Christmas night was a dark one. I was working at a taxidermy shop. Despite its strip lighting, the shop seemed darker than outside. The building stretched back so far it dissolved into shadows of stuffed beasts and then into complete darkness. The boss insisted the shop remain open for Christmas eve, so I had the displeasure of working. I worked long after he’d gone home to enjoy a Yule log and eggnog. I wasn’t alone, though. I wish I had been. Behind me at the cash register counter was a seven foot grizzly bear. It was creepy company as it’d been stuffed in an attack pose. Standing on two legs, claws raised as if to strike, its mouth of sharp teeth stretched as wide as my head.

                I had brought a box of decorations: lights, tinsel, Christmas music, candy canes, and more. Figuring I might decorate after the boss had left, I sneaked it in at the start of my shift, but it was midway through my shift now and I no longer cared to decorate. However, I did make a circle of colorful Christmas light around the counter. It was better than nothing, I thought.

                What I really wanted was to be home, waiting for Santa to drop off presents. As I was thinking about what I might get—a scooter, a new hat, a large bag of expensive coal—I heard a thud come from the dark area of the shop. Turning around I came face to face with the grizzly bear and jumped, startled. It wasn’t the bear that made the noise though. I grabbed a flashlight and began to make my way to the source of the sound. A stuffed vulture’s eyes seemed to follow me as I passed. The pack of wolves, with their ever hungry eyes, seemed to watch me, too. If someone were to be hiding in the shop, it would be hard to spot them, I realized. Both the dark and the number of animal faces all around would make it hard.

              A pair of strange horns peaked out over a distant set of shelves, but I thought nothing more of it than that my boss had acquired a new large goat or ram.

                I’d made my way clear to the back, finding nothing more out of the ordinary than the usual odd creatures. These stuffed curiosities were morbid blends of two or more animals. A badger with snakes for arms, a gazelle with a gator head and a lion’s mane. I’d always hated them. They were cruel and twisted.

                When the gator-gazelle snapped at me, I like it even less!

                 It took me a moment to realize it had actually happened. It registered just in time for me to tumble out of the way of its charge. Once I made it back on my feet, I ran towards the light of the front of the store. All around me there began the sound of exotic birds and roars and the vulture snapped at me and tore my sleeve off as I passed. As crazy as it sounds, I heard the wolves stalking me from an aisle over and turned to get away from them. It was then that I collided with something very large and bulky. The Grizzly bear! It swiped at me. Once, twice. I dodged both attempts to maul me and ran once more. I took refuge in a aisle occupied by fakes eyes and noses and beaks—all in tubs, sold for cheap. But the fake eyes all rotated to look at me, the plastic noses sniffed, and the beaks cawed out to get the attention of the wolves. The wolves came at both ends of the aisle and boxed me in. They snarled as drool ran over their sharp teeth. Teeth hungry for my flesh.

                 I scrambled up the shelves, knocking the eyes and noses and beaks to  the floor as I did. I’d given the wolves the slip as they couldn’t climb. Running towards the light in the front, thinking it might save me, I bumped into something large and hairy once more. This time, though, it wasn’t the grizzly. I’ll tell you, I wish it was, but it wasn’t. Instead I saw something with cloven hoofs and goat legs, standing erect with a muscular body and a mane of black fur. It had horns that if stacked atop one another would be taller than me on the tip-toes. This oddity was the most horrific yet. There was an intelligence in the beast’s eyes that scared me more than the dead stares of the other animals. The beast reached for a large bag, similar to the bag I assumed Santa carried gifts in. As it opened the bag, I heard tormented screams and saw an abyss blacker than even the darkest corner of the building. The beast pointed at me and then slowly brought its sharp finger towards the opening of the bag.

                 It wanted me to climb inside, I think.

                I pretend to do as told, but instead of jumping into the bag of screaming darkness, I rolled into the circle of Christmas lights behind the beast and reached for the phone. I called 911, but I realized the phone line had been cut. There was no dial tone. The animals surrounded me, looking hungry. They closed in on me from all sides.

                I noticed, though, that they wouldn’t cross the circle of Christmas lights. It seemed as if the light protected me. I hurriedly grabbed more from my box and plugged them in. The animals nearest me recoiled as if in pain. Next I held up a candy cane and they all winced. It was then that I saw the goat beast with the bag moving towards the circuit breaker. It was going to turn off the power! I’d be eaten by dead animals, or worse! I feared I’d be stuffed in a dark bag, forever, to scream and scream and scream.

              I had one last chance. One idea. Scrambling, I found the Christmas music CD in my decoration box and put it in the player. Hitting play, the animals stopped moving at once. Greensleeves played and the animals just stopped. They were once again just stuffed statues. If anyone came in to see the scene then it would seem as if I had simply moved all the animals into a circle. Perhaps out of boredom or revenge for having to work Christmas Eve.

                The goat creature hissed from the shadows at the sound of the holiday music. It jumped through the front window of the store, setting off the alarm. I saw it leap onto the rooftop across the street and then leap again to the next and the next until I could see it no longer. My boss came soon after to turn off the alarm. He seemed angry at first seeing the lights and the circle of animals, as well as the broken window, but then he saw the grizzly. The bear now stood on all four.

                My boss looked at me confused. Then looking again at the grizzly bear, he seemed terrified.  ‘Krampus,’ he mumbled before he sent me home to enjoy Christmas without another word. With pay, or I would have stayed, of course… I played Christmas music all through the night.

The End