“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor” -Charles Dickens-
        

I simply could not stop laughing. I tried, I really did! But one chuckle led to a giggle, one giggle led to laughters, and sooner than later I was on the floor holding my belly tight. It wasn’t embarrassing though–– I wasn’t the only one. My four friends were all out of their seats laughing to the extent that outsiders looking at us from the window could’ve thought we were extremely drunk. It all happened on a busy Christmas Eve. My entire neighborhood, Walmart, Goodwill, and Marshalls were covered with vivid red-and-green lights and Christmas trees were everywhere. Families were out in the streets buying ingredients for the “Christmas miracle,” and some parents were even out purchasing surprise gifts for their children. I, myself, shopped for Chicken Scampi and Cheese Souffle for the exciting Christmas dinner with my mother. My father was gone in a business trip to South Korea, but everything seemed fine. The ambience couldn’t have been better!

When I came back home, my parents told me to go bed early so that Santa Claus could come to our house. Being the curious rationalist, I wanted to see Santa with my eyes coming down through the chimney and spreading gifts around the Christmas tree. I stayed up for thirty minutes, but I ended up falling asleep.

The night passed by, and the card I wrote for Santa was taken and gifts were laid upon the tree.I woke up at 9 AM, eager to open up gifts and help clean the house for a mini-party with the family. I gave them an hour, but they still would not wake up. Being the impatient child, I stomped up to the master’s bedroom and shook their beds. I yelled, “Mom! Dad! Time to wake up. It’s 10 in the morning already. I’m hungry too.” My mom replied with her withering voice, “Juno… I can’t wake up. I don’t know what the matter is, but I think I need to lie down for a bit more.” I left the room without feeling very sad–– I guess the Christmas spirit really made me optimistic. For the next two hours, I went to my best friend’s house to play Wii. When I came back at around 1PM, my mother was still asleep. I was getting worried. Did she faint? Does she have a deadly illness? Did she… die?

I had a panic attack. I didn’t know anything about medicine or CPR, and I couldn’t wake her up! I called the ambulance and they came within three minutes. When my mother came out of the emergency room, I found out that she was in so deep of a sleep that she couldn’t hear my pleads to wake up and she couldn’t feel the frequent pokes. Already, Christmas was a disaster. The doctor said that he suggest my mother relax for the rest of the day. On top of that, it was already 5 PM, and I was sitting on a hard, rubber chair in a smelly hospital. All of my thirteen-year-old Christmas dreams were crushed.

It was 6PM. I was starving. I was lonely. I was worried. Then, suddenly my best friend who I had played Wii with in the morning called me to check-up on how I’m doing. I explained the whole situation, and, fortunately, he invited me over to his house for dinner with four of his best friends from camp. I hung up the phone immediately and ran over to his house (only ten houses away). Everything was already set up–– the dinner table, the food, the lights, and happy people. They were all waiting for me! I felt welcome for once this night.

After we finished our appetizing dishes, we decided to hang out in the living room. The dinner was awkward, especially for me because I didn’t know four out of the five people on the table. It was dessert time. The sugary delights made us excited. One of the camp kids named Jake suddenly broke the awkwardness by cracking a sort-of-funny joke. “HAH! That dessert makes me hungry again even after gobbling down almost two pounds worth of food!” It wasn’t a very funny joke, but it definitely lightened up the tension in the room. Then, Frank said, “You know I got the best present you can ever get for Christmas right?” Simultaneously, we responded, “What?!” He answered, “a broken drum, you can’t beat it!” Again, because no one expected such answer, we all cracked up and laughed until we were exhausted. As soon as we were about to get quiet, Luke asked, “what do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire?” Because I knew the answer already, I let the joke settle down around the table. Then, I said, “I’m not getting any frostbites this Christmas.” Some of them didn’t get the joke right away, but they understood it and soon giggled. Giggles turned into laughters. One of the kids fell down while laughing too much, and we all found that hilarious and laughed a little bit more. One kid suddenly started snorting and almost choked himself. We knew he wasn’t going to die from laughing so we all started laughing even harder. Sooner than later, each and every one of us were on the floor trying to contain this insanity. Laughter was irresistible and contagious.
The day started off gloomy. Yes, I got a brand new Lego set, but my mother was sick and the house party was nonexistent. Even when I went to Peter’s house for the Christmas dinner, I wasn’t all that cheerful. Small jokes are what brings people together. Sharing laughters are what make people bond. Humor and laughter saved my somber Christmas day. It is so irresistible and so contagious.