How My Neighbor Stole Christmas

by Meghan Quinn

Is her hair different? It looks different. Not that I’d notice something like that . . . although if I did, it’s not because I stared into her soul or anything. It just looks . . . oh, maybe it’s because she’s not wearing a winter hat. So that’s her forehead. Nice. I mean . . . no, not nice. I don’t care what her forehead looks like. It’s just a forehead. There’s nothing nice about it. It’s bland. Boring. “I can see your forehead,” I say in greeting. “What do you mean, you can see my forehead?” she says as her hand covers it. Yeah, what do you mean, Cole?

“If you allow fear to take over your actions, then you’re never going to accomplish anything.”