Late yesterday evening my wife came home and said she was worn out. All she wanted to do was eat supper, close herself up in the study at the back of the house and have a quiet, peaceful evening watching Hallmark Christmas movies.

I said the first thing that popped into my head. “We forgot to buy Halloween candy, didn’t we?”

She nodded and said, “Yes.”

I could just imagine a mad dash into town, fighting my way through Walmart, only to end up with the worst Halloween candy in the world that would be left on the shelves.

Then I did what any loving husband would do in a situation like that. I lied. I said, “You know, I was thinking the same thing. It’d be nice to spend a nice, peaceful evening watching Hallmark movies.”

She gave me the look.

After eating, we closed the shutters, turned off every light in the front of the house, and retreated to the back room, Spanky in tow.

I remember our Ring doorbell. Every time my phone alerts me someone is at the front of the house it alerts me with a chime. Spanky has picked up on this and goes absolutely nuts when he hears the chimes on my phone. We didn’t want that, so we turned off our phones and hunkered down to a pleasant evening of folks losing their farms, factories closing, bad fiancés, or the bank foreclosing on the old family homeplace. Last night it was a combination of all the previous mentioned, plus someone was going to have to save Christmas.

I have determined the Lord has gifted me with the skill of prophecy, for within the first five or ten minutes of a Hallmark movie I can foretell exactly how the story will unfold and end. It never fails.

My wife hates it when I tell her about this innate gift that has been bestowed upon me. It is a burden, but last night I manned up and did not remind her that I have this strange ability to see into the future. It was difficult, but I refrained.

While watching the spine tingling, heart stopping movie I managed to reorganize my desk, bookshelves and storage closet while not missing one bit of jaw dropping mirth.

After the second movie ended my wife turned to me and said she felt so much better. I was happy, too. I had found the earbuds under a pile of papers on my desk that I had assumed were lost forever. I also found the 10% discount coupon for an oil change that I will use next week. All-in-all it was an eventful evening. Christmas stories on Halloween. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

_______________
Rick Algood
November 1, 2019