It was the start of the Christmas season and as the Woods family were driving around looking for the newest display of neighborhood Christmas lights, they began to notice a decrease in the amount of lights on surrounding houses. This year wasn't like years past; there was a darkened atmosphere. People weren't happily greeting each other on the streets, shop keepers didn't have their usual Christmas spirit, and even children seemed to feel the presence of tension flowing in the air. It's the season when caring and spreading joy are in full swing.

This Christmas season, however, things were different.

Jack Frost was not the only thing nipping at the noses of shoppers as they ran for their last minute gifts. It seemed as if everyone was walking with their heads down and hands in their pockets as they stick with their gift lists. Little to no sleigh bells were ringing and not one area of giving could be found. It seemed as though America was on the brink of war and in order to survive, it is every man and woman for themselves. The holiday cheer that comes with the season is nonexistent- something is destroying the feelings of togetherness and cheer. This holiday season, it seems as though the feelings of the season are completely lost and one can only hope the year new rings in a better sense of holiday cheer.

But the New Year only rings in a new sense of anguish and despair. It seems as though the cloud that hovered over holiday shoppers has evolved into a fear and sense of mistrust amongst even the greatest of friends. What began as a hopeful 2016 amounted to a depressing 2017. The New Year was not rung in with just fireworks and the banging of pots and pans, but a new countdown. A countdown that would divide a nation and start the world anew. A countdown to another day where history would be made.

A countdown that left the nation and its people guessing as to what 2017 would bring.