Mistletoe Magic

         || SHAWN ||

I am back in the town after almost 5 years. This is the longest I have stayed away. This Christmas is going to hit differently. I know I am going to receive a lot of sarcasm and have to tolerate a hell lot of family drama, but here I am. 

I just reached the airport and picked up my luggage. As usual, my brother is late. My town does not have any airports or in fact any railway stations. The only connectivity is through personal or rented vehicles. So now I have to take another 4 hour journey. Great . Yeahh. 

To be honest, I don't mind much. Maybe a little. The fact that I love travelling so much has always troubled my family especially my mother. I love photography and exploring new culture, meet new people and so since I was 16, I rarely stayed in the town.

A horn honked and pulled me back to the present. My brother jumped out of his truck and hugged me.

"I missed you."

"You should have visited me then."

"Do you stick to one place Shawn?" He said helping with my luggage.

"Careful. My camera is in there David."

"Yeah the love of your life." He rolled his eyes sarcastically.

David is 3 and half years younger to me but he acts like 10 years older. He loves the town and never thought of going away. He was always passionate about cars since childhood and once graduated, started a small garage which later turned to a bigger one including service and vehicle modification and dealership. He adds his personal touches which are one of a kind. 

He tossed me a tin bottle with some Rum in it.

His truck was self modified by him according to his needs. He had a freezer to keep chilled beers during summer and a alcohol storage compartment to store all other kinds. It was a mini bar situation there.

"Have it if you wa

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nt to reach home alive. Its freezing. A storm is expected too. So have some. Layer up. " He said turning on the radio.

I opened my backpack and pulled out a jacket and gracefully accepted the rum. Its actually freezing. The last location I was is Bali, completely humid & tropical and so connected to nature. And here I am in a different zone now. Humming over songs, sharing experiences, learning about all new drama at home, we continued our journey. 

By the time we were only 10Km away from our town, the storm took a rough turn. The truck could barely move, streets were covered with snow and turned super slippery. One wrong move and we would be rushing towards the cliff. We decided to pull-off. 

"My friend has a motel nearby. Let me check if he has a spare room." David tried moving here and there to get the connectivity but sadly none. 

"I think we have to go there and check. I am sure he can arrange something. Just take your overalls & lets go."

I picked up a jacket or two to survive and my camera bag with me. I could see the look on David's face clearly annoyed with my love for my cameras. But its expensive duh. The most important thing in my luggage. Not going to abandon them.

After walking through the storm for 1-2Km, we saw the ray of hope. Yeah, I mean the motel lights. Paving through snow we reached there.

David went in and was welcomed with a hug and after dicussion on lame topics, everything else apart from the room thing, he approached with another guy.

"Meet Mike. He owns this motel."

"Hey. Shawn. "

After pleasantries, and promising we would have dinner with Mike and his wife, Rebecca, I picked up the luggage and went to our room. The key says 304.

I tried opening the lock, but the door seems stuck. 

Ohh wait. Its open already. Stupid me. Tired me.