"We know 'Christmas in
July,; but what;s Krampus's
Summer like? WRITE IT!"
But, to my knowledge... nobody did. So, I decided to do it myself! So, here it is... "Krampus in July."
It was the last full week of summer vacation, though July wasn't even over yet. Mel and Lou didn't mind that it was still Jully by the time they finally made it to the beach. They were celebrating in style. In her hair Mel wore red bows, like those one might use to top a wrapped present. Around her neck was a jingle bell on a red cord. Lou, Mel's boyfriend, wore a headband with imitation reindeer antlers, and his nose was red with a sunburn. He had applied several layers of sunblock, but wanted to get his nose as red as Rudolph's to stick with the theme. They shared a cooler between them, with their other hands clutching a balloon reading, "Merry Christmas in July from Stokely's!" Mel's father, Max Stokely, had asked the teens to represent his store by selling snow cones on the beach, and they were happy to do it. Unfortunately, someone else was selling ice cream on the beach, so the snow cones were having no luck.
Near Mel and Lou's spot on the beach, a child was screaming, seemingly to Mel because he had dropped his ice cream cone onto the damp sand. The mother was entranced by her iPhone and didn't seem to notice the commotion.
Unable to tune out the screaming, Mel let out a raspy groan and said, "I'm never having kids."
Lou was about to reply when something caught his eye. "Um, Mel? What is that thing?"
She followed Lou's gaze and spotted what appeared to be a horned, goat-legged humanoid licking a ice cream bar on a stick with a long, blood-red tongue.
"Huh. If my time watching holiday horror movies has paid off at all, I'd say that's Krampus. And it looks like nobody else sees him, except maybe the screaming brat over there. That would be a reason to scream."
"And that doesn't freak you out? I nearly pissed myself!"
"Of course I'm freaking out, Lou. If we weren't doing my dad a favor, I'd be running away screaming. Just pretend not to see it."
"What the hell is a Christmas demon doing on the beach in July?"
Feeling curly whiskers on the back of his neck, Lou heard a whisper, "You're here because of Christmas in July. Even Santa and Krampus need a vacation, sonny."
Without turning around, Mel stammered, "So... why can't anyone see it?"
This time, the large figure crouching behind them stood up, casting a shadow over the couple. Neither of them dared to look back. The tall figure laughed with a jolly "Ho-ho-ho!" He then sang, "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake..." Suddenly, he stopped singing and his voice took an ominous turn as he said, "But you won't see him coming, kids. Come, Krampus!" And with a chill on their backs, he was gone.
Lou and Mel looked at each other. Lou said, "I don't know who's scarier: Krampus or Santa."
Suddenly, the approaching Krampus outstretched his massive tongue, which wrapped around the screaming child and pulled him into the demon's mouth as it followed its master, all unseen by the negligent mother on her iPhone. Later, everyone would assume that the child had been swimming, was caught in a current, and pulled out into the vast ocean, but Mel and Lou knew the truth.
Once the screaming had stopped and the holiday demon was gone, Mel looked at Lou and said, "Krampus just did me a favor, so I'm convinced: Santa is scarier."