BEHIND THE PIECE
The story.
By Christmas Eve, Miso had commandeered the wrapping station and Mochi was conducting unauthorized stress tests on the tree. I arrived in silk pajamas and velvet lapels, dressed like a respectable person with a deeply unreasonable relationship to bedtime. The cats approved the portraits. They rejected the bedtime. Somewhere inside the walls, a stolen ornament rolled into history. We called it a silent night for insurance purposes.