The upcoming One Winter's Eve holiday contest is intriguing, so intriguing I want to use it to make my writing debut here. But as is typical for me, I'm stuck.

But rather than being blocked, which is, frankly, more typical for me, I'm finding myself caught between scenarios (you ever get caught between those things? Devilish hard to get out of without tearing your best outfit....)

Anyway, bad joke aside, the clock's ticking, and I have my basic idea for my holiday contest story in mind--it will involve a small boy (age eight in this case), the boy will have cerebral palsy and use a wheelchair like me, and he will have a secret female alter ego (I'm leaning toward the name "Ivy", because it's the holidays, and my character likes the song "The Holly and the Ivy"--but not the name "Holly.") It will also be a variation on the "Home Alone" plot, without the bumbling burglars and the elaborate booby traps.

But I don't know quite which direction the plot should take, so work has ground to a halt.

Our young friend had clothes squirreled away--his older sister's, fished from the donate-to-Goodwill box late at night--but the poor child hardly has a moment to himself because the family smothers him. Between school, family, and various home-health aides, he's under almost constant watch. Ergo, there's no time for his alter ego (which at this point in the story has no name) to come out. He's frustrated, angry, and beginning to be a discipline problem. One night, he silently wishes his family would go away.

The next day starts out clear and gorgeous, but storm clouds form in a couple of hours and a massive blizzard hits. Our little hero(ine) gets out of school for the first day of Christmas break--the paratransit driver drops him off and helps him get in the house--but he discovers no one is there. The storm has delayed his family--the driver remarks he could barely get the child home because of the roads. Land-line phones are out, power is out. His parents' cell phone is nowhere to be found. And as protective as his parents were, they never entrusted him with a cell phone of his own.

Though terrified, he sees this as an opportunity to be his true self--he has time at last!--and here he gives that self the name "Ivy."

That's scenario A.

Scenario B would be almost the same, but would move the story to during Christmas break, so the child is already home. Now, however, he and a home-health aide are the ones trapped there. Similar situation--no power, no land-line phone, snowplows are taking forever, and the aide can't get any bars on her cell because of the storm. She's the child's only confidante, and he tearfully confesses it's all his fault. When she asks why, he tells her about the wish, and about the girl he longs to be, whom they decide to call Ivy. The aide resolves to help him be who he needs to be, if only for that brief time.

Each has its merits, each has its plot pitfalls. Personally, I'm leaning toward B, but A has the potential to take a truly dark turn, which is good for dramatic purposes. I'm kind of wondering what you folks think.