vol . 22 , no . 5LIBERTAS

ChristmasCarrel

Lee Burtas

A

She doesn’t understand why the crowd gathers below. Their yelling woke her up four hours after her parents had tucked her in. She stares at the flashing lights, the blue and red that soak the white curtains of her bedroom window, her sleepy mind recall-ing a lesson from school: that blue and red together at once would paint it purple.

She peeks around the not-purple cloth and peers down at the scene below. Christ-mas-card picturesque, the family huddles together against the fire truck and around them snow blankets the ground. The fire casts a lovely glow over the street, as if their two-story manor were a log that would burn warm through the night.

She shakes her head as she gets back in bed. Santa should have known better than to go down a chimney with a fire at the bottom. He’d have to get the neighbors a new house for Christmas.

Finals are old. Finals have been around for a lot longer than you have. Steadfast, wise; beaten-down and strong, like the pattern of the phoenix. They have lived life and come out the other side with a message of such poignancy that they feel the experience of taking finals is the only way to convey it--the best way to open the doors of life is to try and pick the locks.

So comes finals week. You want to pass them, but they want to pass you. You want to understand them, but they want to understand you. School is a journey, and finals are leading the way. What that means is up to you. Above all, though, finals are not out to get you. If tests are sex, finals want to put on the best music for slow loving. They want to take your hand and pull it closer to the soft of their neck, the jagged goose-bumps from the whirring fan above. They want to kiss you, and kiss you passionately, and then make your crappy futon seem like a king-sized bed, and turn the Albertson’s stir-fry dinner you bought into a gourmet, candle-lit feast set above the Pyrenees Mountains.

Just remember that you’re taking a test.

The Most Unnecessary Fear of All TimeREFLECTIONS BY EVAN STACK

‘Twas the Night Before ChristmasFLASH FICTION BY QUINN MASSENGILL

After an early cold snap, I turned the heater onfor the first time since you left,and the house smelled like it was burning. I could taste charred sulfur on my tongue,so I opened my bedroom window to the night.

The only sound was the drone of an airplanesilhouetted against the moon. I wondered if that planewas heading west and if it would pass over your sleeping city in Tennesse that I had located on a drugstore atlas and memorized the route to along I-40.

My North Carolina moon looked the same to youas it did to me, but you probably didn’t think of it as mine, even though I still looked down at my skin bathed in frozen moonlight and traced the patterns that your fingers used to find in the middle of the night.

I wanted to know if you plotted routes to me, too,and I wanted your heat in my sheets again,and I wanted to forget that you had ever been there,and I closed my window as the temperature droppedand prayed that the heater would lull me, finally, to sleep.

The Heater and Unintended

Thoughts of You

POEM BYLEAH MELL

What We Wish Davidson

Looked LikeRight Now

PHOTOGRAPHY BYSAMANTHA GOWING

@samannthajames

♥ 16 likes

Things to do with this page when you’re done reading it:

1. Cut out a snowflake!2. Tear it into bits and decorate your room with “snow” for the winter. You can also use study

guides and notes from this semester if you need more!3. ________ You’ve got a blank space, baby, so write your name.4. Use this to pen your resignation letter, or just a note telling your professor you decided to

pass/fail the course. Does it really matter what you write “I quit” on?5. Out of tissue? How about toilet paper? This sheet makes a decent substitute for both!6. Want to burn all your notes from this semester to relieve stress? Go ahead! Use this paper

as kindling to get it started. It will also help keep you warm in this wintry weather. 7. Alternatively, use it to fan yourself when the Union blasts the heat too high.8. Cut along the dotted lines and use the provided mistletoe to woo your Davidson Unicorn

this holiday season.

Holiday Cocktail Recipes

Across

4. Fourth reindeer to pull Santa’s sleigh according to the song ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’5. Jewish gambling game played during Hanukkah7. Father of Jesus8. Candelabrum with nine branches11. Incense that one of the Three Kings brought Jesus as a gift13. Festive Christmas song15. Hang these over the fire on Christmas Eve 18. Chinese winter celebration in which the colors gold and red are particularly lucky19. Yummy traditional potato pancakes

Down

1. Shortest day of the year2. Usually includes figurines of Joseph, Mary, the baby Jesus, and the Three Kings3. Holiday that celebrates the day that the three wise men saw the baby Jesus6. Santa’s belly shakes like a bowl full of this when he laughs9. Hooked peppermint stick10. You get a kiss underneath it!12. Eight-day long holiday celebrating the Maccabees victory over King Antiochus14. These are set off to celebrate the New Year16. Holiday honoring African heritage, cel-ebrated on December 26th17. Famous cartoon snowman20. Creamy drink made with whipped eggs and rum

Take a Break! - Holiday Crossword PuzzleWhen your brain is exhausted from memorizing biology notecards, take a break to solve these holiday clues.

