On the east coast of the United States, the state of Massachusetts is experiencing a snowstorm.

The snow outside the house was already thicker than the calves, and the three steps in front of the door were all buried under the snow, and the sled dog that went out for a walk smashed into it with a heel. The neighbors laughed merrily, and the sound of Christmas music came from the open door.

Yes, today is Christmas, December is coming to an end, and there are six days left before the New Year......

Johnson Brown was lying on the windowsill on the second floor, the neighbor's teenager wearing a hat and a mask, playing with the dog in the snow, and the light of the house was warm and beautiful in the dim wind and snow.

He turned his head and closed the curtains.

It was cold in the room, and Johnson was wrapped in a thick woolen blanket, his face white from the cold.

The heating in the house broke down last night and didn't work, the room temperature was low.

Johnson's hometown of Nansu does not have such a heavy snowstorm, and the winter is much warmer than here, Johnson has never seen such a heavy snow, and now what he sees in his eyes is not novelty, but gray fog as quiet.

The house was a mess, like it had been destroyed by a monster.

The wardrobe was torn with a large hole, the fragments of the vase were piled up in the corner, the sconces were skewed, and the bed was missing a leg that could only be cushioned by a book. When Johnson sat up, the bed made a tooth-aching sound, as if it would fall apart in the next second.

There was no one at home.

The whole house was empty and cold as ice.

- Katie and Charlie went out to fight again.

The newlyweds, who are Johnson's new guardians, are said to have been legally adopted by the bride and are said to have lived here temporarily as a relative of the hostess.

The hostess, Katie, is Johnson's former public school teacher, and she is beautiful and kind.

Her husband, Charlie, is a good-hearted lawyer who is always kind and warm to his children.

That's all Johnson knew about them, but when he arrived in Bongolo, Massachusetts, and lived with the couple, Johnson found that they weren't what he had imagined.

The "enthusiastic" lawyer, except for work, never goes out, does not participate in community activities, rarely greets neighbors, and once when he returned home late, he kicked the neighbor's dog hard.

Katie, who is kind-hearted, does not volunteer or go to church to help distribute food.

They say that because the burden on the family has increased, they can only devote more time to work. Their smiles were still warm and kind, and they cared deeply about Johnson, but their relationship was not very good.

One night, in the middle of the night, Johnson heard an argument downstairs in his sleep, he rubbed his eyes and got up, and quietly walked to the door, he heard Katie arguing violently with Charlie, seemingly over money, the cost of the family's accounts.

Such quarrels, Johnson used to hear every day in the ghetto.

He walked back to his bedroom and wondered if he had made the wrong decision, that he shouldn't have left Nansa and put Miss Katie's home in doom.

The city of Pedorion was so badly affected by the hurricane that the city was almost in ruins, and those who did not evacuate in time were put on the missing list, and some of their bodies have been found.

Johnson's uncle, Lake, is still missing, and he heard from Mr. Lawyer that the adoption process cannot be processed for the time being, and he cannot go to school at present, so he can only stay at home.

There was plenty of food, there was great care, there were TV shows and computer games, but Johnson wasn't interested in anything.

A teenager who has been hurt is very sensitive.

Living together every day, eating at the same table, watching a talk show on the sofa in the living room every night, and saying goodnight to each other every day...... The longer they spent together, the more strange Johnson felt.

Katie's favorite guests on the show are humorous, but they always change their ways to ridicule the poor, alluding to them as social garbage.

The show is positioned to please the middle class, as well as those who aspire to that class. Johnson has not yet been stupefied by the city's bustling drunken life, and these shows that make Katie laugh happily have always embarrassed the teenager.

He is like a guest in this home, no matter how much hospitality and care he receives, he can't fit in.

After Johnson found out a few midnight arguments, Katie and Charlie would not argue at home, they would go to the community park or the bar, and they told Johnson that "there are always contradictions in life, but they think it's wrong to argue in front of their children and they should avoid it."

Now, they're out again.

It was snowing so hard that at Christmas, he was left alone in the cold room.

The lawyer's phone call for heating maintenance did not go through, and Katie said that she would go out with her to see if there were any supermarkets that were still open, and they still had a smile on their faces, but they were very reluctant.

Johnson tucked his head into the blanket.

Last night, Christmas Eve, they were watching TV in the living room when the whole house suddenly shook.

Then a number of black oblate ball-like monsters appeared in the house, and Johnson saw a monkey with long arms through the glass window, grinning and jumping, shaking the snow off the pine trees.

