Christmas Elf

Part 7

I worked in the snow getting the reindeer into a warm shed, I could hear the groans and murmurs from the towns members as they watched me. Nick stood in the shed doorway, blocking the angry mob from me. I could see his large frame blocking the light of the outside world.

"You could help. We didn't exactly make light toys." I grumbled lifting the first sack. I watched as he left the door frame to join me inside.

"You look so perfect, in your element working." he breathed out. In his hands were poinsettias, a blood red flower with poisonous soil.

"And who are those for?" I joined him, setting down the sack. I could see his cap pulled down over his ears, his cherry blush blended with his dark skin, in the dim light.

"You, I saw them in your old room. Untouched and dusted but these were vibrant and alive." he handed me the gift I had no idea of.

"I have never seen this before, maybe my mother left it for Holy to find her way back?" I grumbled unsure of our situation with the hoards outside.

"I don't know, but I do know we should head inside soon." he lifted the sack from the floor, grabbing the other one from the sled.

Once we had made it inside and out of the oncoming storm we relaxed into the unfamiliar heat of the once harsh house. I could see my daughter with her aunts, joyfully playing with her new cousin. My mother stood to the side watching us, her eyes shifting to my daughter when she knew I could see her. My father and what I assumed was my brother-in-law were out of sight, presumably in my fathers study in the room above us.

"Chris, a word." my mother finally called out to me, her voice worried, unfamiliar to the past ten years I had ever known.

"Yes mother?" I joined her in the kitchen. My cap placed snug on my head, obviously setting her off.

"Your hats, take them off, or I will, you ungrateful brat." she spat at my boots. There was the first I knew as a child.

"I can't mother, its cold and we should be headed out soon.'' I tried to reason, knowing it wasn't true. Before I could explain furth the hat was ripped from my head just as a shrill scream broke loose.