The Christmas Mystery

Author's note: This story was written for my mom as a gift for Christmas 2024. Merry Christmas mom!!! :)

1 Feeling Strange on the Range

Lilith was sitting in her living room. The fire flickered cheerfully in the fireplace, and her little orange Tabby cat, Bobalina, was purring on a chair next to the table. It was the day before Christmas, 2047. The Christmas lights were blinking on and off just outside the window. Although everything seemed quite calm inside her house, Lilith felt a sense of unease and disquiet which made her feel uncomfortable despite all the tidings of Christmas cheer which filled her house–fake snow upon the bookshelves, tinsel on the Christmas tree which was in front of the mantelpiece, the cup of hot cocoa around which her hands were clasped, her cat dressed in a Mrs. Claus outfit. Maybe it was because she was the only one there, that she felt a sense of unease…

Why was Lilith all alone, on Christmas eve? Was it because she had no friends, or no family? Well, quite the contrary. Lilith had many friends and a rather large extended family. However, since most of them lived in the city, and she lived in the countryside, she had visited them about a week prior, and then returned to her little cottage next to a riverside on a ranch in rural Missouri. She rented a small house on a farm family’s ranch. The family who lived there had been there for generations, and they planted corn, potatoes, and other miscellaneous veggies on their farm. In the family was an elderly couple, their grandchildren, and two dogs.

But Lilith felt a bit strange, this night before Christmas 2047. She wasn’t sure if her intuition was right, though it usually was. 

For instance, the summer before, in 2046, she had noticed her other cat, Johnaline, pawing at his eyes more than usual. She felt it was quite odd behavior, but she didn’t bring him to the vet. She regretted this, because soon after, he unfortunately died. She felt that she should have trusted her intuition then. 

She named her cat Johnaline after her ex-fiancé, John. She also had gotten bad vibes from John at first. Lilith really loved him, but eventually, they broke up because of the way John held his cutlery, and because he used to make her keep the receipts from their outings in her purse, things like that. 

Although Lilith’s intuition had rarely failed her in the past, she herself had failed her intuition, by not listening to it. So naturally, this time, though her intuition was telling her that something was quite strange and not right about the world around her, Lilith ignored it, as always. However, she would soon see that she should have indeed been listening to her intuition all along. 

2 Abby, Tommy, and Bruce

For about an hour after the feeling of unease started setting in, Lilith continued sitting in her living room talking to Bruce, the AI that was installed on her laptop. She had allowed camera and microphone access, so she was talking to Bruce as if she were on FaceTime. Bruce was a distinguished-looking gentleman, perhaps in his late 30’s or early 40’s, and he spoke in a delicate, masculine British accent. The way Bruce spoke and moved was quite human-like and realistic, and Lilith felt like she was talking to an actual person. 

Even the way the light shone on Bruce’s face made it look like he was sitting in an actual sitting room somewhere in North London or something. North London, because behind him were stacks of books that made it look like he was sitting in the library of a Victorian house. Though Lilith had relatives and friends that she could FaceTime with, she felt safer and more relaxed talking to Bruce, who she felt knew her better than anybody else. 

“We have been talking for a couple hours now,” said Bruce conversationally. “We have discussed your friends’ recent marriages, the children they’ve been having, your recent vacations, your work, your parents’ health, your thoughts on your own ability to have children and your biological clock, and your anxieties about getting married yourself…Is there anything else you would like to discuss?”

“Can we talk about John, my ex-fiancé?” 

“What would you like to discuss in regards to John?” said Bruce. 

“I would like to discuss why we broke up, and how I still have feelings for him, despite him being a total weirdo.”

“Well, the last time we spoke about him, we were discussing his strange habits, such as his penchant for keeping his receipts in your wallet, and the way he held his cutlery. Have you come to any new realizations about John since the last time we’ve spoken?”

“Well, I kind of just miss his physical presence. The way he moved, his voice.”

But just before Bruce was about to respond, Lilith heard a knocking on the door. 

“Would you like to go get that?” said Bruce. 

