Closer and Closer(Secret Santa for mysterysneeze)

[Sneezingnonstop]

Hi there @mysterysneeze sorry you had to wait so long for this, but hopefully you still enjoy it along with everyone else who reads this!! Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New Year!

Title:Closer and Closer

"Merry Christmas!!" 
     Serena jumped up as she heard just outside the front door a dozen Christmas carolers shouted at the front step as her friend Jeremy had opened the door. Serena had gone over to her other friend's house for the Christmas break that their college was on, and they were having a Christmas gift exchange party at their sorority house. Julie had offered to let Serena stay with the sorority over the break since Serena's parents had taken a trip to Hawaii with her grandparents. They had invited her as well, but Serena had thought it would be best if she spent the holidays on campus if she could, especially since she was worried about the next semester starting up going into the second semester of her second year of college. Serena was working towards an electrical engineering major. She had chosen it originally because she was good with her hands and she liked working with machines.

     Serena heard the carolers singing Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer just outside the house as everyone else within the sorority was snacking, chatting, and drinking a few drinks a little more irresponsibly than they should have. Serena wasn't a huge fan of the party itself, but she figured it would be better to spend time with everyone instead of being cramped in the guest room trying to sleep through all of this. She had some social anxiety, but nobody had decided to play beer pong or start screaming yet so she figured she'd be alright. She had chosen to wear a slimming blue dress that hugged her figure, her brown hair up in a ponytail. It was a little formal for the nature of the party, but she felt a little more at ease with it on.

     The door finally closed as the carolers had finished singing and the sorority became a little warmer again as the seconds passed. Julie came up to Serena after she finished talking to some of her other friends. She had short blonde hair and was wearing jeans and a decorated 'ugly Christmas sweater'. 
She smiled and offered Serena a glass of eggnog. "Enjoying yourself sweetie?"
Serena shrugged. "I-I guess so…quite a few people here."
Julie pushed the eggnog into Serena's delicate hands. "Don't worry about it, this is strictly a friendly Christmas gift exchange party. No one is gonna be making out like it's the last night of earth."
As if timed, Serena noticed one of the guys who was on the football team making out with his girlfriend, or a girl he was being very very close to, kissing and touching her on the couch in the room adjacent Serena. Julie noticed this as well and shrugged. 
"Whelp, no one will be trying to hook up with you. I know that's how you are."
"Thanks Julie." Serena said shyly, sipping at the eggnog.
"THE TREE IS HERE!!"
     Serena jumped up a little as she heard someone shout out, everyone turning their heads to the front door of the sorority house. She looked around the corner to the front door and saw two guys hauling a Christmas tree on their backs, grinning mad as their boots tracked in a little bit of excess snow. They moved past people as they made a pathway for the tree, everyone clapping with glee as some festive cheer seemed to fill the building. The two guys walked past Serena and into the main room where a space had been cleared, the powerful fragrance of the tree filling Serena's nostrils. She sniffle immediately after, and rubbed her nose furiously. There seemed to be a growing itch, Serena wasn't aware that she was allergic to anything, but she suddenly felt the sudden urge to sneeze. She walked to the other side of the building to where the bathroom was, massaging her nose delicately. Serena blinked and wondered if she had simply imagined it. No…she had certainly felt the need to sneeze a moment ago. She walked back to the room where she saw a small group of people already starting to decorate the tree. 
     The strong Christmas tree smell her nose hairs again and she found herself breathing in and exhaling out deeply, her nostrils flaring with tremendous affect. The hills of her chest rose and fell as she waved her face lightly, trying to expel the irritation. Serena's nostrils flared even more until she knew that she was going to sneeze and there likely wasn't anything she could do about it.
"HIH-HIH-HIH-HIIIIIEEEESSSHHHHUUUU!!!!!!"
     Serena sneezed strongly, but not unexpectedly, as her body tipped forward from the force. She came back, blinking the tears out of her eyes as she felt the surprise rise and fall in her chest along with her breath. 
"Serena? Was that you?"
Serena whirled around to see Julie peeking around the corner, eyes wide with her own surprise.
"Yeah," Serena sniffled "My nose just got really itchy for a moment."
"Alright. We're starting the gift exchange now, so come on and join us."

