The last Christmas Cade spent with his parents, something mysterious happened. The night before Christmas he noticed two of the three bright gold candles they always placed at the top of the tree (by him finding some way to climb up and put them there) were missing. He didn’t think much about it at the time, and he’s regretted it ever since. Was it a warning? Did the two missing candles represent his two parents leaving him? Was it a test? Did he fail? Was he supposed to figure out the meaning? Was he supposed to ask them about it? Are they missing somewhere in his home? Do they hold some secret? What do you think? Do you think they were leaving some kind of clue for him? Leave a comment below. This is why Cade hates seeing Christmas trees, because he wonders, what did he miss?
You have to be careful if you are going to enter Cade’s home during the Christmas season. Cade doesn’t do well with fire, and he goes way overboard every Christmas setting up Christmas lights around the home and especially in his room. They don’t have electricity so they don’t have Christmas lights like we do, and oddly enough he would probably be better off with that because it wouldn’t involve fire, but they use different kinds of candles to light up for Christmas. Cade likes using green, blue, and red candles to give off bright glowing lights everywhere. The problem is, he puts them everywhere; on the shelves, windows, hanging from the ceiling, on the floor, even on his bed. Cade is pretty shaky when lighting them up, and usually drops the match every tenth candle or so. The good news is he does carry a spray can of water with him so he can put out the small fires he starts everywhere.
When Cade’s parents were still around they didn’t get into Christmas that much, but they let him put up the candles around the home as long as it didn’t get too crazy. He realized his mom didn’t like the lights too much because he kept seeing her blowing out a few candles in the midst of the bright colourful glow.
Cade likes Christmas and Christmas songs, but for some reason, and no one knows why, he hates any Christmas song with bells in it. He does the same thing every time. When the song starts, and bells start, he lets out a really long sigh, closes his eyes, and shakes his head. Then he kind of whispers to himself for awhile. It’s a mystery why he hates these songs. He just hates the sound of the bells, but no one knows why.
Every Christmas Eve Cade’s favorite tradition was climbing a small mountain outside the City of Dayces Cameron. From the top he could see the way the Christmas lights flicker and dance in the bright, hopeful music the citizens sing from their boats along the water channels reflecting the dancing lights that seem to form shapes of dancing citizens. It’s a tough climb, usually under heavy snow. Cade has a really complicated technique for climbing under such slippery conditions, this will be hard to understand, but here it is, in his own words: “Just go fast.” He then basically slides down the long twisted slope on the way down. He won’t be climbing this mountain this Christmas, because if he did, he would not see any lights or hear any music. All he would see is his city and home in complete ruins under silent darkness.
When Cade’s mom and dad were still around, they would take a walk into the city a week before Christmas for Cashes Dade’s early Christmas celebration. They have a bunch of small shops set up in the center of the city, which is set up with many small, narrow water channels cutting through the center court, as the people go through on small boats. The people sell all kinds of Christmas candy, cookies, and other Christmas themed gifts, and they sing Christmas songs which sometimes involve bells. Cade usually plays a game of hide and seek with the other kids, hopping from boat to boat, trying to hide in the craziest places.
Usually his parents didn’t seem to pay much attention to it, but one time when he decided to hide on the roof of one of the shops, while lighting all the candles on the rooftop with an extra powder that made them really bright, and more likely to start a fire, his parents scolded him about hiding there. They told him, “Those lights were too bright…”
