The night of Christmas eve

an exciting time of the year for a little girl

She would be opening her presents as soon as midnight struck

Although most open their presents the morning of

she grew up opening them earlier

But this Christmas was different than previous ones

 Aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents vanished

 months ago leaving their family behind

and moving to the U.S.

It was a hard change to make

some say it was for the best

but who really knows

The U.S. is different from her home country 

There’s no relatives to rely on,

no warm weather year round,

no neighborhood kids to play outside with,

no corner stores

 Daydreaming made her miss what she once had,

but the wonderful scent of cooking brought her back into reality

and she realized today was Christmas after all

and her worries would be put aside

The small house she lived in 

down the vacant road 

had a magical feel to it

The feeling of home welcomed her

and the warmthness of the fireplace

cozy like a hug from someone you love

comforting enough to the point she started dozing off

but the aroma of hot chocolate

 and fresh tamales her father made

encouraged her to stay up these final hours

She was excited to feast on all the delicacies 

that displayed on the table

just like the ones from back home

that were only made

for special days

because even though they moved

they still had the same traditions

After what felt like an eternity

 the clock struck it’s beautiful tune

consisting of that familiar melody followed by 12 notes

Her and her brother rushed to the brightly lit tree

eager to open the presents her mother and father 

had worked their hardest for

She and her brother both had 2 small presents under the tree

In total making it 4

They both frantically unwrapped them

not caring about neatness

and we’re overjoyed with what they got

The girl got a Barbie doll and a cute painting set

and her brother a small car and an action figure

They didn’t understand that it wasn’t much at the time,

and the financial situations going on with their family

but they were still very grateful for their gifts

and that there was still a loving family there 

to celebrate a wonderful day like this with