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Victor was a man of few words, and even fewer friends. In fact, his only real friend was his pet rock, Wilfred. For Victor, the holiday season had always signaled a time of dread. This one was turning out to be particularly difficult, since Victor had just been fired from the place he had given thirty years of his adult life to- it was the only thing anchoring him to the outside world. Christmas had quietly passed, but tonight was the eve of a new year. In a feeble attempt to lift his spirits, he ventured out into the unforgiving cold to purchase a string of colored lights.

As midnight approached, Victor was slumped in the middle of his dilapidated couch, clutching his pet rock. He stared sadly out the window at the vacant parking lot across the street. Distant sirens were the only background noise as he slowly pulled himself into an upright position. Victor had come to a decision. After carefully placing Wilfred in his shirt pocket, he reached down and picked up the plastic bag from the store. He opened the box of lights and plugged them in. Kneeling beside the outlet, he gingerly put the bag over his head and wrapped the lights tightly around the base of his withered neck. Through the fog of his final breaths, he saw a blurry blink of red, then green, red, then green…