That bone-deep exhaustion had set in—the kind where your eyes sting and everything feels slightly unreal.
It was already dark.
The roads glistened with a thin skin of ice that looked harmless and felt anything but.
Soft Christmas music hummed through the radio while my brain ran through its tired checklist.
Wrap gifts.
Hide stocking stuffers.
Remember to move the stupid elf.
My girls were at my mom’s house.