Free The Christmas House by Barry KuKes

made an unbelievable racket. Michael had problems getting the ramp to slide out evenly and struggled with it by pushing it back and forth. “SCHREECH, SQUEAL, SCHREECH!”  Finally after a few minutes, the ramp slid out from the carriage and fell to the ground with a loud clank.
         As Michael lifted the overhead door to the truck, the door slid up into its rails. He then jumped up into the back of the truck and grabbed the two-wheel dolly.
         He loaded a few boxes onto the dolly and rolled them down the metal ramp, which made a bumping sound that echoed down the block.
         Michael stopped in the garage and unloaded the boxes. As he turned around to make his second trip, a large man wearing a bathrobe and slippers stood by the truck.
         “Would you mind telling me just what the hell you think you are doing?” asked the man.
         Michael who was in no mood for a confrontation answered, “Well, what does it look like I am doing ? I’m moving into my house.”
         “At 4 o’clock in the morning? Can’t you wait a few hours and let the rest of us around here get some sleep!” replied the man.
         “Sleep!” replied Michael. “I wish I could sleep. Listen buddy, my wife just gave birth to my daughter a few hours ago and it was a very difficult delivery. They both almost died! Now, my son is asleep in the cab of this truck and I am stuck here moving these boxes and the furniture into the house myself. I am sorry to be making so much noise, but I can’t do anything about it.”
         “Listen hot shot,” replied the man, “This is a nice quiet neighborhood and if this is any indication of how you plan to fit in, I got news for you, you won’t!”
         Michael turned away and started to go up the ramp again, to the back of the truck.
         “Go call a cop if you don’t like it. I am just trying to get my family settled after the day from hell!”
         “Fine, I will call the cops. Welcome to the neighborhood!” responded the man as he walked away in a huff.
         “Yeah, same to you!” shouted back Michael.
         Michael was very upset and decided he would make as much noise as he wanted. He started to throw boxes around for the sole intention of making as much noise as he possibly could.
         “Stupid people around here... I should go kick that guy’s ass... what a jerk!” As Michael looked around he noticed that quite a few of the neighbors within earshot were turning on lights inside their homes. He stopped for a moment and realized that he really was making quite a bit of noise. Now he felt like the jerk. He tried to work as quietly as he could. Having one neighbor mad at you was one thing; having them all hate you was another.
         Michael continued to unload the truck in a quiet and orderly fashion. As he emptied the back end of the truck of the boxes, he came to the first major appliance; the refrigerator. Michael was exhausted and decided he better wake David to see if he could at least help him balance the load as he descended down the ramp.
         Unfortunately, David was sound asleep and Michael couldn’t wake him up. The poor kid was just as exhausted as his father. Michael refused to give up and decided to try to maneuver the refrigerator by himself.
         He slid the two-wheel cart under the base of the refrigerator and strapped the body of the huge appliance to the base of the upright cart. As Michael grabbed hold of the two-wheel cart, he pulled back and the refrigerator barely budged. Michael set it back down. He took a few deep breaths and tried again. Putting all of his strength behind the pull on the cart, he grunted as the refrigerator lifted off the ground about two inches, but then he lost it again.
         He couldn’t unload any of the other furnishings until he moved the refrigerator out of the way, so he had to try again. He waited for about a minute and then prepared himself for the biggest