The bright red and green lights are coming on
All over the great city, people are bustling with joy
And hurrying from store to store
Searching for the last copy of a popular video game
or picking up a pair of socks for Uncle Al again.

The commotion goes unnoticed to a man in his late 30’s
as he sits in his 15th floor executive office.
He and the cleaning crew are the only ones left in the building
Everyone else left hours ago
Going home to their family or out with friends.

He would like to go home to his family, too
He longs to kiss his wife under the mistletoe
And sing carols with his beautiful daughter
And taste his mother’s wonderful Christmas meal
But his family is all in that corner office.

It was a dark December day
when that fateful event happened three years ago
His parents were due to return from Italy.
They never made it
Their flight bombed by Libyan terrorists.

And as if that wasn't enough
Last year, his wife and daughter had died
Returning home from gift hunting,
They were hit head-on by a drunk.
The drunk got 25 years, but that was no consolation,

He had only made it this far into the season
by ignoring the season altogether
His associates were disappointed that he missed their party
But they understood why.
Now, however, he was close to gone.

His wife had been the most beautiful creature he knew
Her face was stuck in his mind
He could flush it out with whiskey
But it would return when he sobered up
He needed a permanent fix.

It was not that he wanted to forget his wife
It was that her image tormented him
Reminding him of what he could never regain.
Never again could they cuddle next to a warm fire
Or make sweet, passionate love on a secluded beach.

They had shared everything
Now, with her gone, his life was empty
At times he felt he was only going through the motions
Not thinking or feeling
Not really living at all.

He knew there was only one relief to his pain
But he hadn't the courage to take it
Until now,
Buried deep in the local section of the Christmas Day paper.
"Local Businessman Found Dead after Apparent Fifteen-Story Fall."