My neighbor believes in Christmas magic. That’s because someone takes out her trash, does her dishes and laundry, clears snow from her driveway, and puts up Christmas decorations in her house.

She has no idea it’s me, her stalker neighbor who watches her every move. Seeing only the good around her, she fails to notice I also steal her panties and curtains. She doesn’t know I’m in her bedroom every night.

What I do is for her protection as much as for my pleasure. Emma loves to help, often bringing sick or lost animals into her home. She takes on way too much, sometimes forgetting to care for her own needs. I make sure she has food on her table, gas in her tank, and a safe, salted driveway.

It works out perfectly until she decides to make me her next pet project. I can’t risk being discovered, and even though I want nothing more than to be with her, it’s impossible. War trauma has left me unable to speak unless I wear a mask.

I know for a fact someone as innocent as her will never accept my creepy ways. Nothing, not even the magic of Christmas, will bring us together.

Even though I secretly wish it would.