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"The Christmas Tree"

     Our family gathered in the living room, a box of decorations before us. The box was overflowing with lights and tinsel and ornaments just waiting to be placed on the family Christmas tree.
    My sister, Katie and I grabbed a few ornaments and put them on the branches. I had to push a couple back as they threatened to fall and break on the ground beneath. My parents grabbed a string of lights and began draping them around the tree. We continued to decorate until the box was emptied and the only thing left was to put the star on top. That was my dad's job because he was the tallest.
    After he got the star snuggly on top, we plugged in the lights and the tree lit up, the light reflecting off the ornaments illuminating the walls. It looked almost magical.
    Soon after, my parents grabbed some of the presents they'd wrapped earlier and stuffed them under the tree. It was really beginning to look like Christmas.
    The smell of turkey floated through the air as we heard the oven beeping from the kitchen. Dinner was ready.
    We all rushed into the kitchen as we saw our mom throw on some oven mitts before opening the oven and taking out a large pot. It smelt amazing, almost savory. It was making my mouth water as I could hear the faint sizzling from within the pan. My mom placed it down gently on the kitchen counter. She removed the lid and the steam floated through the air and I was in heaven.
    But my attention, as well as everyone else's, was torn away when we heard a ripping sound coming from the other side of the house. We all rushed out of the kitchen to see what the noise was and we found ourselves in the living room.
    Before us was something we never dreamed we would see. It almost didn't feel real. I could hear my parents screaming. The wrapping paper of all the presents were torn to shreds. The boxes had been ripped open, some torn in half. We were all in shock, confused how any of this could have possibly happened.
    My parents and I tried our best to gather up the mess and toss it into the garbage.
    As we picked up the last few scraps, I saw the tree begin to twitch. I stepped closer to it, splaying its branches. Maybe there was an animal inside of it or something, I thought. Then, the tree began to shift around aggressively. I immediately jumped back with a scream of absolute terror. We all staggered back was we saw the tree beginning to move on its own.
    The middle of the tree opened up to what looked like a hole. Was that supposed to be a mouth? The way it opened and closed, it almost seemed like it was alive.
    My dad stepped forward bravely, a fire poker in his hand. He shooed us away with his free hand, gesturing for us to move back. We pleaded for him not to do anything, telling him we'd call the cops or something, but he ignored us. He began wildly swinging at the hole in the tree before it clamped down on the fire poker and tugged it, making our dad jerk forward violently.
    He was pulled deeper and deeper into the tree, crying out in pain and terror. He flailed around, struggling to escape the tree's grasp until it was too late and the tree had eaten our dad...

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