Christmas Together

 

As autumn turned into winter, each day became a lot colder and the dark nights drew in sooner in the Emerald Forest. It would soon be Christmas. For many of the villagers in Kiki Lane over the past few years, they had always spent Christmas alone, with no-one to celebrate with. This year, however, was different. They all had each other to spend the day with and wanted to make this first Christmas together special, one that they would remember forever.

It was early as Hattie stood by the reception area window, thoughts rushing through her mind about how to decorate the inn and Library. Everyone had decided these were the important places to decorate, the places where they would all spend Christmas Day together. A few days before, she had made the journey to Claymont City with Ruby to purchase decorations for Kiki Lane. They had spent hours marvelling over the lit up streets and shop window displays. By the Castle’s large Christmas tree were carol singers. There were rabbits and cats, pandas and lions alongside many other creatures, all being led by a pink-haired fairy. Ruby had tried her hardest to see if she recognised the pink fairy but he crowd was too large and Hattie was already pulling her in the direction of the next store. With little money to work with, they had focused on buying the simple necessities for the village but still spent hours looking at everything the city had to offer.

In the library, Kiki gazed out of her bedroom window and looked over Kiki Lane, reminiscing about the past. When the village had been full of fairy families, everyone helped to decorate for Christmas, starting at the beginning of December. As the village was surrounded by trees, many households decided not to have a Christmas tree inside their own homes. Instead, they decorated with foliage, lights, ribbon and baubles, often handmade, to match their own tastes and homes. When Kiki was younger, she and her family would often make decorations with pages from books which had fallen apart, a fond memory for a book-lover.

A few days later, a group of volunteers would head to look for a fir tree in the northern part of the Emerald Forest to sit inside the Great Tree Library. It always made her laugh that they would find a tree to put inside another tree, but the Christmas tree always looked so magical placed in the library with the staircase winding behind it that it was always worth it. It was always Kiki’s favourite part of the Christmas decorations, and something she looked forward to every year.

It would often take a few weeks for the volunteers to arrive back with that year’s Christmas tree and then the festivities would begin. Everyone would take a few days off to decorate the village and it was one of the biggest celebrations of the year. The mushroom fairies would cook the village meals and make hot chocolate; music fairies would play their instruments and sing carols; and the artistic fairies would guide others to make decorations. Another large group of fairies would be tasked with hanging the lights around the village, between buildings and on the trees in the market square. There was often a mixture of string lights and lanterns to create a magical twinkling village. The final group were in charge of decorating the Library and the large Christmas tree, and collecting the handmade decorations to place onto it; a job Kiki had only dreamed of having.

The final look was always so beautiful and made the village feel even more magical. With the fairy village tradition of decorating near the middle of December, Kiki Lane had decided to wait until December 12th to decorate, and that day had finally come. Everyone was taking the day off just to decorate. Kiki knew it would look different this year as they were not decorating the entire village, but she was still looking forward to it. The last few years she had spent Christmas at the Library on her own and she hadn’t felt like decorating. The Library had been too much of a mess, and she was too busy. This year, it would be nice to have people with her, and a large tree beside the tall bookshelves once more.

At breakfast, the room was abuzz with chatter and anticipation. Everyone was looking forward to decorating, if you listened closely, you could even hear Prickles humming quietly in excitement. On their way back from the city, Hattie and Ruby had also picked out a tree and carried it home in Ruby’s magic purse. It had been lying on the floor in the library since they had returned and the sight of it had lifted everyone’s spirits. It was definitely not as large as the trees the fairy volunteers  had picked all those year ago, but it was definitely big enough. In fact, it was as large as two creatures could handle and they were lucky Ruby had emptied most of her purse before they had set off as if the tree had been any larger, it wouldn’t have fitted inside her purse, and they would have struggled to get it back to the village.

