[ WP ] Peeking through the window her surprise turned to horror

Susan sprang out of bed and tilted her head in the darkness. The jingling and faint clip-clopping filtering down from the roof could only mean one thing. She dashed upstairs and barged through the door at the end of the hall. 
 
 `` Mama, Santa is here!'' 
 
 She sprung onto the bed and jumped up and down a few times, barely missing landing on Mama's figure several times. 
 
 `` Mama, Santa! Mama, Santa!'' She chanted as she bounced on the bed. 
 
 A muted *whump* from outside pulled Susan out of her boucing fit. It sounded like something very large fell into a snowbank outside. After that, the world went silent. She stepped off the bed and crept to the window, holding her breath as she went. Carefully lifting the edge of the blinds, she peered out into the night. 
 
 There was no Santa lying in the snowbank. To Susan's surprise, there was n't even a snowbank. The lawn was green under the ambient glow of the streetlamps. Susan scanned the street and her surprise turned to horror when she spotted the truck idling in the shadows. 
 
 *whump* 
 
 White mist filtered into the room through the open door. Susan dropped the window blinds and scuttled backwards across the floor to the bed. As the men in the SWAT vests started pouring in through every door and window, Susan picked up Mama's cold hand, careful not to tear what little tissue-thin flesh remained over the withered limb. 
 
 `` Mama? I do n't think it's even Christmas yet.''
