The twelve days of Christmas

And there he was sitting on his desk in the eve of christmas. A slouched stance, and a pencil in his hand. A candle burning slowly at a corner, courtesy of Tenaga Nasional for not paying bills on time. An empty cup sits at another corner, stained with coffee to keep him awake...

Finally, as the clock approaches midnight, he completes the last sentence. Slowly, aching, he gets up and stretches. Then, he seals the envelope and lumbers towards the porch. He had spent way too much on her present this year... but he knows it's worth it...

"When she comes over tomorrow, this is gonna knock her socks out..." he says as he places the christmas card on the partridge in the pear tree. "And now... for the other stuff... " he whispered as the mocking birds stirred and the french hens clucked...