After everyone had finished their meal, the inn kitchen became very crowded. With everyone eager to start, they had all piled in to get the tidying and washing up completed instead of leaving it all to Piccolo and Ruby. Twenty minutes later everything was done and bubbles were everywhere. With nearly everyone accidentally adding soap into the sink, the bubbles had quickly accumulated and as each creature helped out, the bubbles quickly migrated onto everyone. Thankfully, nobody became stressed, it simply made everyone laugh - a funny and joyful way to start the day.

A couple of minutes later, a loud knock on the door of the inn was heard, and Maya and Oscar entered. Still living by the river, they didn’t join for many of the village meals but were eager to help with the Christmas decorations after being invited by Kiki. With everyone gathered together, the group congregated in the dining area once again. Climbing on top of one of the highest stools, Hattie cleared her throat before explaining the plan. A few days before, with everyone slightly unsure how they wanted to decorate, they had all agreed that Hattie would be in charge of the decorations due to her keen eye and expertise with interior decorations. Everybody who had seen the inn’s progression understood how good the little dog was with decorating and couldn’t wait to hear her plans for Christmas.

To begin, Kiki, Ruby and Maya were tasked with placing the tree in the right place in the library and hanging the string lights on it. With experience, good teamwork,  and the ability to fly Hattie knew they were the right creatures for the task. In the meantime, everyone else would begin by gathering items from the forest floor.

The other creatures set off slightly north of the village, with empty baskets, into an area with different trees and plants Hattie knew would work brilliantly for decorations.  Working in small groups, they collected fir cones, acorns, sprigs of holly, branches of pine and fir alongside twigs of all shapes and sizes. Many of them worked diligently until they had everything they needed. Fumi, Lumi and Oscar, however, quickly got sidetracked playing hide and seek behind trees and bushes but nobody minded, they just wanted everyone to have fun.

With baskets full, the group returned to the inn with a jump in their step, excited to see how far the fairies had got to with the string lights. Pushing open the door to the inn, the group was met by a shocked trio of fairies wrapped in a knot of string lights. “We finished the lights on the tree I promise! We just thought we could start on the lights for the reception but we’ve got ourselves in a bit of a muddle” exclaimed Kiki as the room erupted into laughter.

A few minutes later, and with lots of hands to help, the trio were finally untangled and everyone could continue with the next steps. Setting down the baskets onto the tables in the dining area, everyone listened to Hattie explain the directions for what they were going to make. In the kitchen, Ruby and Mishka sliced and baked to make dried orange slices. At one table, Kiki taught Maya, Lienna and Alula how to make paper chains, ornaments, angels and snowflakes out of old books and documents they were going to throw away in the library. Finally on two other tables, Hattie, Piccolo, Kai, and Lumi started to make wreaths, whilst Fumi, Prickles, Oscar and Rowan created garlands, centrepieces and ornaments. The inn was bursting with creativity and the aroma of Christmas.

A few hours later, everything had been made. They could all finally start to decorate! Kai, Kiki and Mishka worked together to hang the string lights and paper chains in the reception and dining area. Garlands with ribbon bows were placed on the fireplace and reception desk. Centrepieces  and candles were placed on different surfaces and paper snowflakes and lanterns were hung from the ceiling. Topping it all off, Hattie hung a wreath on the front door, and stockings on the fireplace; one for her, Ruby, Piccolo and Rowan - all the creatures living in the inn at the moment.

With the inn complete, it was time for lunch before they started decorating the library. Thankfully, Ruby had prepared a simple picnic-style lunch for them all the evening before so she did not need to spend time cooking lunch. With bellies full and excitement continuing, everyone gathered together the remaining decorations and carried them to the library.