***

On the street of the community, a woman in a down jacket shouted angrily: "I've had enough, Charlie! You can also see that when the monster comes, Johnson will only hide in the corner! Fortunately, it's just a dozen black hairballs, what if it's a gibbon monkey, or even a man-eating squid? ”

The man in the black hat said impatiently, "Then what do you want?" Sue him, 'Baby, there is actually a mysterious power in our body that can be manipulated to protect ourselves and defeat monsters'? ”

The woman's eyes widened, and she gasped: "Why not?" ”

"He was a victim of violence in school, and Johnson Brown hated violence because of his childhood! Katie, have you forgotten the words of the original book? ”

"When faced with a monster attack, you can only cry and tremble, this is our protagonist? I regret taking on this task! The blonde Katie was furious, "I'd rather be the hapless Jack and fly across the ocean and wander the demonic realm than on days like this." ”

As she spoke, she counted Johnson's shortcomings.

"His socks were not clean, his knives and forks were not used well, and a set of plates was all broken porcelain. I won't use a lawn mower, not even a microwave! Oh, God! ”

Katie has an exaggerated expression of "this is a disaster" on her face, and she blames the man in front of her for throwing everything to her.

"Last night, the forsaken world came, and we finally killed those black hairballs, and he didn't do anything! The furniture and appliances in the room are all destroyed, where do we get the money to repair them? Last month was already in deficit, and this month's check is still dragging on and not being cashed! ”

Mr. Lawyer's face was full of impatience, and he raised his hand in surrender, not wanting to argue with Katie: "I've already gone to urge!" ”

"You've been urging for three days." Katie was so angry that she was about to cry.

She squatted weakly on the side of the road, thinking of the unheated, cold house, she didn't want to go back.

"Hey Katie, don't do that!" Charlie had no choice but to persuade, "Listen, we can't leave Johnson alone in the house, do you need me to tell your psychiatrist, children who are hurt are easy to be extreme!" If you are abandoned and prejudiced again, you may develop an antisocial personality! We can't let Johnson be like that, dear, we've been working so hard and God will bless us. ”

A man and a woman hug each other in the snow.

They are indeed a couple, otherwise they would not have received such a good task, and there were many people who envied them before, and the close contact with the protagonist became an important "relative" in the protagonist's heart, which is a good thing for pie in the sky!

Katie wanted to kill her ecstatic self.

"I knew it! If it's really a good thing, why didn't the boss himself come? ”

The lawyer was startled, hurriedly stopped Katie, and glared at him warningly: "You don't want to die, dare to say such a thing?" ”

Katie pushes her lover away in frustration and says in annoyance, "Can you be a little bit of a good deal!" Those who will come to this world are all losers, you are suspected of helping people transfer property, and I am illegally selling soft drugs. products, almost went to jail...... How much better will the boss be than us? ”

"Aren't you afraid he's a murderer? How much loss will it be to the organization if you die and then me? ”

Katie listened, not daring to speak again.

"Alright, baby! Came home with a wallet, and our Johnson, and said that no one fixed the heating and we went to a hotel for the night. Charlie persuaded.

The two finally came to an agreement and turned around and walked towards the residence.

Ten minutes later, they were frightened. There was a line of children's footprints in the snow in front of the door, stretching out - Johnson left alone while they were not home.

"Damn! He ran away! ”

"Johnson!"

Katie said anxiously, "He hasn't left the house these days, and he rarely even goes out of the bedroom, why did he leave suddenly?" It's still snowing so hard outside! ”

"Katie, did you say something?" Charlie looked at his girlfriend suspiciously.

"Shit, I don't know anything!"

The two complained to each other and chased along the footprints, and on the way they met the neighbor boy who came back from walking his dog, and the footprints disappeared on the road, mixed with other footprints, and could no longer be distinguished.

"Nope! We're going to die! Katie broke down and scratched her hair.

***

Johnson staggered down the road.

The cold wind gave him a headache, but he didn't want to go back to that house.

Katie seems to have gone awry with their finances lately, and dinner has been a week without potatoes and bread, and he seems to have brought bad luck to them.

An unrecognizable house, a mess of furnishings, Johnson could not live there with peace of mind.

He wanted to go back to Nansa, to find Uncle Lake, maybe the missing Lake was still spending his days in a casino, and the cold, dilapidated slum neighborhood was his home. No television, no talk show guests who satirize poverty.

But Nansa is too far away......

Johnson was recognising the church's cross symbol in the snowstorm, and suddenly there was a tall leather-clad man riding a modified heavy locomotive, parked in front of him, the tires were very high, and the engine was still steaming smoothly on such a cold day.

The huge windscreen almost covered the man's entire face.

"Sir......" Johnson said timidly.

The man laid the locomotive across the road that the snowplow had cleared, and if he didn't give way, Johnson would have to step on the snow half a man high, and it would not be pleasant, and his clothes would be wet and blown by the wind......

"Imp, do you want to freeze to death on the street?"

The man picked Johnson up, frowned, looked up and down, and wrapped himself directly in his fur coat.

"First...... Mr? Johnson froze, then struggled.

"Don't move!" The man straightened the locomotive and walked away at a gallop, and the fine white mist crushed by the snowflakes and tires drifted into the sky.