Imagine Eliza as a smaller, quieter version of herself, clad in footie pajamas and clutching a teddy bear.

Ok, so I still sleep with a teddy bear. Big deal!

So imagine little Eliza standing in the doorway of her bedroom, with her little sister Missy behind her, peering down the very long hallway towards the dim light of the living room. She and Missy are wondering if Santa has come yet; their bedroom is very far away from the living room, and necessitates a walk down a hallway that is to the girls very scary indeed. The hallway is long, and the ceilings are high, and if you look at the floor it appears there is no floor there at all.

Eliza is convinced that if she tries to walk down the hall, the lack of flooring will mean she will plunge right into the devil's waiting grasp, having fallen straight through to hell. Remember, if you please, that young Eliza is convinced that Jesus is buried in her back yard under a dogwood tree.

Missy has no such concerns, and pushes Eliza out into the hallway. She immediately begins to hold onto the wall and slowly inches down the edges of the hall as Missy patters down into the living room.

Aha! The glow of Santa delivery (really, the tree) wasn't a false alarm! Santa has been here after all! The girls are only allowed to play with the toys Santa left in their stocking...and quietly so as not to wake the parents.

Eventually, though, the excitement of Christmas gets too be entirely too much, and their shrieks of laughter wake their parents, who walk in with an admonishment to be quiet! please.

The girls spend the remainder of the morning playing with their newest toys, to later be bundled up and driven to grandmother's house, for the annual Christmas dinner. They are the only grand children, so they collect the attention like a dry flower collects rain.