There was one door left to knock. In the precious few remaining days before Christmas, Tim had insisted on canvassing every floor in the apartment building, and Mindy had dutifully followed along. But both of their minds kept returning to the one neighbor they hadn't checked on in a while: Callie. They were both pretty sure she wasn't planning on going anywhere for the holiday. And while Tim and Mindy had developed some... different ways of looking at things lately, they agreed on at least one thing unhesitatingly. No one should have to be alone on Christmas.
So it was early, but not too early, on Christmas morning that they took the short walk down the hall and knocked on her door again. And they waited. And just like the last time, there was no response. They both wanted to imagine that she had worked up the courage to go out, spending the day with family, or at least some other friends who she had met under better circumstances. But their hopes were dashed by the faint sound of a television buzzing inside. "...I haven't taken leave of my senses, Bob," a muffled voice with a British accent was saying from just behind the door. "I've come to them."
Tim and Mindy shared a look. Mindy, tentatively, tried the doorknob, and the door swung right open. Tim hadn't actually seen the inside of Callie's apartment before, and he could barely see anything now. The curtains were all drawn, and it was dark. Outside, it was an unusually warm and bright day given the season, but none of that sunlight was getting in here. The only light in the room was the image of that old black-and-white movie on the TV, and it was only barely bright enough to illuminate the pig-faced figure of Callie lying on the couch. She heard the noise at the door, shook off a couple blankets that were piled around her, and blearily sat up.
"What time is it?", Callie asked in a shaky voice. She moved to stand up as the other two came into the room, but that seemed to be too much for her and she fell back down on the seat. Tim, thinking quickly, reached out a branch and flipped a light switch. In the flood of sudden brightness, Callie screwed her eyes shut and slowly blinked them back open again.
"It's 10:30," Mindy replied as she stepped forward, with her head on a swivel. She hadn't been here since November 1st, when she was checking in on everyone who'd been at her party the night before. The place looked a lot different now, which was to say that it had become a mess. Bits of garbage were piled up on every available surface - the poor girl must not have even taken the trash out in weeks. "Oh, and, uh, Merry Christmas," she added, just trying to fill the silence. Callie still seemed to be struggling just to stay awake. "How've you been holding up?", Mindy asked when she thought the girl seemed alert enough to hear the question. "We came by a few days ago and you weren't home - you got the chance to go out at least a little bit? That's good..."
"Huh?", Callie said. "No, I guess I just didn't hear you knocking... I haven't left my room in a few, uh, weeks, I guess..."
Mindy was about to ask, "Really? Not even to pick up groceries?", but she held her tongue. She figured that food was going to be a sore subject altogether, and she was starting to get an idea of why Callie looked so tired and weakened. For all the clutter that was strewn around, it struck her that awfully little of it was food packaging. But if Callie was struggling with anything that reminded her of being a pig, then living in a pile of mess like this had to be making things so much worse for her. Mindy fetched a pot of coffee, then informed the other two that there'd just been a sudden change of plans, that the three of them would get together back at her place in an hour. Plenty of time for the girl to clean herself up, she thought.
Neither Callie nor Tim had been inside Mindy's apartment since they were transformed there. But the place itself wasn't particularly traumatic for either of them - it was too nondescript for that. Mindy came off as something of a minimalist when it came to decorating. But in fact, she would've loved to deck the halls for a Christmas celebration, just the same way she'd done in previous years. That just seemed like it would be in poor taste now, though. She wondered if it would feel any less weird next year to pull the plastic Christmas tree out of the back of her closet, where it was currently snug in its box, and set it up in the middle of her living room. Maybe, even when this was all over, she would just have to put the thing up on eBay.
Once the three of them had gathered back together, Tim started excitedly talking about his plans for the evening. He'd managed to get himself a rare invitation to the Christmas party at the mayor's mansion. "They said they're trying to show how the city is supporting changed people," he said breathlessly. "Here, Mindy, show her the poster they sent!"
