSmug with dissolve
    show reed ChristNeut with dissolve

    T "Glad to see that he hadn’t changed too much since High School when it came to knee jerk ideas."

    A "I’ll have you know that I’m not as impulsive as I was when I was eighteen, Trish."

    A "Well, most of the time."

    T "Anyway. Anon told us his predicament so we gave him a lift."

    Lucy "You...you did that? Really?"

    show trish ChristNeut with dissolve

    T "Y-Yeah. Well...It’s Christmas and...nobody should be separated from their family."

    "I never thought I’d see Trish ever do anything kind for Anon."
    "She used to hate him all the time in school. Blamed him for what happened."

    "She was such a terror. But..."

    "It’s been so long..."

    show anon c Christhappy:
        xzoom -1.0
    with dissolve

    A "Hey, kids? Why don’t you show me the Christmas Tree? Then we can call Grandma and Grandpa and let them know to put up my seat at the table!"

    show amber happy:
        xzoom -1.0
    show greene smirk:
        xzoom -1.0
    with dissolve

    pause 0.5

    hide anon c Christhappy
    hide amber happy
    hide greene happy
    with easeoutleft

    pause 0.2

    show trish ChristNeut with dissolve

    "Anon takes the kids and gives me a soft smile. "

    show fang christmashappy with dissolve

    "Thanks, Dweeb."

    show fang christmassad with dissolve

    "The silence between the three of us is as thick as the snow outside."

    "I haven’t thought about Trish and Reed in years."

    "Not since the therapy sessions."

    "I don’t know what to say."

    T "So, Lucy. You...still playing music?"

    Lucy "I play for our church. But I also play for the daycare center or as a substitute in schools."

    Lucy "I like it. I like making the kids smile."

    show reed ChristHappy with dissolve

    Re "You always did have a soft spot for kids. And hey. You’re still in music. Doing the thing you love. That’s cool."

    Lucy "Thanks. What about you two?"

    show reed ChristExp with dissolve

    Re"We own our own music store franchise. We mostly live in Reef City now, but we still come down to see family."

    show fang christmasshock

    Lucy "We? Wait a minute. Are you two..."

    show trish ChristHappy
    show reed ChristHappy
    with dissolve

    T "Been married to this dumbass for eight years now."

    "Trish and Reed? I know I used to joke about it but..."

    "Wow."

    Lucy "Congradulations, you two. Any kids?"

    T "Nah. We decided we’re not gonna have any. Got a dog though."

    Re "We call him Puffy."

    show fang christmashappy with dissolve

    "Of course Reed would name him that."

    T "You seem to be doing great. You and Anon. Two kids. Nice house."

    T "Living the dream, huh?"

    Lucy "I wouldn’t trade it for anything..."

    show reed ChristCons
    show trish ChristSad
    show fang christmassad
    with dissolve
    T "Listen, Lucy."

    T"I know this is...so late...but..."

    T"I’m sorry."

    T"I really am sorry for everything."
    T"I was a terrible friend to you. I used you and..."

    Re "We both screwed up. And we’re sorry."

    Lucy "You guys..."

    T "Anyway. We’ll see ourselves out. We gotta see our own families."

    show reed ChristCons:
        xzoom   1.0
        linear 1 xcenter 1.0
    show trish ChristSad:
        xzoom 1.0
        linear 1 xcenter 0.9
    with dissolve

    pause 0.4

    show fang christmasshock:
        linear 0.2 xcenter 0.5
    show reed ChristNeut:
        xzoom -1.0
    show trish ChristSad:
        xzoom -1.0
        xcenter 0.75

    Lucy "Wait!"

    Lucy "...Why don’t you stay awhile? Have hot chocolate with us. And...we can catch up?"

    Re "R-Really?"

    show fang christmashappy with dissolve

    Lucy "Y-Yeah. You can get to know my kids. You can even stay for dinner. And...and..."

    Lucy "...And I missed you guys."

    "I do."
    "I do miss them."
    "They might have caused me so much pain in the past."
    "But they were also a part of me. The two who have been my friends for so long."
    "I can tell they changed. "
    "I’ve changed."
    "We all have."
    "And isn’t changing for the better and giving second chances what Christmas is all about?"

    show reed ChristHappy
    show trish ChristHappy
    with dissolve

    T "We’d...we’d love that...Lucy."

    scene black with dissolve

    "I think this is going to be the best Christmas ever."

    scene Mousliving
    show JamEnding with dissolve

    pause

    "THE END"

    scene black with dissolve

    "MERRY CHRISTMAS"

    Nas "OR KWANZAA!"

    A "Shut!"
   

    return








    




    

    

    

    



    
















    


    






















    












    

























        