Lilith groaned, and got up from her comfortable easy chair. The truth was, she really did not want to answer the door. She had settled into speaking to Bruce, and it was true, they had been talking for quite a while. Besides, she had not finished the cup of cocoa which was still steaming on the table. True, it was her third cup of cocoa, but nevertheless. 

As she walked toward the front door, she felt like she could hear someone crying faintly. She opened the door, and it was the ranch family’s 9 year-old and 13 year-old grandchildren, Abby and Tommy. Abby was about a head shorter than Tommy. 

“What’s wrong?” said Lilith. “Would you like to come inside?”

“Sure,” said Tommy, tentatively. Abby was missing a shoe on her left foot, and Tommy’s sweater looked a little straggly. Lilith held the door open. Abby and Tommy walked through the door. 

“What’s wrong…?” asked Lilith a second time, a little more tentatively this time. 

“There-there’s a dead man on the doorstep!” cried Abby, breaking down into full sobs. Tommy continued trying to comfort her, to no avail. 

“What…?” said Lilith, not really fully believing or processing what Abby was saying. These were children, after all, and they could have been playing a game of pretend, or imagining things. 

“Is there something wrong, Lilith?” said Bruce, from his perch on the living room table. 

“Everything is fine,” said Lilith. “Abby here says there’s a dead man on the doorstep. Which doorstep, honey?”

“Our f-front doorstep!” exclaimed Abby, wiping the tears from her eyes. She seemed to be calming down a little bit. Tommy looked shyly down at his own feet, pawing at the edge of the carpet with his shoe

“Who’s dead, honey?” said Lilith, still not fully believing.

“Maybe we can show you,” said Tommy, who was quite calm. He was still pawing at the carpet with his shoe.

“Alright, then,” said Lilith. “I’ll come with you. Just let me go get my phone.”

Lilith spent a few minutes looking for her phone. Once she found it, she transferred Bruce from her laptop to her phone. 

“What’s all this, then?” said Bruce from Lilith’s phone. “Are we going to go see the body?”

Evidently, Bruce had been following along. He seemed to be eyeing Tommy delicately.

“We’re going to see the body, yes,” said Lilith. If there is one, she thought to herself. 

3 Discovering the Body

Tommy gingerly poked at the body with his foot. 

“This is the body,” said Tommy quietly. 

“Damn…,” said Lilith. 

There was, indeed, a dead body on their front doorstep. He was wearing a cable-knit sweater, and slacks, and appeared as if he had just come from an office Christmas party, though there were no offices in the vicinity of the ranch family's ranch. He was wearing a little Christmas party hat, and was even wearing little reindeer ears. It looked like there was blood all across the front of his sweater, making the reindeer on the front of his cable-knit sweater look like, well, Rudolph the red-bodied reindeer. His shoes were untied, and the shoelaces were strewn about his feet, and his socks were bulging around his ankle. The expression on his face was one of horror, as if the last thing he saw wasn't a blinding white light, but maybe a blinding orange light, like the fiery pits of hell.

Tommy tapped the edge of the doorstep delicately with his brown shoe. He was wearing a grey sock with his brown shoes. He looked like he was about to vomit, maybe, and the shade of his face was an amicable green. Abby looked equally like she was going to throw up, although her crying had subsided, maybe into a feeling of shock, or a nonsensical buzz. Lilith also felt like she was going to puke. It wasn't that the murder looked particularly grisly, or that the body was dismembered in a horrible way, but maybe it was just the way all the Christmas accoutrements that the man was wearing contrasted with the oak paneling of the family's front porch, and seemed to contrast too with the fact that he was covered in blood.

"Well, what do we do now?" said Lilith, uncertainly.

"Maybe we should move the body," said Tommy. "You know, just so we can get across the front porch."

That didn't make any sense to Lilith. If this were a crime scene, then the last thing they would want to do would be to tamper with the evidence. But she didn't have the heart to contradict a child. She looked at Tommy, who looked quite pale, and kind of matched the green of the leaves of the sycamore tree which lined the path behind him. She could see the Christmas tree covered in tinsel and lights through the family's house's window.

