Christmas Canceled

“Mom, will Santa come tonight?”

“No, Billy, Santa’s sled was shot down by a Biden-Harris an anti-racist drone.”

“Is Santa a racist?”

“He’s an old white man so he’s considered racist by color.”

“Was he hurt? What happened to him?”

“His reindeers Dasher, Dancer, and Prancer were killed in the air by the drone but Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph landed the sled safely, though sadly Comet and Cupid died of wounds caused by the Biden-Harris drone. After that an Antifa and BLM mob attacked the sled to loot the gifts. ‘Kill the old white racist!’ they yelled. Vixen, Donner, and Blitzen gave their lives fighting the mob so that Rudolph could carry Santa to safety. Their fate is unknown.”

“I hope Santa and Rudolph are okay.”

“I’m sure they are, dear. Time to go to bed.”

“So no Christmas tomorrow?”

“Officially Christmas has been canceled.”

“Won’t the day still be called Christmas day?”

“No, it will just be another day.”

“I hate Biden-Harris.”

“Lots of people do.”

“Does Annie know that Christmas has been canceled?”

“No, and don’t you say anything.”

“She’ll find out.”

“No she won’t if you don’t tell her. We're going to pretend it’s Christmas. I ordered a couple toys from Amazon for her and we will make it look as if Santa brought them. Then we’ll watch some old Christmas movies.”

“But they’ve all been colorized so there’s no white people in them. She’ll know. She’s not stupid!”

“Shiss. Keep your voice down. Your dad and I got a hold of some old pre-colorization DVDs. The white people will be white and Santa will be too. I even ordered a couple things from Amazon that I think you'll like.”

“Send them back. I don’t want them. I want gifts from Santa, not Amazon. Fuck Amazon!”

“Billy, please don’t talk that way.”

“Why not everybody else does, even the teachers. Of course I don’t go to school anymore.”

“We’re not everybody else. And it was necessary for you to stop going to school. Too dangerous. You know that.”

“I know. I don’t mind really. I hated everything about school. Mom, when are we going to leave the bunker?”

“Very soon. Your dad has it all planned out. We can’t stay here much longer. We had food for only a year.”

“Are all the stores gone?”

“Most left after being looted and burned. And the remaining ones are too far away. It’s too dangerous to walk anywhere. And the car must stay hidden until we leave. I don’t think even Dad would last long out there. He’d be robbed by a mob of crazies or killed by a drive-by. One thing I like about the bunker is we don’t hear the gun noise and yelling.”

“They should turn the drones on those people.”

“That'll never happen. Drones are programmed to attack the color white, which is stupid because white is all colors.”

“How can it be all colors and still be a color?”

“White doesn’t have a color of its own. That's why being white is against the law. And why white people must wear black like me or brown like me makeup when they go outside. It’s illegal to be white in public. Of course not being white doesn’t mean you’re safe. No one is safe nowadays, not here anyway. That why we’re leaving right after New Year’s Day.”

“When will we go?”

“We’ll leave at night. The car’s full of gas. Dad had it filled up once we moved into the bunker. The car had to be hidden. At night people come out to siphon gas because gas is so expensive. And they might trash your car when they’re done. Or just steal it.”

“Dad knows what to do?”

“Yeah, he does. He knew everything was going to fall apart and prepared for the worst. And the worst happened. We shouldn’t be talking about all the bad stuff that’s going on. Christmas is supposed to be a happy time.”

“It's hard to be happy living like we do. Are we poor, Mom? Is that why we've been living in a bunker in the city?”

“Everybody is poor today except the superrich who run the country. Money’s almost worthless. Stealing makes sense if you’re not white. If you're white you get arrested. We wouldn’t steal, though. Well if things got really bad maybe we would. But things weren't always bad. It happened so fast.”

“How bad are they?”

“Bad, but we’re leaving the city and going north to live with our people. Where we can go outside without wearing colorizing makeup. Let's think about that.”

"There are white people who don’t colorize?”

“That’s right. Of course we’ll have to wear makeup until we get out of the city.”

“But how far can we go on one tank of gas?”

“Dad’s got it figured out. We have enough gas to get to a white settlement that hasn’t been colorized. There we'll fill up.”

“I thought all white people have been colorized unless they’re hiding like us.”

“Harris’ black Like Me project has been put on hold since the bombings. White communities that have not yet been vaccinated with the Black Like Me vaccine have been given a reprieve.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Vaccinations have been temporarily postponed.”

“Because of the bombings?”

“That’s probably the reason. A lot of white soldiers hated having to be vaccinated. You know most soldiers are white and a lot of them left the military rather than be vaccinated and have their skin color changed.”

“That’s too weird. I mean Dad is a white man. Changing his color wouldn't be normal!”

