A White Christmas, by Dan Brady

Betty was a woman

who could get anything

she wanted when drunk—

those blue eyes, deep blue—

but she never stopped

running away at the slightest

misunderstanding. New York,

Paris, Rome. Where was it

now? Denver?

He was never surprised

pleasantly. She never

quite made it like he had,

but that was showbiz

back then. It ate at her,

the jealousy, paranoia.

He’d wait until after the holidays

to clear things up this time,

make it plain he wasn't

playing an angle. Yet

as he shouldered his way

down the winter street,

Bob, like everyone else,

couldn't help but feel

the snow begin to fall.

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Dan Brady is is the author of two chapbooks, Cabin Fever / Fossil Record (Flying Guillotine Press, 2014) and Leroy Sequences (Horse Less Press, 2014). He is the poetry editor of Barrelhouse.

[ed. note: over the next two weeks, we’ll be catching up with characters from beloved Christmas movies, learning how their lives have turned out after the cameras stopped rolling. We’ve invited some of our favorite writers to share these stories. Check back every morning for the latest installment, and/or dig through the archive here. New to Barrelhouse and liking what you see? Check our our store for previous issues, subscriptions, and Barrelhouse books.]

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