As the library door was opened, everyone gasped seeing the tree. The lights were not on yet, but it looked magical already. “Just wait to see the lights, they make it look even better” beamed Kiki, rushing over to the switch on the wall. As she flicked the switch, everyone’s jaw dropped. It was beautiful. Not only had the fairies hung the string lights on the tree, but they had also hung old lanterns on the bookshelves to create a warm and beautiful space. A few days prior to this, Kiki had found the old lanterns in a cupboard from when the fairy village used to decorate, and knew she wanted to incorporate them into the decorations. “They’re beautiful!” marvelled Hattie walking closer to the lanterns, tears welling up in her eyes. The lanterns were a very simple shape for a paper lantern, but they were hand painted, the paint starting to fade after years of use. Some had intricate scenes, others had painted branches and foliage, each one unique, symbolising  a different group of fairies or Christmas tradition. Hattie had never had the chance to fully decorate for Christmas before, but she had always visited the city to experience the lights and decorations there. There was one shop where she had always stopped to look in the window. It was a shop which sold hand painted paper lanterns and she had always dreamed of owning one but the price was always too steep but here in the library the fairies had hung over 20 of them. She was so happy; even if a few lanterns had small holes from age, they were beautiful.

The villagers spent the rest of the day decorating the library, hanging handmade ornaments on the tree, alongside some baubles Hattie and Ruby had bought back from the city. Garlands were placed on bookcases and the front desk, the paper angels were hung and bows were tied. Wreaths were placed on the doors and ends of bookcases and finally, Fumi and Lumi were given the honour of placing the star shaped tree topper. They flapped their little wings and flew up to the top of the tree together before placing in onto the tree as the room erupted in cheers. The decorations were complete!

12 days later it was Christmas Eve. As everyone settled themselves down for the night, Piccolo stood by the fireplace in the inn. Staring up at the stockings Hattie had hung the little mouse smiled. It was at this moment he realised he had a proper home now. He was surrounded by people who loved him, and creatures he also loved. They were a mix of creatures from different backgrounds, but they were a family. It didn’t matter how many new creatures would join the village, the ones with him now would always hold a special place in his heart. Blowing out the candles beside him, Piccolo smiled as he walked to his room, looking forward to the next day.

The village was awoken on Christmas Day as the sun rose and streamed through their windows. There was no breakfast planned that morning as lunch would be a great feast. Most of the creatures spent their time wrapping presents, doing last minute chores and getting ready for the exciting day ahead of them. The inn, however, was bustling with activity. Piccolo was busy with Hattie sweeping and rearranging the dining room so it was ready for everyone’s arrival. In the kitchen, Rowan was helping Ruby prepare the meal - or at least trying! With little experience in the kitchen, the red fox was very out of his comfort zone so Ruby gave him some of the easier tasks.

The mushroom fairy had spent a long time working out what to cook for Christmas but eventually, after discussing with everyone, she chose to cook the City’s traditional Christmas meal. In her travels, Ruby had learnt what traditional Christmas meals different towns and cities had and it made her very unsure of what to cook for everyone. The fairy village always cooked a buffet of food for Christmas day as everyone came together to celebrate but with a group of fourteen, multiple dishes with only one cook seemed too big a task. In Claymont City, most of the population were influenced by the Palace in day to day life with trends, as well as on special occasions with traditions. A roast dinner was the favourite of rulers past on Christmas Day and this had been passed on through the generations, and throughout the city.

It was an easy but delicious meal which Ruby thought would be perfect for Kiki Lane’s first Christmas. On top of that, Ruby was beginning to realise how hard it was cooking deep in the Emerald forest. With no trade routes, resources were thin and it took days to travel back and forth to the city, making it a journey worth travelling only when necessary. They had been coping well foraging for ingredients and using up the dry goods Ruby had collected on her travels but they were beginning to run low, especially now it was winter. A roast, therefore, would be the best option as a smaller amount of ingredients were required. Thankfully, Ruby had also been able to buy some of the remaining vegetables and ingredients required on her trip with Hattie to the city so she had everything they needed.

With excellent knife skills, Ruby was hard at work finely dicing the vegetables and nuts for the main dish - a nut roast. Although in the city, many families have a roasted meat as the main, Ruby knew it would be impossible to keep meat from the city fresh enough for Christmas day, and with some of the villagers not eating meat, a nut roast seemed like the perfect alternative, especially as Piccolo and Hattie had collected a large amount of nuts whilst foraging for ingredients during autumn.  Rowan, on the other hand was given the slightly easier task of mixing ingredients and keeping an eye on the vegetables on the stove top, which were being boiled before roasting.