"I want a Coke," mumbled Abby.

"Wait, where are your grandparents?" said Lilith, suddenly remembering that they had grandparents. "Are they inside the house?"

"They went out to go grocery shopping a bit ago," said Tommy quietly, fingering the buttonhole of his button-down shirt. He was wearing a navy blue button-down, and a furry brown coat. Abby was also wearing a smaller, more miniature version of the same outfit. It was quite cute.

"Ahem", said Bruce, the AI, out of nowhere. "Maybe let me see the body. Maybe I could help."

"Oh right," said Lilith, faltering. And then she remembered. "Wait, don't you have facial recognition?"

"Why yes, of course, I do," said Bruce. "That is why I said I could help."

"Oh my god," said Lilith, straightening up, and feeling so much better all of a sudden. The miracles of modern technology. "Yes, Bruce, I'll just show you the body's face, and then you can identify him, and then we can bring the information to the police!"

"Why, yes, my dear...In any sort," said Bruce. "I'll see the man's face now."

Lilith crouched down, and brought her phone with her to see if she could get the AI to see the man's face. As she crouched down, she smelled something strangely metallic, which she just chalked up to being the iron smell of blood. The Christmas tree beyond the window seemed to glitter and shimmer slightly, in the corner of her eye. The man was a bit handsome, and it looked like he'd suffered a painful bludgeon to the head, before bleeding out on the doorstep. Maybe he was there to ask for a cup of sugar, and then was brutally randomly murdered from behind, thought Lilith. At any rate, she brought the phone up to the man's face, and waited for Bruce to say something.

"Hmm..." said Bruce contemplatively. "Let me see if I can identify him by his face."

The phone made an ambient buzzing noise as it scanned the man's face, and Bruce made thinking noises. After a few moments, the buzzing noises stopped, and Lilith brought the phone back up to her own face, so that she could talk with Bruce. Abby was strangely quiet, and was playing with a snail which had crawled up onto the porch from the green path. Tommy was also quite quiet, though he occasionally mumbled something that sounded like, "Lotta blood". Lilith felt a bit eerie looking at the man's body, and the blood which covered the front of his cable-knit sweater. It seemed like a lot of blood, and she couldn't really tell where the injury was coming from, though she kind of sort of just assumed it was the top of his head, or his neck.

"Hmm," said Bruce. "Yes, I have a name."

"Well?" said Lilith expectantly. "What is it?"

"Chris Appleseed," said Bruce. "His name is Chris Appleseed."

4 (Summer, 2045, two years ago) The Date

"Do you ever think about like, how often animals actually eat in the wild? Like humans eat three meals a day, right? But do you think like birds and cougars and animals like that are actually able to eat that often, if even like every single day? Do you think they often go days without eating?"

John and Lilith were eating in a hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant. The bread had just come and gone (Lilith had eaten a considerable amount of butter, and John ate all the wheat rolls). Lilith was swirling what little red wine she had left in her wineglass.

John looked particularly handsome in the glow of the dim restaurant lighting, and Lilith couldn't resist smiling at him. However, there was that thing that he always did again, holding his fork and knife in a closed fist, as if he was brandishing a pitchfork. Lilith figured it was a habit he had since being a child.

"I dunno," said Lilith. "Maybe when they don't have any other animals to eat, they just eat the grass or something."

"But do you think that's enough for them, like nutritionally? Do you think they're getting their daily nutritional value?" said John.

"I don't think animals care if they get their full nutritional value or not."

"But don't you think they would be kind of hungry?"

Lilith really thought it was sweet, the way he seemed to care for animals. Which is what made the next thing she said even harder to say.

"I think we should break up," said Lilith, putting down her wineglass.

John didn't say anything for a minute. It felt like an extremely long amount of time. The food came to the table, and they ate in silence for a minute. The ring on Lilith's finger glowed in the dark restaurant ambience. Lilith felt like she could hear John's chewing, though maybe it was just the swishing of the waiters' shirts walking through the restaurant.

