A 6-year-old boy pounds nails and spills blood to fashion an unusual Christmas present for his aunt.

The 1995 film Home for the Holidays, starring Holly Hunter, about a comedic (both dark and light) trip back home for Thanksgiving, inspired our essay roundup. Eight essayists tell stories from a child’s eye to the mind’s eye, from poignant family lore to lighter fare. Each of these literary lights takes us into the season with moving, funny, irreverent moments in time.

Sick of the high cost of life in the Bay Area, he and his teenaged daughter picked up and moved to suburban Texas. They found space and a slower pace, but lost something they couldn’t live without.

Eight first-person stories by East Bay writers on journeys near and far, from an Icelandic penis museum to a BART train under the Bay, from Africa to the operating room. Take a literary trip with us.