Christopher J. Bailey

Some wishes are heard. Some are answered. On a bitter Christmas night, a boy lies awake in a house that has long forgotten him. Outside, something old walks the snow-measuring, listening, judging. Pain is not the worst punishment. The sack is. As an ancient figure passes judgment, cruelty is named, silence is broken, and a child is left standing in the aftermath-alone with the consequences of what he wished for, and what he was spared.
Better Than the Sack is a dark Christmas short story about fear, choice, and the moment when mercy arrives in its most unsettling form. A short story of 5, 542 atmospheric words.