Hello everyone! Yes, I know that I just finished with one very long story, that I had trouble even posting at times - so what would possess me to do another one? Well, because Christmas is right around the corner:) I promise, though, this one isn't a fraction as long as the other one, and I do intend on posting the entire story prior to Christmas:)

Obviously, from the title, this is a play off of a Christmas Classic, customized for the Dukes, and with a couple of slight variations. I hope it's not too confusing to follow, and I'll try to include any clarifying notes where I think they're needed. It's a little different for me, too, in that, in really focuses more on Luke. Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoy, and if anyone does have any questions, just let me know. As always, feedback and comments are appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes, or the Classic "A Christmas Carol", and no infringements intended.

A DUKE'S CHRISTMAS CAROL

CHAPTER 1

BELTS AND BOOTS

"Huh?"

"I said, Luke, what do you want for Christmas?"

"I dunno know," Luke shrugged. "What do you want?"

"Nothing much, just the usual. Pretty gal, a car of our own, a million bucks," the young blonde giggled.

"Bo!"

"Too much, huh? Well then, I guess I could always use some new boots, or a new belt."

"I'm being serious, Bo. What do you really want for Christmas this year?"

"So was I, Luke. What do you really want?"

Bantering forgotten for the moment, regal cerulean eyes looked into royal navy blue ones, and both understood the significance of the seemingly simplistic question. The answer, being the same for both Duke cousins, could only come from one of them. Luke Duke could see how badly his baby cousin wanted this one thing more than any other before. Not always having the financial means to provide the most elaborate of purchased gifts, the Dukes had always tried to bestow upon the others that which they knew their kin wanted most. This endowment shouldn't have been any different. It wasn't, in most of the ways that really mattered. It didn't cost one red cent, and in fact, could not be purchased with all the wealth in the world. So Luke knew that Bo believed it was a matter of Luke not wanting to grant this wish, and that was just not true. Luke wanted it as much as Bo did, probably more, but this Christmas he wasn't going to be able to give either of them what they really desired, and he was beginning to doubt that he ever would.

Tearing his eyes away from Bo's, Luke glanced around the town square. Shop windows and street posts were decked out for the season. The square was busy, but not as bustling as it would be in the upcoming, final days before Christmas as last minute shoppers zipped about, selecting merchandise that their own procrastination had delayed. Holiday carols could be heard, compliments of recordings, which live carolers would replace in those same final days. This was a sight that all of the Duke children knew and loved.

Almost every year, Luke and his cousins had been a part of the group that would serenade shoppers into spending their last dime to boost Boss Hogg's economy. Rewarded for their efforts by some overly sentimental holiday worshiper, they, too, would run down the streets to spend any unexpected monetary show of appreciation for their crooning skills, hurrying to beat the earlier closing hours, and splurging on items that may have been thought of, but never planned on. It was the one time of year that any extra money was never spent on themselves, only on those they loved. While the cousins didn't know if they always agreed that giving was always better than getting on Christmas morning, when they were small, in those days beforehand, giving was the order of business. Except for this year. Oh, the intent and the desire were still there, but something was amiss, and it was no one's fault but Luke's.

Being bumped in the arm by a shopper's package, Luke watched Jenny Sue as she called a 'sorry' over her shoulder, promising to catch the boys later. Both cousins had eyes for the pretty ladies, and they had eyes for both boys, so a Duke male watching a pretty girl pass by wasn't out of the ordinary. Luke, however, wasn't looking at Jenny Sue. He was looking at the box that she had bumped him with, and thinking that if only it were that easy. If only he could stuff what everyone in his family wanted into a box and top it with a bow.

When a big, fat, cold rain drop landed on his nose, Luke Duke was reminded how easily his own mind wandered those days. Taking in a deep breath, he turned back toward Bo.

"Best get going. Uncle Jesse will be wondering where we are, and that," he said, swiping another rain drop from his forehead and shivering from the unusually cold blast of air that assaulted him, "could just turn to ice."

"Little ice never stopped us before. Remember when we used to go skating?"

"Yeah, but not with Jesse's truck."

"Good point. You drive," the blonde chuckled, crawling into the cab.

"Sure. Let me get blamed if we slide off the road and wreck Uncle Jesse's truck," Luke rebuked.

"Yep, that's kind of what I was thinking," the blonde again snickered.

Turning serious before the elder cousin started the ignition, Bo looked to the sky then looked at Luke. "You think we should do our shopping now? We only got three days til Christmas, and I know we was all planning on coming back tomorrow or the next day, but what if this turns bad and we can't make it back? I haven't gotten nothing for you yet."

Luke couldn't help but smile at his cousin's wide eyed innocence. "You haven't?" Luke chided. Seeing his cousin's discomfort following his confession, Luke gave out a hearty laugh.

"No, I haven't cause you won't tell me what you want," Bo exclaimed in a defensive tone.

Softening his expression, Luke turned toward the boy and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just kidding, Bo." Seeing the blonde's half hearted acceptance of the peace offering by the slight shrug and nod, Luke gave the shoulder a squeeze. "Don't worry about it. We'll get back to town, if not tomorrow, than the next day. Even if this does turn bad, it never lasts too long. Besides, Daisy's waiting for this stuff so she can start baking cookies, and if we're late, she'll kill us."

Nodding, but still needing reassurance, Bo asked again. "But you sure we'll make it back?"

"I'm sure. We have to. That's all there is to it."

"Why?" Bo quizzed, surprised by his cousin's determination that they simply had to return.

"Cause I haven't gotten anything for you yet, either," Luke smirked as his cousin's mouth opened wide. "Well, you won't tell me what you want either."

"I did too."

"Yeah, yeah, a few minutes ago. Boots and a belt," Luke mocked, but as satin eyes stared into velvet ones, both were reminded that footwear and beltware was not what either of the boys really wanted that year. Shifting from his own discomfort, Luke turned the ignition. "Got it," he announced. "Boots and a belt," he repeated.

Easing out into Hazzard's excuse for traffic, Luke circled the square which would put him on a direct course for home. Except for a short period of time before the death of his parents, that's what Luke Duke had always called the little farmhouse on Pond Mill Road. He may not have always been there in body, but it had always been with him where ever he had gone. He knew every nook and cranny of the old house, having etched some of his own markings into the worn wood. He knew every inch of land within their property boundaries, too, but most of all, he knew the people that lived in that house, and they knew him. At least they had, but that was a lifetime ago.

Luke knew that they thought they still knew him, wanted to know him, but he didn't know himself anymore. He'd fought so hard, ran so fast to get back to them, back to that home, all the time he had been away, only to discover that he didn't know what, or where, home was anymore. With each passing day, he wondered if he ever would again.

Making the final turn before the road would remain straight for a stretch, Luke took one last look at the focal point of the town. He thought about how the conditions around the town's center point could change, but that it never really did, and he wished people, mainly himself, were more like the trees. The environment surrounding them might change, but they were immune to most of the elements, bending and flexible, unless something so forceful came along that it would completely destroy it. That's how Luke felt, like a an old tree finally damaged beyond repair, where only the chain saws would be a blessing in disguise, leaving room for a new tree to be planted and to take root.

Engulfed by the gray and wet images of a winter's day, Luke remembered just how different Hazzard's center could look depending on the circumstances, and a person's own perception.