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The Last Christmas Wish
An unreleased short story from the book:
Disconnected: Beneath the Christmas Tree: Dark and Enchanting Tales
The winter night was sharp with cold as Benjamin Walker walked the empty streets of Millwood, his breath forming visible puffs of mist in the crisp air. It was Christmas Eve, but there was no cheer in his step. The town was quiet, almost too quiet, with only the faint glow of streetlights casting shadows on the snow-covered streets. The decorations that lined the windows of homes seemed to mock him, bright and festive, while he felt anything but.
He wasn’t supposed to be here.
Benjamin had left Millwood over a decade ago, running away from everything that had ever tied him to this place. The memories here were suffocating, and he had wanted nothing more than to escape them. But life, as it often does, had a way of pulling him back. The news had come just a few days ago: his father had passed away in the hospital after a long, bitter illness. And though Benjamin hadn’t spoken to his father in years, a strange, irresistible pull had led him back to Millwood for the first time in all those years.
The thought of returning to his childhood home, to the place where he had grown up, left him cold. His relationship with his father had been a fragile one—never the kind that made for good Christmas dinners or father-son bonding. And now, his father was gone. The void left behind was not one filled with grief but rather with a hollow emptiness that Benjamin couldn’t place. He hadn’t wept. He hadn’t even felt anger. He had simply felt nothing.
The town’s small church loomed ahead, its towering spire visible in the distance. The bell would ring soon for midnight mass, but Benjamin didn’t plan on attending. Instead, he had a different destination in mind. A place he hadn’t dared to visit in years—the old house on Pinehill Avenue.
He didn’t know why he was drawn back here tonight. He hadn’t even thought about the place in years, but the memories surged within him as he trudged through the snow, pushing past the sharp chill that bit into his skin.
The house was dark and silent when he reached it, nestled between the shadow of tall pines and a thick blanket of snow. It had once been full of life, or at least the pretense of it. His father, his mother, and his little sister. The house had always been too big for them, too cold, and too full of secrets. But it was still home, the place where everything had started.
Benjamin stood at the gate, his hand resting on the cold metal. He could almost hear the laughter of his younger self, the sound of footsteps on the old wooden floor, the warmth of the kitchen where his mother had once stood, cooking meals that were never enough to fill the empty spaces. He could almost see her face again, her smile that was always so quick to fade, replaced by her hushed sighs.
As the wind howled around him, a memory flickered to life—a memory of that last Christmas, when his sister, Lily, had made a wish.
The night had been quiet, but Benjamin couldn’t sleep. He had heard whispers through the walls, his parents arguing as they always did, the sharp edge of their words cutting through the air. He had been eight years old, his sister, Lily, just five. It was Christmas Eve, and while the world outside was blanketed in snow, inside their home there was a palpable tension.
Lily had come into his room that night, her eyes wide and filled with innocence. She had climbed into his bed, as she often did when she was scared, and Benjamin had comforted her with words he didn’t believe. She had been afraid of the dark, afraid of the unknown, afraid of the secrets they were all hiding from each other.
“I wish things could be different,” Lily had whispered that night, her small hands clutching the edges of his blanket. “I wish we could be happy again.”
Benjamin had told her it would be alright, but the words felt hollow. He had long known that their family was broken, that no wish could fix it. But Lily believed in magic, in something bigger than herself, and in the way that children do, she had wished with all her might that their lives could change.
“I wish I could make everything better,” she had said, her voice full of hope. “I wish for a better Christmas. I’ll do anything.”
The next morning, everything was different.
The house had been full of light, the air had been warmer than it should have been for a house as old and cold as theirs, and for once, their parents had smiled. They sat down for breakfast together—no arguments, no cold silences. Benjamin watched as Lily’s face glowed with joy, her wish seemingly granted. It was as if the magic she had wished for had finally come true.
But it didn’t last. It never did.
Benjamin’s hand tightened around the gate’s cold metal, the memory sharp, painful. Lily’s wish had been answered—but not in the way she had ever expected. That Christmas, something had changed, something had broken, and the shift had rippled through their family, unraveling everything they had pretended to hold together. His mother had grown ill soon after, and his father’s anger had worsened, a darkness taking root in him that had never been there before. It was as if the magic Lily had wished for had come with a price they hadn’t understood.
Lily had disappeared the following winter, just after her tenth birthday. No one ever found her, and the family never spoke of it. His parents, now broken beyond repair, blamed each other, and Benjamin—too young to understand—became numb to it all. The house fell into disrepair, and the years slipped by without answers, until they eventually left it behind. His father had never spoken of Lily’s disappearance, nor had Benjamin asked. The past, it seemed, was something they all chose to forget.
Benjamin stood there now, staring at the house, and for the first time, he wished he could undo everything. His sister, his parents, that last Christmas—all of it. He reached for the door, feeling the familiar weight of the key in his pocket, the one that had been tucked away for years. It had always been his key, a reminder of everything that had been lost.
He pushed open the door with a creak, the air inside thick with dust and memories. The rooms were just as they had been when they left. Time had not been kind to the house, the walls sagging, the wood warped and brittle. But it was still here, just as it had always been, waiting for him.
He stepped inside, the floorboards groaning beneath his feet, and he walked down the hall, drawn to the staircase. His heart pounded as he reached the top, where the door to his old room stood ajar. The air felt heavier here, and the silence was suffocating.
He reached the door and pushed it open.
Inside, the room was exactly as it had been that last night, when he and Lily had shared a moment of innocence before the world had changed. The bed was still there, the blankets rumpled, the faint outline of where Lily had once laid, staring up at the ceiling.
But now, there was something else. A figure in the corner of the room. At first, Benjamin thought it was a trick of the light, but as his eyes adjusted, he realized it was Lily.
Her eyes were wide, unblinking, staring at him with a look that seemed both familiar and haunting. Her lips parted, but no sound came from her mouth.
“You made your wish, Benjamin,” she said, her voice no more than a whisper. “And now, it’s time to pay.”
As her words echoed in his mind, the walls seemed to close in around him, the darkness swallowing him whole. His sister, the wish, the curse—it had all come full circle, and there was no escape.
Benjamin reached out, but the room began to dissolve around him, the memory of that last Christmas fading into nothingness.
He had been searching for redemption, for forgiveness, but in the end, the past could not be undone. The price of their wishes had already been paid. And now, all that was left was the silence of the house that had once been full of life.
The lesson was clear: Some wishes, no matter how pure, come with consequences that are impossible to escape. And some doors, once opened, can never be closed again.
If you enjoyed this short story you will probably like our latest release available now:
Beneath the Christmas Tree: Dark and Enchanting Tales
$3.99
Step into a world where Christmas is not just about twinkling lights and cheerful carols, but where secrets lurk beneath the surface, and magic can be as dark as it is wondrous.
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