Storm

Holly sat in front of the Christmas tree with her signature grumpy face. Santa Clause was so stupid! Hadn’t Holly told her parents a thousand times that she wanted to get a horse for Christmas? Shouldn’t Santa have heard that? And why did her parents react so angry when Holly started crying the moment she saw her gift, which was definitely not big enough to fit a horse? They didn’t understand anything! They even wanted Holly to join in their trip to the ice-rink to enjoy a so-called “good time” involving hot chocolate and ice-skating!

Angrily, Holly looked at the tiny snow town which stood beneath the Christmas tree. She saw some miniatures sitting in front of a Christmas tree, but with a pile of red-and-gold coloured presents in front of them. Holly was jealous of the amount of presents they got. Those presents were probably exactly what the kids wanted. Holly had wishes as well, but noooo, Santa decided not to give her the thing she had most wanted in her entire eight years of life.

“Hey, pssssst,” someone said. Holly looked up, expecting to see one of her parents. “No, not there, down here!” the voice said. Holly looked down, expecting to see anything but the miniature snowman moving towards her. He stuck up his wooden arm. “Yes, yes, here! Look, I need some help.”

Holly frowned as the snowman continued to talk.

“Our Christmas town having some troubles. I’m not talking about your cat, who is also quite scare, but about the fact that our Christmas magic is decreasing. Can you please come with me to try and fix this?”

Holly wanted to say no. She had other things to worry about, such as not receiving a horse. However, before she got the opportunity to say so, she was standing in a lit-up street full of snow. Above her seemed to rise an infinitely long, green thing with weird coloured balls. Then Holly realised that was her Christmas tree. She had shrunken to the size of the snowy town!

Beside her, the snowman started moving. Holly decided it would be a good idea to follow him, otherwise she might not be able to grow big again.

The snowman was talking again. “The magic of Christmas is a strong force that helps to keep our town running.” He pointed at a gingerbread house, which showed heavy cracking. “See those cracks? The town is starting to collapse. There is only one reason for that… Christmas magic is starting to fade away.”

Slowly losing interest in the snowman’s story (couldn’t they just fix the house with some sugar-glazing?), Holly noticed a light shining in the house next to the collapsing one. She couldn’t help to quickly glance through the window. Two children were sitting in front of a Christmas tree, unpacking red-and-gold coloured presents. Holly vaguely recognized the scene, but something seemed off. Was it the abundance of perfect looking new toys, packed in shining plastic? Was it the Christmas cookies and milk which stood untouched on the coffee table? The empty sofa, where normally parents would sit smiling, watching their children unwrap gifts?

Suddenly, laughter sounded behind Holly. She turned around, stumbling backwards as a young boy raced along her. A snowball flew through the sky, almost hitting Holly right in the face. It was fortunate that she just took a step back. Shocked, she looked in the direction of the snowball and saw an adult man taking long strides, following the boy with a mischievous smile. He carried a handful of snow with him.

“Why don’t you come celebrate Christmas with your old dad, Nathan?” he called heartily.

When Nathan poked his head out of his hiding spot behind a nearby tree, his dad quickly ran to him and rubbed the snow in his hair. They both fell to the ground, laughing.

Uncomfortably, Holly shifted her feet. She looked back at the house in which the children, finished with unwrapping their gifts, where now hugging each other tightly. This seemed a bit distorted. Why were these kids to sad? They had just gotten the newest and most expensive toys! Holly was supposed to be sad, she didn’t get a horse! And why were this boy and his father rolling around in the snow, getting real wet and cold, laughing their heart out? What was fun about that?

“Nathan, Greg, dinner is ready!” a voice called. It came from a woman, standing in one of the doors of the lit-up houses. “Grandma is hungry, don’t make her wait!” Father and son didn’t let her repeat this, scrambled up and walked towards the house with messy clothes and hair. Suddenly it clicked within Holly. It had been the abundance of perfect looking new toys. The untouched Christmas cookies and milk. The empty sofa.

Holly flickered her eyes, confusingly staring at the miniature snowy town. One of the branches of the Christmas tree almost pinched her check. Holly slowly moved backwards. She heard the door creak and looked up. Her parents were taking their jackets and scarves, looking as if they were about to go to the ice-rink to have an actual good time involving hot chocolate and ice-skating.

“Wait!” Holly called. She got up and ran to get her own jacket. She didn’t have time to take care of a horse anyway.