With daddies money in hand. Mom, Lily and I headed to Johannes Malt Shop, Benton favorite and only mom and pop burger joint. Once we walked through the door, the smell of beef patties being grilled on a open flame hit us like a ton of bricks. Once we were inside, mom guided Lily and I toward a table. Once we were seated a women around Lily age appeared. She had honey blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She smiled toward each of us and placed a small paper menu down upon the table.

This is a single story for Christmas.

DISCLAIMER: These events are not real, just stories

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Each year I spend Christmas with my gram who lives alone a few hours away. With old age setting in, spending Christmas alone was awful for gran. So for the past however many years I've been spending the night at grans.

Jack Winslow, for all intense and purposes, appeared to be a normal ten-year-old boy to all the adults who saw him outside his family. He didn’t mind playing sports, when the other boys let him. He even explored his neighborhood, the wooded areas around town, and even fished a bit, but mostly by himself. You see, it was the kids who saw Jack as something different, someone who while nice was a bit…off in some way. And because he seemed off they seldom went out of their way to do anything but say hi. But as they were about to find out, Jack Winslow was going to teach them lessons that would stick with them for the rest of their lives. Lessons only one kid could teach another kid, lessons which would apply to Jack himself.