The Last Christmas

Snow is falling on the ground and it's inhumanely cold. There's not soul
to be seen outside.   Not even the soulless known as the living dead
are walking around.  One of the undead have taken refuge in a house on
the edge of suburbia.  The house is not spectacular but its above
standard.  The undead man curiously walks through the place room by
room.

After going through most of the house the undead man ends up in the basement.  It bears an uncanny resemblance to the basement in
Night of the Living Dead.  The George A. Romero version.  The only thing
missing is the trowel on the wall. The undead man is totally oblivious
to the three shriveled bodies wrapped up on the frigid floor.  His eyes
are focused on a huge box marked "X-Mas Stuff."  The undead man is drawn
to it like a fish to bait.  He gets his cold lifeless hands inside the
box and begins pulling out its contents.  
  
The first thing out is garland, followed by tree lights, glass bulbs and other assorted
ornaments.  The undead man looks at the holiday items as if they were
luminous pieces of treasures.  They bring back flashes of wonderful
memories thought to be forever lost - Christmas memories.  They also
bring a smile to his face.  One Christmas morning when he was ten years
old, he woke up to find his parents who were separated most of that year
happily back together.  He remembers his Christmas at 15 when he
received his first guitar, a present that brought him a lot of praise
and female attention.    He recalls Christmas at 25 when his wife gave
him the best gifts of all - a newborn son and daughter.
  
Reminiscing over these precious times  deeply moves  his unbeating heart.  Not only
can he recall his Christmas past but he can recall other parts of his
past too.  Most of what he remembers is more so ghosts of memories than
whole ones, but it's all slowly starting to come back to him - his life
before death.    He even remembers his name, John Musso.
  
John spots a huge box a little further away with the words "Christmas Tree"
on it.   John's eyes light up.  An idea forms in his dead head.
  
John brings up the plastic tree and the tree decorations to the living
room.  He had an incredibly difficult time moving the huge tree box up
the stairs due to his decomposed condition.  He nearly snapped his spine
doing so.
     
In a strained effort, John proceeds to stand the Christmas tree up.  Then he goes to decorate the tree.  John is having a
ball getting into the holiday spirit.  He is enjoying himself so much
not once has John felt the urge to eat something or more accurately
someone.  
  
What was Christmas afternoon is now Christmas evening. John has finished decorating the tree along with the living
room and everything looks amazing.  He put in a lot of work and it
shows.   
  
John adds one final touch to the festive scene - music.  John rummages through the some cds and finds a true holiday
classic.  He pops in the disc and relaxes on the sofa.  Nat King Cole's
'The Christmas Song" graces John's partially deaf ears.  After-life is
pretty good right now. But it doesn't last.  
  
A streak of sadness hits John.  It pains him that he's celebrating Christmas all
alone without anyone.  Without his wife and children.  He wonders where
are they?  Are they still living or living dead? Or maybe just dead.

John suddenly snaps out of sadness.  He hears the loud pounding of someone
storming down the stairs.  He rises and sees a tall, bearded man with a
double sawed off aimed squarely at him.  The bearded man screams:"WHAT
THE FUCK?!!!"  John eyes widened in stone cold horror.  BOOM!!! The
bearded man unloads again.  BOOM!!!  John no longer has a head.   What's
left of his rotten body drops truly dead to the floor.
    
"Did you get him, dad?!" a young boy shouts from stairs.  "Yeah. I got him",
the bearded man responds.  "I told you I heard someone downstairs", the
boy said.  "You were right Bobby.  You were right" said the
bearded man.   "I'm gonna clean up now.  You get right back to the
attic"  "Okay, dad." the boy said.
  
The bearded man surveys his living room and shocked.  It blows his mind away that a zombie went
ahead and made up his living room for Christmas.   He eyes the remains
of John and shakes his head.  Somberly he said, "I forgot today was
Christmas."