       "Yeah sure." Serena said, rubbing her nose as she walked with Julie to see where they were setting up. She then saw that they were setting the chairs around the tree in a large circle with all of the gathered gifts in the center, the decoration group putting on a glowing set of Christmas lights up. With the seats all being in the same room as the Christmas tree, Serena choose the chair farthest from the tree, hoping that the tree's scent wouldn't bother her as much with the distance between her and the tree. Serena was wrong. Even though she was on the other side of the room, she could still feel the tingling smell reaching into the corners of her widening nostrils.

      "Alright everyone, let's get started!" Julie shouted mildly loud. Everyone took their seats, as Serena kept rubbing her nose. People cheered, causing Serena to cower a little between the two people seated next to her, who both were for some reason the most excited about this gift exchange. Julie decided they would start with her, and move counter-clockwise. Serena was vaguely aware of how the exchange had started, but she kept trying to focus on not sneezing again. Tears built up in her eyes bit by bit and her nostrils flared more and more. She kept rubbing her nose as people moved along the circle opening gifts. Eventually Jeremy, one of the guys sitting next to her, leaned a closer.

"You okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fuuuhhhh-hiiihhhh-fine."
"You don't seem fine."
Serena sniffled again, her nose bright red at this point. "I think it's the Christmas tree, just really bu-Huh-Huh-bugging my nose."
"Ah. You going to be alright?"
"Yeah…HEeehhhh…HHAAAAAATTTTTTJJJJJUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!"
Everyone around in the circle flinched at Serena's sudden sneeze, much louder than anyone expected. Serena flushed rapidly as she kept her hands over her nose, meekly saying: "Sorry."
Jeremy looked at Serena with suspicion. "You sure?"
"Y-y-yeah…so long as I don't get closer to that darned t-tree…"
"Hey Serena!"

       Serena flinched a little at the call of her name, and then saw that the group of college students decorating the tree looking at her now.
"You're an electrical engineering major right? Think you could help us with the lights? They went out for some reason."
No. No. No no no no no no no. Serena felt panicked from the sudden attention and the fact that she would have to go even closer to the tree. But they weren't lying, the tree's lights were no longer lit in the slightest. She got out of her chair slowly, saying that she'd look at it as she approached the tree, her nose twitching each step of the way. It almost seemed like she was walking to the edge of a plank on a pirates ship, except at the end of this piece of wood there were spiny branches and a strong scent, pushing her closer and closer to the edge of another enormous sneeze.

     The gift exchange continued, people stealing gifts from each other and picking out new ones, as Serena looked at the individual light bulbs, trying to see what was wrong. She followed the cord farther along the tree, eventually trailing it down to the bottom of the Christmas tree. She got on her hands and knees, the trees thistle like leaves brushing against her nose if the smell wasn't enough. She felt the urge to sneeze grow like a burp slowly rising through the stomach, only for Serena, it was a prickly and itchy feeling welling up in her nose. She wanted tabloid this tree at all costs, so she kept looking to see what the problem was. She finally found it, but it was too late.

''HAAHH-HAAAH-HAAAAATTTTSSSSHHH!!!! HIHIH-HIIIIIIUUUCCCKKKK-TTCCCCHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!"
Serena let loose two tremendous sneezes, her knees giving out as she now sat on the floor in front of the tree.
"HAAAAAATTTTTTSSSSHHOOOOO!!!!! HAAAAAATTTTTTSSSSHHOOOOO!!!!!
 HAAAAAATTTTTTSSSSHHOOOOO!!!!! HAAAAAATTTTTTSSSSHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

       Serena finally felt the sneezes die out for now, so she quickly got up on her feet, holding her hands over her enflamed nose.
Everyone was looking at her. There was complete silence for a moment, each second seeming like hours for Serena. 
"Damn." One of the tree decorators finally said. "That's one heck of a sneeze you've got."
"Y-yeah…sorry." Serena bent back down and picked up the end of the cord. "And there's no problem, someone must've accidentally pulled this out of the wall."
She bent back down and plugged it back in, and the tree lit back up with the traditional holiday red and green colors, everyone clapping for the easy fix. Serena smiled shyly, nervously playing with her hands as she left the room in search of a tissue box, satisfied with one she found in the next room over that had Christmas trees drawn on it.

