[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-114004-en":3,"doc-seo-114004-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":11,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":20,"language":21,"language_code":22,"site_id":23,"html_lang":22,"table_of_contents":24,"faqs":25,"seo_title":26,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},114004,687197100911,"Himbo","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/a000239b6f1da00475?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1785132997149421697",1,"Story & Novel","Strays of Christmas - Natalie McKearin","A teen tries to survive the first Thanksgiving in a new Chicago home, where holiday traditions feel forced and her room is stripped to “essentials only.” While she builds a reluctant Spotify playlist, her phone glitches and memories of her old safe bedroom in Michigan intensify. At dinner prep, she struggles with the tension around her mother’s overwork, yet finds herself using her instinctive ability to identify spices in the stuffing, searching for comfort amid change and grief.","[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nFor anyone learning that grief and joy are not  \nmutually exclusive  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nTitle Page Dedication Chapter One  \nChapter Two  \nChapter Three  \nChapter Four  \nChapter Five  \nChapter Six  \nChapter Seven  \nChapter Eight  \nChapter Nine  \nChapter Ten  \nChapter Eleven  \nChapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen  \nChapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen  \nChapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen  \nChapter Nineteen Acknowledgments Copyright  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nThanksgiving Playlist:  \n1. I Want to Thank You (Otis Redding)  \n2. Give Thanks & Praises (Bob Marley & The Wailers)  \n3. I’ve Got Plenty to Be Thankful for (Bing Crosby)  \n4. Gratitude (Earth, Wind & Fire)  \n5. The Thanksgiving Song (Adam Sandler)  \n6. Family Affair (Sly & the Family Stone)  \n7. thank u, next (Ariana Grande)  \n8. Thanksgiving Song (Mary Chapin Carpenter)  \n9. Stretchy Pants (Carrie Underwood)  \n10. Turkey Chase (Bob Dylan)  \nShockingly enough, there are Thanksgiving songs. Not in the same way there are Christmas songs—people don’t necessarily break out into the chorus of Bob Dylan’s “Turkey Chase” on command, but Thanksgiving songs exist, nevertheless.  \nI know this because I’ve been given the unfortunate task of putting together this year ’s Thanksgiving playlist—a job that, quite frankly, makes me unbearably itchy. I hate the holidays with a passion that makes Ebenezer Scrooge seem approachable. But it was this or peel potatoes, and I still have battle wounds from last year ’s Great Potato Peeling Incident. So, playlist it is.  \nI sigh as I sit on my hand-me-down trundle and reluctantly add one festive song after the next to a new Spotify playlist. I don’t understand why Mom is making such a big deal out of this. She’s made three test turkeys, dusted off the nice silverware, and even managed to coerce Nick into making the stuffing, all because it’s the first Thanksgiving in our new house. And really, who cares? It doesn’t change everything else that’s happened.  \nI select “Turkey Chase,” and as I click Add to Playlist, my phone starts glitching. I can’t help but smirk. Even the phone isn’t having this. I can almost hear it asking, Are you sure? This doesn’t really seem like your taste. Which is ironic because my tastes are actually wide and varied—I can just as easily jam out to Drake as I can the Beatles. It’s not uncommon for my playlists to feature Beyoncé alongside the Carpenters or Tina Turner followed by Lorde. There’s a song for every mood and a mood for every song—that’s what my dad always said, and he always knew how to pick just the right one. I wonder, for a moment, if there are anti-holiday songs.  \nAnti-holiday is my big mood.  \nBy the time I add my tenth song, I’ve reached my limit. I need to take a break if I stand any chance at keeping my dinner down. I look up from my phone for what feels like the first time in days and spot my speaker on top of my nightstand—one of the only things I’ve unpacked since we moved in four months ago.  \nI glance around the room—I won’t call it mine because it absolutely isn’t. The stark, undecorated white walls and sparsely furnished space look nothing like my real bedroom—the one back in Michigan. The one that Cara and I spent hours decorating with homemade pillow covers and picture collages and posters of our favorite bands. The one with the shelf full of basketball trophies and the twinkly string lights and an old DVD player that Cara and Sophie and the other girls from our team would use to bingewatch 2000s rom-coms. Where we stayed up all night hoarding the good snacks before Nick could find them. That room was my haven—my safe space. My gathering spot.  \nThis room is not. And it will never be. Aside from the dusty rosecolored trundle (which I didn’t even want to set up—I told Mom I’d rather sleep on my mattress on the floor), there are no traces of my warm and cozy space back home.  \nAnd it’s completely intentional.  \nThe rule is essent","cbCairTlwhskJuw5","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairTlwhskJuw5","pdf",2531081,187,"English","en",105,"# Thanksgiving Playlist\n## Essentials-only new home\n## Music, mood, and anti-holiday feelings\n# Dinner Preparation\n## Stuffing spices and family tension\n## Shared memories and coping","[{\"question\":\"Why does the narrator feel unhappy about Thanksgiving in the new house?\",\"answer\":\"She considers the holidays dreadful and feels the move has erased the comfort of her old bedroom and routines. Thanksgiving feels like one more demand layered on top of an already hard change.\"},{\"question\":\"What happens when the narrator starts building her Thanksgiving playlist?\",\"answer\":\"She adds songs one by one, but her phone glitches as she selects “Turkey Chase,” as if it questions her choice or her taste.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the narrator connect with the family during dinner preparation?\",\"answer\":\"While helping with or observing the stuffing, she uses her skill to identify spices by smell, and her mother corrects her by pointing out rosemary.\"}]","Strays of Christmas - Natalie McKearin | PDF",1785397394,288,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":23,"language":22,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":27},"strays-of-christmas-natalie-mckearin","",{"@graph":35,"@context":85},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/strays-of-christmas-natalie-mckearin/114004/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":22,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-04","2026-07-30",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":11},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Why does the narrator feel unhappy about Thanksgiving in the new house?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"She considers the holidays dreadful and feels the move has erased the comfort of her old bedroom and routines. 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