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CHRISTMAS ASHES
     
    It’s that time of year again where the jolly old fat guy goes over his Naughty or Nice list and checks it twice. Every year, children from all over the world look forward to that special day. Kids beg Santa for the most popular toy of the season. Parents max out their credit cards. And retail stores ring in record profits. It’s Christmas time.
    But not every boy and girl gets a visit from Santa Claus. At least not a jolly one that involves presents under the Christmas tree. Oh, no, Santa reserves those for the good boys and girls. So what about the bad kids? What happens to them? Will they get lumps of coal in their stockings instead of candy canes, gift cards, or video games?
    One naughty boy in Restwood Mills might have considered a lump of coal a precious gift. He had to learn the hard way that staying on Santa’s Naughty List has serious consequences.
     
    * * *
     
    “Give it back!” Jonathan Brandon yelled. He shuffled back and forth between William Hamilton and Daniel Easterling. The two teenagers tossed a baseball cap over the ten-year-old boy’s head in a game of keep-away.
    William laughed and whacked him over the head with the cap before tossing it back to Daniel.
    “I mean it, Will!” Jonathan flailed his arms while trying to intercept it. “Give it back!”
    “Uh-oh, he means it.” William snorted another laugh. “Little turd is serious.”
    Daniel waved the cap just out of Jonathan’s reach and tossed it over his head. William caught it and held it behind his back, while keeping the smaller boy at bay with his free hand.
    “Come on, man, give it.”
    “You want it?” William said, smiling. “You really want it?”
    “Yes! Now give it.”
    William shoved the cap down the back of his pants. He bent over and let out a rumbling fart that lasted a good three seconds. Daniel held one hand over his mouth and nose, busting out laughing while pointing. William pulled the cap out of his pants and rubbed it against Jonathan’s face. Then he dropped it in a puddle of muddy water, stomped on it, and twisted his foot.
    “No!” Johnny cried out. “My dad gave that to me!”
    “Aw, poor whittle Johnny,” William said. “Did I hurt your whittle feelings? You gonna cry?”
    Jonathan screamed and shoved William, pounding him three times in the chest. William didn’t even flinch at the blows to his body. He rolled his eyes and grabbed a wad of his little assailant’s hair. He pulled the boy's head back and landed a solid punch across his face. Jonathan fell into the puddle of water next to his baseball cap.
    “Later, wimp,” William said as he and Daniel walked away. “And happy birthday.”
    Jonathan cried and lifted his soiled cap from the water. He stared at the Marine Corps emblem, then rubbed some mud off it. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the two neighborhood bullies. Jonathan was short for his age and he didn’t have any friends. He’d always kept to himself, never bothering anyone. That didn’t stop those jerks from picking on him. He didn’t care about why they did it, either. He just wanted the bullying to stop.
     
    * * *
     
    Jonathan sat at a small wooden desk in his bedroom, his dirty cap hung on the edge of his chair. On the desk was an empty plate with bread crumbs next to a handwritten letter to Santa Claus. He lifted the sheet of paper and read what he had just written.
     
    Dear Santa,
     
    I don’t know if you are really real or not because some of the other kids say you are not real. But just in case you are, I only want to ask you for one thing this Christmas. There are two boys in my neighborhood that keep picking on me. I wish they would stop. They are really mean to me and ruined the baseball cap that my dad gave me for my birthday. Dad is a Marine and I haven’t seen him in months. He gave me some other stuff too, but the cap was my favorite because I want to be a Marine just like him when I grow up. Anyway, I just want those jerks to leave