Mindy pulled it up on her phone and turned the screen toward Callie. It listed a lot of names, but the one that stood out was near the very bottom. "Featuring a special appearance by Tim the Tree."
"You like it?", he asked both of them, though neither was quick to respond. "I thought it made a good sort of stage name. Plus it sounds like 'trim the tree', so it has this festive ring to it, and I felt like it was just perfect for..."
Callie was taken aback by what she was hearing. Mindy had seen firsthand how he seemed to get more and more manic about Christmas with every person he greeted, but Callie hadn't even seen him since she'd walked out on Thanksgiving. She still thought of him as somebody who was in even worse shape than she was. Now she had to wonder, was there anybody like that left? Or had everyone else but her just sort of... gotten used to it somehow?
"...think it could really be the start of something bigger," Tim was still saying. "But that's enough about me for now. I think it's about time for the gifts, huh?"
Mindy and Callie were both equally flustered at that. "Oh, I didn't... uh... think to get anything," Mindy stammered out, while Callie just sat there, avoiding eye contact.
"That's okay!", Tim replied cheerfully. "Just being here, together, for the holiday is enough for me! But wait until you see what I got for you two..." Something started to shake from deep within the tangled nest of pine needles that made up his body, and after a few moments, two neatly-wrapped boxes gently tumbled out of him and onto the floor. Each one was labeled with a tag - "For Mindy" on one and "For Callie" on the other. "And where else would the presents go but right under the... well, under me!" He giggled at his own joke.
Callie and Mindy both looked at each other uncomfortably, but they soon reached down to take their gifts. Mindy, with the benefit of fully dextrous fingers, got the wrapping off of hers first and stared at the present she found inside. A thick paperback book with a glossy orange cover, titled "Witchcraft for Dummies".
"First edition, advance copy, hot off the presses," Tim explained proudly. "Don't ask me how I managed to get ahold of one. I'm sure they're flying off the shelves already."
"Wow, thanks, Tim," Mindy said, with a sense of relief. She wasn't sure what to expect from him, but a gift like this seemed like it would actually be really useful. She would have started to take a closer look at the book, but she noticed that Callie was now getting her box open. She turned to look, curious.
What Callie pulled out was just a small piece of card paper, but the bold text printed on it made clear that this was something important. All three of them could immediately recognize it as the ticket that a person needed to present to be let into a reversal appointment. And right smack dab in the middle of the paper, the name "TIMOTHY J BAUMGARTNER" had been crossed out. Right below that, in surprisingly deft handwriting, it said "CALLISTA E PURCELL".
She looked up at Tim - not excited, not happy, just dumbfounded. "I know you've been having a really tough time lately," he gently explained, waiting for it to sink in. Any moment now, he knew she would be celebrating. "And I thought, I've actually grown to like where I'm at in life, I don't need to be the first one to get it fixed. You can trade me yours, I guess, and I can wait a few more months..."
Tim was not expecting Callie's snout to start to curl into an angry sneer. "You've got to be kidding me. Do you think I want your pity? Huh? Is that what this is?" Now it was his turn to be dumbfounded, and when he didn't respond right away, Callie snorted loudly and started up again. "Tim, I think you've completely lost it. Did you even think for a minute that all this good feeling stuff is because it's Christmas?!? That when all this Christmas shit is over, you'll be just as isolated and alone as you were before? And don't try to hit me with that whole thing all the movies talk about, where we can keep the Christmas spirit in our hearts all year long!" She spat that line out in a mocking tone. "You and I both know that nobody other than you is gonna even pretend to believe in that."
Callie stood up from the couch, jabbing a hoof-finger at the fine print on the bottom of the card. "Plus, you didn't even read this whole thing. Right there, it says 'strictly non-transferable'." Then she dropped the card, letting it flutter gently down to the floor while she quickly stormed out of the room. Tim and Mindy were left sitting there in a stunned silence.