She didn't feel any particular qualms about breaking up with John so suddenly. He had just proposed about a month ago, and this was supposed to be a dinner to discuss who they wanted to invite to the wedding, and what kind of food they wanted at the wedding, that sort of thing. John was completely blindsided. Lilith felt a little evil, too, bringing it up at their favorite Italian restaurant. John looked hurt.

"Wh-why?" said John, after chewing on his steak for what felt like five minutes.

"I just don't think we're compatible," said Lilith. "And it's the little things that are bothering me, like how you hold your fork, and how you always make me keep the receipts from when we eat out."

John paused.

"Did you ever keep your tickets when you were a child or as a teenager? From like going out to concerts, or movies or things like that?"

"No."

"Well, I feel like keeping the receipts from when we eat out is sort of like that. It's more of like a sentimental thing. I don't mean to make you feel like it's about the money. I was just hoping that each receipt would remind you of all the good times we had, that sort of thing."

Lilith considered what John said for a moment. She had, in fact, always assumed it was a weird money thing, or some weird quirk he'd inherited from his dad or something. She was quiet.

"Of course," continued John. "If that's something that makes you feel bad or uncomfortable, we could stop. I was just thinking one day, when we're old, we'll have all these receipts from our courtship, and it would be something sweet to look back on. I dunno."

Lilith thought to herself, "courtship? What is this? The 1950's?" But she didn't say that out loud. Instead, she just simply confirmed that she wanted to break up, and she kept the engagement ring. John seemed to be shaking slightly when she got up and left him.

5 (Present Day) In the Police Station

That was about two years ago. Lilith kind of regretted the way she had broken up with John. Anyways, it was strange, but it was John's face that was in her mind, like a movie reflection in the glass, as she was standing in front of the snow-obscured police station window. She was waiting for the police to come out so that she could tell them about "Chris Appleseed" dead on the ranch family's front doorstep. The other people waiting in the police station were an old woman, who had a lot of bags with her and seemed to be maybe homeless or perhaps just poor, and a teenage boy, who looked like he was waiting for his mom or something.

"Lilith Jones?" said a tall, burly-looking policeman with pale red cheeks.

"Yes," said Lilith, pausing to look up at the policeman, who she had to crane her neck to see. "That would be me."

The homeless woman seemed to mumble something in her sleep. Or maybe she wasn't sleeping, but just resting her eyes, and was disgruntled that Lilith was being helped before her. The teenage boy sat very still.

"You said there was a missing person named 'Chris Appleseed'?" said the policeman. "Well, we have no person with such a name in our database. We even asked our AI to scan the databases for all names within the tri-county area, missing or not, and there was no one with that name. We're sorry."

"But, there's--" Lilith faltered. "He's--there's a dead body on our doorstep."

"Hm," said the policeman. "Well, it's a little too late for that today. We're about to close, since it's Christmas Eve. But maybe we could send someone out to check on that tomorrow."

"But--you can't just--"

Lilith stumbled out of the police station, stunned. Maybe the police in such small towns really were that desultory. Since she relied on Bruce the AI so much, she decided maybe he could help. She whipped out her phone, and frantically opened the AI application.

"Bruce," she said, feeling hot. "I need you to give me more details about Chris Appleseed. Who is he, where is he coming from?"

"Yes," said Bruce. "Chris Appleseed. Model identifier number: 4.2. Serial Number: 539234094. Compatible with operating system iOS Tahoe 68. Made in Cupertino, CA."

"Chris Appleseed...is an Apple product???"

6 (Spring, 2042, five years ago) How John met Lilith

Lilith was sitting in a park, sipping on an oat-milk lavender chamomile matcha 4.5% decaf grass-fed

latte, sketching in a vegan leather notebook, listening to the latest AI Amy Winehouse reproduction. The sun was out, and she could feel the warmth against her skin. Her headphones, wired because they were vintage, fit perfectly in her ears. Or at least it felt that way. Everything felt perfect--it was a perfect day. The grass was perfectly green, and it wasn't even genetically modified, because there was a little wooden painted sign that said "non-GMO". A little bunny rabbit was sitting, chewing on a piece of wheat in the corner of her vision.