As lunchtime approached, Piccolo and Rowan set the tables as different villagers began to arrive at the inn. With so many guests, and so many serving plates needing to fit, they had to push several tables together to make one large table big enough for everyone and everything. Hattie stationed herself at the reception desk ready with a smile and a hug to welcome everyone in. Mishka arrived first, hands full, holding two large cakes he had baked for dessert. Kiki and the dragons arrived soon after and a steady stream of guests followed. Finally, Oscar and Maya entered and Hattie followed them into the dining area. The room was full of chatter and excitement as Ruby brought through dish after dish.  The tables were quickly piled high with the large nut roast and all the trimmings. As drinks were poured and everyone sat down, the noise began to settle. After a quick toast from Kiki, everyone crossed their arms and pulled open the Christmas crackers. Inside, everyone found a paper crown and a small chocolate. With crowns placed, everyone tucked in to the wonderful food in front of them.

After an hour, everyone had had their fill of Christmas dinner and scrumptious cake. The celebrations however, had just begun. With bellies full and everyone in high spirits, the villagers made their way over to the Great Tree Library.

In the library, Kiki and Kai had gathered all the floor cushions they could find and had laid them out on the floor in front of the beautiful Christmas tree. On the floor under the tree, there was now a pile of carefully wrapped presents. There was a bit of a rush and chatter as everyone excitedly found a seat on the floor and Lienna stood next to the tree, waiting for silence. Noticing Lienna waiting, it didn’t take long before the chatter subsided and the pink dragon could explain what would happen next. Depending on what wrapping paper was at the top, the creature who wrapped the presents would hand out their gift to everyone and then everyone could open what they had been given. With her explanation complete Lienna took her seat and Oscar made his way over to the tree to hand out his presents.

Oscar had been selling fish and treasures he had collected for a few months now in Kiki Lane, so everyone in the room knew his love of finding treasures in the water. Many of the villagers had passed his stall in the market place and had all been able to look at what he had collected each day. It was in these moments that Oscar had paid keen attention to what each villager spent a little longer looking at, what their eyes were drawn to, what they each liked. For his gifts, therefore, he had carefully selected treasures for everyone, sometimes even taking things out of his own personal collection. To some people, the presents he gave were not much, but to everyone in the village what they received was a beautiful treasure, something someone had carefully selected for them with love, and that was what counted.

The gift giving continued from here, each gift filled with love and care. Mishka had baked everyone their favourite pastry or cake, Kiki had picked out a book for everyone, Hattie had bought a vase or cushion for everyone, Kemuri had picked a mug for everyone, and Alula gave a beautiful gem to everyone, which she had gone searching for in the caves. Everyone gave beautiful heartfelt gifts that would be treasured for years to come.

As the gift giving came to a close, Prickles quietly made his way to the tree, closely followed by Piccolo. Not one for speaking, the little hedgehog had passed a note to Piccolo who was sitting next to him to ask for some help. Standing in front of everyone, Piccolo was overcome with nerves. He noticed everyone’s eyes on him and it made him nervous. However, one pair of eyes he could not see, but he could sense them staring at him. It was Prickles. Looking over at the hedgehog next to him, he was filled with confidence. He could do this for his friend; Prickles was counting on him and had asked him, not someone else. Clearing his throat the little mouse began to speak. “P-p-prickles has asked me to speak for him”stuttered the little mouse before continuing, this time with more confidence.”He apologises he did not wrap his presents to us but he does have something to give to us, he just asks us to read it when we get home this evening and have time for ourselves.” Prickles tugged on Piccolo’s hand as a thank you before handing out envelopes and a small book to everyone with a large smile.

Prickles was a hedgehog with few spoken words, but he had a talent for writing, a talent for words which could portray his feelings and thoughts in a different way. He had therefore chosen to write to each of his friends this Christmas. Each villager was given a card in which he thanked them individually and expressed the words he had not been able to verbalise yet. With each card, the books he handed out were all one of a kind, written by him with poems tailored to each villager.  They were poems he had written slowly over time since living in Kiki Lane as he met new creatures and got to know them and they truly came from the heart.

