The first crackle of wrapping paper,
The soft whisper of breath against frosted glass,
A sudden knock—unexpected, warm.
Outside, the streetlight hums a distant song,
A quiet symphony of distant footsteps
and the rhythm of snow, settling in stillness.

The faint jingle of sleigh bells,
carried by the wind, brushing past
the voices of strangers weaving through the night.
Inside, laughter hovers, thick and gentle—
a fire crackles, wood splitting in the hearth,
its hiss a companion to the silence that follows.

Each sound is part of a moment,
one after another, fleeting and eternal.
The world outside swells with life,
but here, in this room, the sounds fold
into a quiet lullaby we only half-hear.