“It wouldn't, though a white soldier can choose black like me or brown like me colorization. That didn’t matter. White soldiers wanted to stay white, not black or brown. Imagine forcing a black or brown person to be white. But that won’t happen because they’re supposedly not racist. For not being racist they sure do hate white people.”

“That’s how it got at school. Teachers said white students deserved to be hated. I was glad to be home schooled. Never thought I would feel that way but you and Dad know way more than the teachers do. They were boring dumbasses.”

“After the last time you were beaten up we were told by the councilor that the school was too dangerous for you even with makeup. She was black. But she said she was a mother too and her kids weren't safe either. I liked her.”

“And was having to be colorized the reason Dad left the military?”

“A lot of white soldiers were angry at being forced to be colorized. Black soldiers weren’t too happy either. They called colorized white soldiers Oreos or white niggers. Many black soldiers didn’t think the Black Like Me vaccination program was right. They thought it was insulting to them. To black people being black is about more than just color. It's a way of life. Dad said, “F-ing politicians don’t know you-know-what about the military. Old man Bush was the last president who knew anything about what it is to be a soldier. His son was a fake and got us into a fake war.’ David really hates politicians.”

“I thought everyone does.”

“That’s true, Billy.”

“So what happened?”

“A lot of white soldiers left. Many colorized soldiers committed suicide but not without killing other soldiers. It was awful, but it got worse with the suicide bombings, the most serious was a plane crash piloted by a colorized pilot. So colorization was suspended for pilots.”

“But white communities are still being colorized by vaccination.”

“No. The program has been stopped for the time being because colorized soldiers began siding with the white members of communities. Only FBI, CIA, and NSA operatives could be depended on to attack a white community and enforce vaccination even of children. But those programs have been temporarily suspended since the last bombing. I think the politicians are not feeling so safe right now. That’s why your dad believes now is the time to get out of the city.”

“Still we’ll be alone.”

“Not once we are out of the city. David said that many of his friends from the Marines and Special Forces have set up an underground railroad to help white Americans escape cities and mandatory vaccination.”

“You said we’re going north but where north?”

“David didn’t say where exactly, only that we’d be close to the border of Canada. He said, ‘We’ll do like the Sioux did when they fled U.S. soldiers.’”

“What did the Indians do?”

“They took refuge in Canada. David said we’ll live in America because we are Americans but escape to Canada if the Biden-Harris Authority sends drones or soldiers after us. ‘We’ll do like the Indians used to do,’ he said. 'Wait them out and then return to our homes.’”

“Why not just stay in Canada?”

“That’s what I told him. But you’re dad said, ‘I saw American soldiers die. What did they die for if they have to leave their country?”

“You didn't say why did Dad left the military? Was it because of colorization?”

“No. He left because the Biden-Harris government refused to send help when he and his men were evacuating Americans from a war zone in some shithole, his word not mine. They were overwhelmed by the enemy, outnumbered ten to one, but the government refused to send help and many of the soldiers and fleeing Americans were killed. That turned your dad against the government. He said that our government did something the enemy would never do—abandoned their own. ‘A bunch of spineless bureaucrats hiding in their offices who have never risked their lives to save anyone. Fucking cowards.’ And, Billy, your dad uses that word only when he’s really angry.”

“Can I use it when I’m really angry?”

“I’d rather you not. I don’t know.”

“Okay, Mom, I’ll try not to, but I can’t promise if I get really mad.”

“That would be great. Thanks.”

“So what about Christmas?”

“It’s been cancelled by the government, but not by us. In the morning you and Annie are going to open presents. I’m going to fix the best Christmas dinner I can. Afterwards we’re going to watch It's a Wonderful Life, Mickey’s Magical Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Home Alone. They were hard to find but none are colorized.”

“I don’t want presents from Amazon, no way. No Santa Claus no presents.”

“Keep that to yourself, Billy.”

“I will. Don’t want to spoil Annie’s Christmas. You didn’t tell her about Santa being shot down and his reindeers killed, did you?”

“Of course, not.”

“Okay. I guess I’m off to bed. And after Christmas we’ll being going north? That’s so cool. I’m sick of the bunker and the city. Can’t wait to leave. But this place we’re going to, will it be all white people?”

“No. Your dad said it’s an American community. All colors are welcome, but you have to be a patriot. He said the soldiers he served with came in all colors. So we’ll see.”

“Being a patriot means you love America, right?”

“That’s right.”

That’s cool to me. I don’t mind different colored people. I just don’t want to be colorized. Color shouldn’t matter.”

“No it shouldn’t. Go to bed now. I love you.”

“Good night, Mom. Where’s Dad?”

“I think he’s checking out the car.”

“For our great escape.”

“Go to bed, Billy. I’ll see you Christmas morning.”

“Okay.”