Prompt: lights at Christmas

Theme: soft

Words: 179

She slumped drowsily against the window, rocking with the gentle motion of the van. Five days 'til Christmas and they were tiki-touring through town, on the lookout for decorated houses. Someone coughed from up front.

"There's one!"  the excited call ricocheted through the vehicle and a wild finger jabbed at the glass. "Oh, it's so pretty!!"

She pushed herself a little more upright and had to agree; lights rimmed the eaves of the house, running across the lawn and twinkling in a tree like captive starlight. The next house sported a mini team of reindeer, the next had Merry Christmas!  burning bright in the window, and yet another had the curtains pulled back to reveal a cosy interior and the dancing lights of a Christmas tree — on and on, until the crowning glory: a pair of upside-down legs, trapped in the top of a chimney. It always made her laugh.

But the prettiest lights by far were those gleaming ethereally from the water.

Then, their journey over, they made their back to the welcoming twinkly lights of Home.