I really love the mixture of joy and extreme sadness in this story. You do so well in focusing on the small details for us, which help bring out the emotions. With his parents, he remembers the taste of the stuffed turkey; he doesn't actually give any remembrances of his parents, because that hurts too much. He would rather remember the fact that he at least killed the ones who killed his parents. Then for the orphanage, he remembers the gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate, which were such a treat since usually the caregiver was so unkind. Of course, he can't help remembering young Harry's duplicity, acting like an angel toward the caregiver just to get the cookies when actually he hated the caregiver. Then there were the Christmas carols and eggnog with the gang, cut short by yet another thug. And of course, most importantly, Maria. A Yule log cake, a gift he couldn't return, though he did his best.

You give us all these beautiful little details, and really, the beauty of Christmas often is in the details, the tiny, unimportant things that are the most special to us. But of course, for Brandon, that's all been cruelly taken away. He has nothing left to celebrate on Christmas. Now, it's just another opportunity to work towards being able to protect those he needs to protect and avenge those he needs to avenge. So sad.

SPAG:
- The caregiver always snap at - or even beat - the kids there..." - I think you meant to say "always snapped at," or possibly, "would always snap at..."

Well done! I really loved this story.