Christmas Present

Christmas Past

It is Christmas Eve, 1967. A "big shot" alcoholic is celebrating Christmas with family and friends. There is a tree. Cut down from the side of the road in a hurry, it is very scraggly. There are a few ornaments (cheap ones) on it, and a string of lights missing several bulbs. There are no presents under the tree. The alcoholic is surrounded by everyone who still is speaking to him: his current drunken paramour, her drunken brother, her drunken sister, and the sister's husband, who is a good man, not a drunk, and the only one in the room who tries to live life responsibly. The "big shot" has moved into the house with his girl-friend and her three children so he doesn't have to spend his booze money on rent. The house has running water, but the toilet has been broken for two months; to relieve yourself, you have to run out to the backyard. The children are in their beds, awake, put there so they won't interrupt the Christmas festivities going on around the tree.