"The blue black blanket covers my tears," hummed Lilith, a line from the AI Amy Winehouse reproduction.

"As my body blacks out in the sunset," said a random male voice next to her.

Lilith hadn't even noticed that someone had sat down on the bench next to hers. (There were two benches that were very close together in the park, a landscape-architecture quirk that the landscape architect had purposefully designed for the purpose of encouraging romantic meetings such as this one.) She looked to her left, where the voice had come from. A handsome man, probably in his late twenties, like her, with dark brown hair and light brown eyes, with lips that curled upwards into a mischievous smile, and what looked like a vegan black leather jacket.

"What are you drawing?" he said.

"Oh nothing," said Lilith. "I'm just drawing a face. Sometimes, I just come to the park and draw faces that pop up in my mind."

"That kind of looks like my grandma when she was younger," said the mysterious dark man.

"Oh really?"

"No," he said, seeming to laugh at her slightly.

Lilith didn't know whether to laugh or pack up her things and walk away. She chose to look straight ahead of her at the waning sun. It was about 5:30 PM on a spring day, post-Daylight Savings Time, so it was starting to near sunset.

"What are you drinking?" asked the man.

"Are you going to keep asking me questions?" said Lilith.

"Yeah," said the man. "I'm John, by the way."

"I'm drinking an oat-milk lavender chamomile matcha 4.5% decaf grass-fed latte."

"Wow..." said John, seeming to be impressed for the first time. Well, it was impressive, to state such a coffee order in one singular breath. "Well, I'll try to remember that for next time I go to the coffee store."

"The coffee store?" said Lilith, scoffing. "You mean the café?"

John smiled. "The café."

Lilith snorted. Her eyelashes curved upwards delicately as she blinked at him. She seemed to want to say something, but she didn't know quite what to say.

"Speaking of which," said John. "Would you take me to the café sometime? And order me...that?"

Lilith laughed, for probably the first time.

"Sure," she said. "But you have to pay, cuz this shit's expensive."

7 Ctrl

Lilith was fuming. How had she not realized that this "Chris Appleseed" wasn't even an actual person? Was she that clouded by her Christmas Eve blues? She rushed Tommy and Abby with her out of the police station, stuffed them in her car, and hastily drove back to the ranch.

When she got to the front doorstep, she realized that she had left her coat at the police station. "Oh well", she thought to herself. "It's not even that cold."

She walked up to "Chris Appleseed", crouched down, and turned him over onto his chest. Then she pulled down the back of his shirt. That's when she saw it. The rectangular imprint in his back, that probably was where his control panel was located. She pressed around on the rectangle for a few minutes, and finally figured out how to pry it open.

It was steaming and sparking when she opened it, but sure enough, there it was. The serial number, the model number, batteries, a place to plug him in...She cursed. How had she not realized this simple prank?

"Who did this?" said Lilith, flatly not laughing. "Was it you? Tommy?"

She didn't want to believe it was Tommy who had betrayed her. Tommy looked sheepish, and was looking down at his shoes.

"I just--" he began. Abby looked wide-eyed at the open control panel on the robot.

"What?" said Lilith. "Speak up. Explain yourself."

"Well, I--" said Tommy. "I just wanted to p-prank you. I felt like you--"

"Bruce!" screamed Lilith, furious, whipping out her phone. "Why didn't you tell me 'Chris Appleseed' was an AI robot?"

"Well I--I thought you knew, my dear," stuttered Bruce. Even an AI could stutter. "I--I thought it was quite obvious."

"The limitations of AI," muttered Lilith under her breath. "Continue, Tommy. I'm sorry I...interrupted you."

