{"id":22631,"date":"2025-12-06T16:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T16:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=22631"},"modified":"2025-12-06T16:01:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T16:01:05","slug":"22631","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=22631","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

I adjusted the microphone. The booth felt smaller tonight, the walls closer. Beyond the thin partition, I could hear Janet wrapping up a call in the adjacent station, her voice bright with manufactured cheer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right, sweetie. Santa knows you\u2019ve been very good this year. Sleep tight now.\u201d A pause. \u201cYou too, Mom. Merry Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The line clicked off. Janet poked her head around the partition, her round face framed by the reflective garland someone had stapled to the divider. \u201cHeading out, Owen. You good here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll quiet,\u201d I said, glancing at the phone that hadn\u2019t rung in forty minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo home. Kiss your kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

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I adjusted the microphone. The booth felt smaller tonight, the walls closer. Beyond the thin partition, I could hear Janet wrapping up a call in the adjacent station, her voice bright with manufactured cheer. \u201cThat\u2019s right, sweetie. Santa knows you\u2019ve been very good this year. Sleep tight now.\u201d A pause. \u201cYou too, Mom. Merry Christmas.\u201d…<\/p>\n

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