Day 5

Sometimes Fin and his mother made potato balls at the counter, sometimes they made other things. One day they were making cookies, cutting rolled batter into either star or tree shapes. "We should always make cookies," said Fin. He had the star cutter and was trying to fit as many as he could onto his batter without cutting off any tips. "Cookies are for special occasions," said his mother, "to make them even more special." "What special occasion are these for?" asked Fin. Rupert was by their feet, watching, waiting for drops or spills. "You know," said Fin's mother. "Think about it a little; you know what the occasion is."

Day 4

Fin's mother was tall and nice and had lovely black hair. She didn't often get angry or sad. She would let Fin push a chair to the counter while she prepared dinner so he could watch. "Like this," she said, pressing a soft, white ball of potato, "so that it becomes flat." Fin pressed his own potato ball too hard and most of it fell off the counter. "Try again," said his mother, and the next one was perfect.

Day 3

When he was five, Fin got a labrador puppy and lost his father. Each day, after school, his father was there, until one day, after school, he wasn't, but the dog was. Fin named the dog Rupert. Every day after school they waited for two hours together on the front steps for Fin's father to come home. After a month Fin's mother sighed and said, 'The neighbors,' and made them move around the house and wait at the back.

Day 2

Forty-five years before this, to the day, when Fin was born, it was much warmer. His mother looked at him, red in the nurse's arms, and noticed the how the sun shining in from the winter looked like it was shining just for Fin, just to surround him. That was when they lived in the South. And Fin's father was there too. Smiling in shorts.

Advent story Part 1

Fin stepped out his car and took three steps. The snow was past his ankles, it seeped through his socks and burnt. It was dark out (though that didn't mean much at the time of year, it was always dark out), it was late. He walked back to the car to make sure it was locked. It was. To make sure the lights were off. They were. Then he walked away again, this time more than three steps, this time he kept going.