By Kerri Anderson (My Side of Things)

I wrote this column after Christmas last year.

Christmas 2010 has come and gone in a blur. It was a wonderful time spent with family and friends- and of course the shopping mall. It’s amazing how much time we spend preparing for Christmas in comparison to how much time is actually spent enjoying the holiday. It’s definitely getting to be a lot of work! I guess it’s all worth it in the end when we can see the sparkle in the eyes of those opening our gifts.
I always enjoy watching everyone- especially the kids open their gifts. The look on their faces when they get just what they asked for is truly priceless. The kids’ eyes light up as the candy cane paper tears open just far enough to reveal the very item they asked for from Santa. Every year the big guy seems to know the perfect gifts to get for everyone. That is until this year…
My nephew tore into his gift with anticipation as to what he might find. He was truly excited when the wrapping paper tore open to reveal a hover craft of sorts. It was shaped like the bell of a mushroom that had slits in that made it spin while it hovered over your hand, table or other hard surface. Tucked inside the “bell” was a small electric fan that propelled the hover craft upward off the surfaces. If done properly, the hover craft should stay a couple of feet above the surface. My dad got the craft set up and ready to go. I’m not sure if Santa meant for Dad’s name to be on this package, but he seemed just as excited, if not more than my nephew at the thought of bringing the hover craft to life. Little did he know that the craft would have a life of its own.
Dad turned on the fan and in a whirl the craft spun around and raised itself up off the table. Pretty cool… The boys saw this and came running over to check this thing out. They each wanted to let it hover over their hand. All of a sudden, in the midst of all the commotion, the hover craft channeled the spirit of Christine! I swear- in an instant this thing grew fangs and was out for blood! It was possessed by Christine and was just waiting for that special someone to turn her switch on . One second it was hovering and behaving itself. The next second we were all running for our lives. Christine began spinning out of control and shot straight upward to the ceiling. She bounced off the ceiling, took a hard left and ricocheted off my dad’s head. Good ol’ Christine wasn’t done there. She began to chase my son around the room! Hoyt hit the deck, and covered his head with his hands just as Christine hurled herself at his head. She smacked into his hands leaving behind a red welt and spun off in my nephew’s direction. Everyone was screaming for him to get down, but it was too late… Christine had taken another victim. My dad tried to come to my nephew’s rescue, but ended up as a bumper in a game of pinball. Christine kept bouncing back and forth between my dad and my nephew; she was taking no prisoners.
All of a sudden, Christine broke free from the game of pinball and shot over in my direction. I let out a shriek and was ready to bolt, (every girl for herself at this point) she hit the foot stool and fell to my feet. The boys and my dad took that opportunity to leap across the room superhero style and pounced on top of her. I think it took all three of them to wrestle her to a halt and shut her down. Finally! We were safe! We all looked at each other in shock wondering what had just happened. Dad picked up the hover craft, looked at us all and said “I think Santa’s taking this thing back.” I’m not sure if dad was able to get a hold of Santa or not. But I do know that the hover craft went back in its box. Good ol’ Christine wasn’t taking any more victims on this Christmas holiday!