With all the gifts under the tree gone, Kiki moved her cushion in front of it and pulled out a book from a shelf nearby. She had found it whilst scouring the shelves for a Christmas story a few days before and had carefully remembered where it was for this occasion. With the room silent, she opened the book and began to read aloud for everyone under the twinkling lights of the tree. It was a lovely tale of friendship and love which everyone enjoyed. What stuck out the most to everyone, however, was the mention of snow on Christmas Day. Finishing the final page and closing the book, Kiki looked to her friends. ”Let’s share what our favourite part was” she insisted, her eyes glimmering with excitement.

As the chatter began again, everyone discussed the story but the mention of snow kept coming up, with everyone wondering how beautiful It would be to have snow on Christmas. The Emerald Forest got very cold in winter but it was very unusual for it to snow, especially in December so the thought of Christmas snow sounded magical to everyone, but somehow unattainable. Nobody seemed to notice Lumi going quiet, his eyes shimmering and tail flicking in excitement, an idea flowing through his mind.

Suddenly the little white dragon jumped to his feet and bounded outside, pulling Maya with him. The sudden movement caught everyone’s attention and everyone rushed to the door to see what was going on. Flapping his wings and flying up to Maya’s ear, he quietly whispered his idea into her ear before settling back onto the ground. Maya smiled down at the little dragon and nodded in agreement. After a moment to pause, Lumi took a deep breath before letting out his icy cold breath into the air. At the same time, Maya used her magic, and together they began to create a flurry of snow. Everyone watching in the doorway stared on, mouths open wide in amazement.

“Go and wrap up warm” Maya called out to everyone. Quickly, they all clamoured for things to keep warm. Some creatures had brought items with them that morning and others rushed home for a hat, scarf or gloves before the fun began. After 20 minutes everyone was back outside the library and the floor of the entire village was covered in snow. Maya and Lumi were finally able to rest from their creation. It was no longer snowing, but the cold air was able to keep it from all melting.

Fumi was the first to rush out towards Lumi, snow crunching beneath her feet, and she quickly threw a snowball at him, taking the white dragon off guard. Soon the pair were in a full on snowball fight. Elsewhere, Alula had rummaged through a cupboard in the library and found an old sled. She was being pulled around on it by Kai who let out a gruff laugh as he stomped through the snow.

Lienna and Prickles had decided they preferred to look at the snow and not go in it. As everyone rushed out, they had calmly made their way up the stairs inside the library and headed out of one of the doors, onto a balcony overlooking the fun. In the meantime, Kemuri had made her way through the snow with Mishka to her house and began to make everyone a hot drink. The pair returned a few minutes later with trays of hot chocolate and a bowl of marshmallows for anyone who wanted to add them to their drink. It was the perfect paring. After enjoying her lovely drink, Ruby got to work to create a snow creature. At first, Piccolo was helping her by starting to roll balls of snow but after they became too large for his little body, and as his feet began to get very cold, he made his way back inside and joined Lienna and Prickles on the balcony. The trio looked on as everyone had fun. Oscar frolicked wildly in the snow and Rowan got out his camera and took photos of everyone. It was a wonderful afternoon of fun in the snow which continued until it became dark.

As evening crept in, everyone headed back through the snow to the inn for more food; this time a buffet of snacks and party food for everyone to nibble on as they chatted. Deciding to make it a less formal event, they pushed the tables to the side of the room, turned the radio on, and sat on the floor once more with cushions. Feeling tired from eating so much food and having fun in the snow, soon everyone but Piccolo had fallen asleep.

Getting up off the floor, Piccolo made his way over to the fireplace again. Looking up at the stockings he thought back on all the day’s events. It had been a wonderful day, one he would always hold dear. Blowing out the candles and turning off the radio, Piccolo made his way to the huddled sleeping creatures, lay down by Hattie and fell asleep snuggled into her fur.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A note from Kiki Lane:

Merry Christmas!