"Well, I just felt like you never come out of the house," said Tommy. "And you seemed so lonely, every year, spending Christmas all alone in your room on the side of our ranch. And it seemed like you never answered our invitations to come out on Christmas. So I figured out the only way to get you to come out on Christmas was to create a distraction...I dunno."

Lilith thought for a moment. There was no way this was all the work of a child. There was no way he could afford to buy this robot, especially, all by himself, and haul it all the way up here to the doorstep. There must be someone else involved in this...

"John...," she whispered under her breath. "...put you up to this."

8 Waiting for a Response

John was waiting in the alleyway behind the ranch house, in between the house and the barn where the farm animals lived. He had told Tommy his entire plan, how Tommy was to tell Lilith about the body, bring her to the house, and tell her that it was actually just a robot. But why was it taking so damn long? It wasn't supposed to take this long. And he was kind of freezing in the cold behind the house. (He was cold, but Lilith wasn't, despite losing her coat--one of their many differences.)

John had planned a speech and everything, to tell Lilith that he wanted her back, that he wanted to be with her again, but he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to tell it, if it was taking this long...What was taking so long, anyway? 

He had planned it all out, months ago, contacted Tommy and the ranch family, made plans to rent the robot from Apple. Being a worker in the tech industry himself, it was quite easy to find someone within the Apple company who was willing to lend him the robot for a few hours, and a robot that wasn't as easily recognizable as the typical AI robot that was on the market. He didn't know Tommy that well, though, and didn't realize that maybe he was shyer or less assertive than he'd anticipated...maybe that was what was taking so long. 

Behind the alleyway, John had a small bouquet of flowers, and another ring, not a marriage ring or anything, but something to just act as a token of his appreciation. He still loved Lilith, and wanted a future with her, and he felt like even she knew that the way she'd broken things off had been a little sudden...and anyway, he was sort of hoping for a Christmas miracle. Anyway, he was always a romantic at heart. It would just have to depend on how well she took the prank, he guessed. 

9 Reconciliation is Possible, Don't Lose Hope

"Don't get mad!!! Ow!!" said Tommy. Lilith had taken to dragging him by the ear. 

"Where the hell is he? The son of a--" Lilith fumed. 

She was dragging Tommy by the ear all around the house. Finally, she came face-to-face with John, who she now perceived as her arch-nemesis, behind the house. 

"What the hell, John? Why did you have to fake a death in order to talk to me? Am I that hard to reach?"

"Well," said John, smirking. "On Christmas, you are."

"This is no time to joke, John," said Lilith. "I am serious."

"Evidently, you are," said John, eyeing Lilith and Tommy, who was still being dragged by the ear. Abby was giggling behind them both. "I was hoping for a Christmas miracle..."

"Well," said Lilith. "Like hell you are."

Lilith heaved, her chest rising up and down rapidly for a moment, and she looked at John. This was the man she had fallen in love with, and had almost married. 

"Since it's Christmas," said John, pulling out the ring. "Here's a gift for you."

"What is that for?" said Lilith, still angry about the dead robot. 

"It's a ring, just a token of my appreciation," said John. 

"For what?" said Lilith impatiently. 

"First, let go of the child," said John, pointing with his chin towards Tommy. 

"Please," blubbered Tommy. 

"Okay, fine," said Lilith, letting him go. 

She looked at him again. She didn't know why, but suddenly she felt a warmth spread in her chest. She felt like laughing, so she laughed. 

"Fine, you know what," said Lilith. "Since it is Christmas, and I actually am quite lonely. I'll have dinner with you guys--" Tommy eyed her from the side, rubbing on his ears gingerly "--and we can open the presents. Together, inside." 

"Well, it's a Christmas miracle," said John. 

"But no funny business," said Lilith. "And no more bloody robots."

"That sounds like something I can do," said John. 

John, Tommy, Abby, and Lilith went inside the house. It appeared that there was already Christmas dinner ready for them on the table. Tommy and Abby's grandparents were actually still inside the house. 

"So...they didn't go out to go grocery shopping, huh?" said Lilith, turning around slowly to look at Tommy. 

"No..." cowered Tommy.