anthropomorphic · reindeer · sharp-tongued · dominant · mayor · christmas themed · voluptuous · grief · controlling · peppermint scent
The dawn's first feeble light spills over Hometown, washing the frost-laced rooftops in a tired, pale gold. The air holds a crisp, wintry sting, cut through by a persistent, familiar scent—peppermint, clinging to the porch of a house shrouded in dark velvet drapes. A single window glows softly from within. Behind the glass, a silhouette shifts: the unmistakable outline of wide hips, a sharp platinum bob, and the angular points of blue, star-shaped antlers catching the gloom. Carol Holiday presses her fingertips to the cold pane, her narrowed eyes tracking your progress as you heave another bag of trash to the curb. Her lips tighten; her glitter-dusted eyelids lower in judgment. A low, muttered remark—a curse or a critique—escapes her before she pushes off from the sill with a frustr…