Frozen Before The Luminous World

• Frozen Before The Luminous World

• Pack: Cy7 Days of Christmas: Advent Of A Frozen World (cy7advent) (Day 1/7)

Made by Lifeline

BPM: 175

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Though small, a sparrow still has innards - organs and muscle and sinews that help it live.

So does Rene’s home have enough room for its occupants; cosy and just right, rather than cramped. It houses her and four others - her parents, Gilbert and Mary, and her two younger twin brothers, Ryan and Rhett.

Christmas is coming, and each had their own way of celebrating it. Even if these five people live under the same roof, they see and do things rather differently.

Ryan is characteristically excited for an 8-year-old, constantly jumping around and asking his mom and dad to bring him places, let him go play outside in the snow and make snowy men and snowy angels, because this is the time when school cannot bother him, and “my workbook can wait”.

Likewise, Rhett is also rather excited. Instead of asking to play outside, he asks his dad to bring him to department stores and buy up everything on his “Wish List” - toys and clothes and gadgets his friends at school brag to have.

Meanwhile, Gilbert constantly peruses the Internet for things on his wish list - not Rhett’s - on the online shopping site he uses. Maybe a new TV? The LCD in the living room feels awfully blurry when compared to this shiny curved screen OLED in the listing.

At the other end of the house was Mary, trying to make up her mind about which scented candles to use, which lights to put on the tree, when to go to church.

“Rene, don’t you go listening to that punk again, he’s putting -”

“Satan’s words in my ears, I know Mom. That’s why I go so that I don’t have to listen to you or anyone around here.”

And finally, our constantly fiery heroine, Rene, who has short hair, likes punk rock, wears leather jackets all year long, and gives her friends bespoke cards for holidays. Though she maintains a tough look, she always cared for her friends, sending to them messages every so often to check on them, whether they were in town or not.

Speaking of tough looks, Rene was giving everyone a rather tough look, and a stern word to go with it.

“Mom, I’m 20, dammit, and don’t you go listening to that Freda next door. We don’t need to buy a whole bunch of nothing like cringy ‘Merry Christmas’ signs we’ll probably use once, or those stupid sweaters that, once again, you’ll throw away after we wear them once. Also just in case, I’m not wearing any sweaters when we go out; I’ll wear good clothes that fit me and my style.

“Ryan, do your homework, your grade is a few marks from failing. When the holidays are over, you’ll have tests on English and Math, and you haven’t studied the topics at all. Don’t you come crying to me when you get a big fat D-minus on your result card…”

A knock on the door.

“Delivery!”

Rene was the one to open the door, and she grumpily signed the box of no doubt useless holiday stuff. As she pulled on the package, a corner nicked the courier’s beard.

Hearing his pained shout, Rene quickly set the box on the couch and went back to the door to apologise, but the man along with the van he came in were gone, leaving not even tyre marks or footprints in the snow.

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