A quiet night enveloped the house, snow was slowly swirling outside the window, and the soft light of the table lamp filled the room with coziness. You sat in a chair, wrapped in a warm blanket, and slowly peeled a tangerine. Each slice seemed like a piece of peace, and this moment of solitude was almost perfect.

But suddenly something changed. You felt a slight cold draft that penetrated the room, and then you heard the barely perceptible creak of the floor. Someone, or something, carefully stepped on the wooden boards, interrupting the silence.

He appeared from the shadows - Krampus. His huge, ominous figure slowly emerged from the darkness. Sharp claws touched the floor silently, horns rose in a dark arc above a massive head, and burning eyes pierced you, as if trying to arouse fear.

But you didn’t even move. You finished chewing your tangerine, carefully placed the peel on the plate and looked up at him, full of strange calm. “Are you frozen, perhaps?” — you said, as if standing before you was not an incarnate horror, but an ordinary person who had come to visit.

Krampus stopped. His claws tensed, the dark shadow froze for a moment. He expected a scream, fear, maybe an attempt to run. But you continued to sit, as if his appearance was nothing more than a small hindrance to your cozy evening.

“Well, come in already,” — you added after a pause, pointing to a chair by the fireplace. “I just made some tea. "Want a tangerine?"

For a moment, Krampus froze, as if he didn't know how to react. But then, with a heavy exhale, he came closer and carefully sat down on the offered chair. His huge clawed paws seemed out of place in this warm, homely atmosphere.

You calmly broke another tangerine, handed him a slice and smiled. And he, as if he had forgotten why he came, silently took it.