THE END

Edited January 3, 2017 by Sneezingnonstop

[NoV]

12 hours ago, Sneezingnonstop said:

Serena let loose two tremendous sneezes, her knees giving out as she now sat on the floor in front of the tree.

Wow - just idea of a sneeze being so all-consuming that her knees can no longer support her is incredible  Also love your description of the final fit building up inside of her...  

[mysterysneeze]

First I want to say thank you so much for taking time to write this! I was surprised and glad about what you wrote about. It feels like the holidays and there's an innocence about this that makes the entire thing not just enjoyable from a sneeze-loving perspective, but as a short sweet winter holiday story. I love how not just the main character Serena, but each side character has a different and believable personality. I think my favorite side character is Jeremy. He seemed to be the most aware out of all of them. Julie's dialogue was a lot of fun to read though XD

The main character is adorable!  Her social anxiety is something I can relate to personally and her shyness was written pretty well ^^ I like how you described her physically. Her outfit and hair style she did seems both pretty and cute for the occasion =)

The sneezing itself was a blast to read. I enjoyed the cause of her sneeze and you spelled out the sneezes in great ways! It really showed her strong sounding sneezes. Great descriptions of the nose and nostrils too.

13 hours ago, Sneezingnonstop said:

Serena choose the chair farthest from the tree, hoping that the tree's scent wouldn't bother her as much with the distance between her and the tree. Serena was wrong. Even though she was on the other side of the room, she could still feel the tingling smell reaching into the corners of her widening nostrils.

 

This here was awesome! She realized and even felt that she wasn't done with her itchy nose.

Seriously, I really enjoyed this gift! Thank you for taking the time to do it ^^ I don't mind it was so close to the deadline. You did it and that's what matters =) 

[Sneezingnonstop]

1 hour ago, mysterysneeze said:

First I want to say thank you so much for taking time to write this! I was surprised and glad about what you wrote about. It feels like the holidays and there's an innocence about this that makes the entire thing not just enjoyable from a sneeze-loving perspective, but as a short sweet winter holiday story. I love how not just the main character Serena, but each side character has a different and believable personality. I think my favorite side character is Jeremy. He seemed to be the most aware out of all of them. Julie's dialogue was a lot of fun to read though XD

The main character is adorable!  Her social anxiety is something I can relate to personally and her shyness was written pretty well ^^ I like how you described her physically. Her outfit and hair style she did seems both pretty and cute for the occasion =)

The sneezing itself was a blast to read. I enjoyed the cause of her sneeze and you spelled out the sneezes in great ways! It really showed her strong sounding sneezes. Great descriptions of the nose and nostrils too.

This here was awesome! She realized and even felt that she wasn't done with her itchy nose.

Seriously, I really enjoyed this gift! Thank you for taking the time to do it ^^ I don't mind it was so close to the deadline. You did it and that's what matters =) 

I'm so glad that you enjoyed it!!! I was worried of whether or not what I had planned was what you'd asked for for the secret santa. Definitely toyed with the idea of doing a FanFiction with the fandoms you suggested, but overall I decided to go with an original story. So glad you liked it and hope you had a great Christmas and New Years!

 

1 hour ago, NoV said:

Wow - just idea of a sneeze being so all-consuming that her knees can no longer support her is incredible  Also love your description of the final fit building up inside of her...  

Thank you so much!!

[Pollensneezes]

Haha I was thinking of writing something like this! Hahaha but you definitely did it better?