BOOZY WHITE-PEPPERMINT HOT CHOCOLATE

Ingredients:½ cup white chocolate chips2.5 cups milk ½ ounce Bourbon (or Kahlua if you’re not really serious about a lit holiday) Whipped cream (topping)2-3 drops peppermint extract

Directions: In a saucepan over low-medium heat, melt the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the milk, whisking often (about 3 minutes).Once melted, add the rest of the milk, the peppermint extract and stir.Pour a small amount of the hot chocolate into two serving glasses, add one-half ounce of bourbon (or Kahlua). Top off with the rest of the hot chocolate, stir, and then top with whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle for double the chocolate.

HOLIDAY MOSCOW MULE

Ingredients: 2 ounces vodka4 ounces ginger beer2 ounces cranberry juice1/8 cup frozen cranberriescopper mugbit of lime juice

Directions: Add 6 or 7 ice cubes and the frozen cranberries to a copper mug (note: you are not making a moscow mule unless it is in a copper mug).Pour in vodka, ginger beer, squeeze of lime and the cranberry juice. Stir two or three times. Chug.

NON ALCOHOLIC - CRANBERRY APPLE CIDER PUNCH

Ingredients: 4 cups apple cider, chilled2 cups cranberry juice cocktail, chilled2 cups ginger ale, chilled1 can (12oz.) frozen orange juice concentratefrozen cranberriesorange slices for garnish

Directions: Combine cider, juice, and orange juice con-centrate. Refrigerate until serving time.Just before serving, pour punch into punch bowl and add chilled ginger ale. Garnish with frozen cranberries, & orange slices.

If you complete this cross-word, come visit us on Monday (12/14) and get a little goody at the Libertas office (top floor of Union on the far wall, middle office)!

Parent

GREAT GIFTSGrandma

Little Brother

Aunt Margaret Davidson Unicorn

Exchange Student

Coasters

All 2,700 printed out pages of the Terms

and Conditions of the iPhone 6s

A et

L er

xc den

Two-Person Sweater

There’s even a hole at the bottom so you

can hold hands!

Professor

How do you say “mahogany” in German?

Page 937 is my favorite

Dog

This babyNow try not to fuck this one up

Lady Gaga WigFor when she takes off her other one after too

much eggonog

These HandsWho’s a good boy??

Is it you?? Is it YOU? B+ Paper

“Best essay I’ve ever read!”

Working PenJust sign the divorce

papers, Maggie

ON A BUDGET

Libertas Naughty & Nice PicksAlyssa Glover

Holiday Songs For Every Occasion

Whether you’re planning a holiday rager or trying to move the party from under the mistletoe and into the bedroom, these songs are guaranteed to get you on the naughty list.

Naughty

1. “Ludachristmas,” Ludacris

2. “Ice Ice Baby (Too Cold For Christmas Mix),” Vanilla Ice

3. “The Mistletoe Jam,” Luther Vandross

4. “Fa La La feat. Boyz II Men,” Justin Bieber

5. “Santa Baby,” Eartha Kitt

NiceFor some clean, family-friendly holiday fun, these con-temporary holiday hits are sure to get the party started.

1. “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” Darlene Love

2. “Sleigh Ride,” The Ronettes

3. “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays,” *NSYNC

4. “Step into Christmas,” Elton John

5. “Underneath the Tree,” Kelly Clarkson

Stress-Relief Coloring Grab some crayons and

color away that stress!

find exclusive naughty & nice playlists on our spotify

play.spotify.com/user/libertasdavidson

EDITORIAL“My New Year’s resolution is. . .”

Alyssa GloverEditor-in-Chief

...to go on a date with Lee Burtas.

Samantha GowingEditor-in-Chief

...to beat Alyssa’s record of most likes on an Instagram picture

(@samannthajames).

Quinn Massengill...not to have 2,256 unread

emails in his inbox this time next year.

Claire Heartfield...to grow four inches

and/or join a frat.Mila Loneman

...to spell-check the entire Oxford English

Dictionary.

Madison Santos

...to pet every dog.

Cordelia Wilks...to stage a coup while Samantha is abroad and publish an entire dog-

themed issue.

Letter from Your EditorsAt the conclusion of an exciting semester for Libertas, we’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to and supported our publication. A huge shout-out to our amazing staff, who has put up with us for hours at a time (even on the days we prom-ised they could leave early). Special thanks to Dr. Zoran Kuzmanovich, our faculty advisor. And to all of our readers, we hope you’ve enjoyed this semester of Libertas as much as we have. Warm wishes to you as you finish your finals.

Happy Holidays,Samantha & Alyssa

Editors-in-Chief