Merry Christmas! I’ll be posting the next chapter of You’re Part of the Family soon, but I wanted to put something else up for the holidays.

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Eighteen year old Miley Stewart climbed out of bed on Christmas morning and walked into her bathroom. She took a quick shower, grabbed her keys, and stepped out onto the front porch. The cold winter air bit at her skin. She wrapped her sweatshirt more tightly around her body. After locking the door, she took off down the street for her daily run.

As she ran, she thought about her family. All of her relatives lived across the country. Her mom had died when she was young. Her dad…

A few tears slid down her cheeks as she thought about her dad and brother. They had been killed just a few months earlier. She remembered that day clearly.

The Stewart family was at Hannah Montana’s last concert. Mr. Stewart and Jackson were watching backstage as Miley belted out the last lines of “Best of Both Worlds”.

“...You’ve got the best of both worlds!” Miley sang. The crowd roared with applause, and Miley took her bows before running backstage to join her family.

“Great job, Hannah!” Robby Ray said, hugging his daughter.

“Thanks Daddy!” she replied, hugging him back and grabbing Jackson into the hug. As they pulled away, shouting could be heard down the hall. The three of them went to see what was going on.

As they got closer to the source of the yelling, they saw a security guard on the ground, unconscious. Another guard was giving him first aid, and another was struggling to keep a grip on a man none of them had seen before.

“Help!” the third guard called to Mr. Stewart, who wasted no time in assisting him. The man was too strong for them, though. In one strong motion, he threw both of them back. The guard hit the wall and fell to the ground. Mr. Stewart hit the back of his neck on the corner of a table and crumpled to the ground, too.

“Dad!” Miley cried. She tried to run toward him, but Jackson held her back. The man whipped his head in their direction.

“Ah, there she is. Miss Hannah Montana, a.k.a. Miley Stewart,” he sneered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife.

Miley’s heart stopped for a second as he started to approach her, the knife held out in front of him. As he got closer, she backed up, only to find the wall behind her. She looked at the man in fear and screamed as she saw that he was only a few feet away from her.

This is it, she thought. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the pain.

“Drop that knife!” the guard yelled. But it was too late. The man’s arm was raised, and he brought it down. Miley, not feeling any pain, opened her eyes and gasped. Jackson had jumped in front of her, and he was being stabbed by the man.

“Jackson!” Miley screamed. With the help of the second man, the guard managed to pry the man away from Jackson. Miley fell to her knees beside her brother, and she knew immediately that he was dead. She looked over to where her dad was being looked over, and by the look on the guard’s face, she knew that he was gone, too.

“No!” Miley burst into tears and ran out into the streets, not once looking back.

“I miss you guys,” Miley whispered, looking toward the sky. She stopped running when she got to the nearby park and sat down on a swing, thinking of all the good times she had with her family there.

Miley didn’t know how long she had been sitting there, but when she felt a raindrop hit her cheek, she noticed that it was getting dark. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, she stood up and headed home.

She walked slowly, thinking- a song forming in her head. Her mind started working on a tune, and she started humming, the steady pit-pat of the rain providing a beat.

“One day there will be peace on earth…” Miley sang softly. “Love will be shown, and God will be known by every boy and girl.”

She stopped for a moment, thinking about how much she wished she had her family with her for Christmas.

“This Christmas, you can make a difference.” Miley paused again. “You can spread God’s love. So get up and spread the word so that one day there will be peace on earth.”

Miley smiled slightly. She hadn’t even started to write a song since the incident backstage, and it felt good. It reminded her of the times when she would sit down with her dad or her friends and spend hours coming up with lyrics. Her spirits lifting slightly, she began to sing again.

“One day there will be peace on earth. Love will be shown, and God will be known by every boy and girl. This Christmas, you can make a difference. You can spread God’s love. So get up and spread the word so-“

She trailed off, hearing another voice singing along.

“-so that one day there will be peace on earth.” Miley looked around to see her best friend, Lilly, smiling at her. Miley gave a small smile in return.

“What are you doing out here? It’s Christmas,” Miley asked, “and it’s raining.”

“I love to walk in the rain,” Lilly replied. Miley smiled.

“Do you want to come spend Christmas with me and my family?” Lilly asked. “It’s just me, my parents, and my aunt, and there’s an extra place at the table.”

Miley’s smile grew. “I’d love to.”

Lilly linked her arm through Miley’s, and they walked to Lilly’s house, singing Miley’s new song.

“Mommy, look! Christmas carolers!” a little girl exclaimed as Miley and Lilly passed her house. The girls smiled at her and continued singing. Soon a small crowd had formed around the two friends, and a few people caught on to the lyrics and started singing along. Miley smiled at the looks on the audience’s faces. She realized how much she missed performing for others, and she made up her mind to go back to performing after the holidays.

“Merry Christmas everyone!” she called.

“Merry Christmas!”

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I know you’re probably thinking “this didn’t make any sense” and “you suck”. But I don’t care, review anyway! Merry Christmas!