Winning A Bright Christmas - A BrightWin AU

Chapter 06

The next few days flew by in a flurry of activity.

At the Schmetterling, tickets for the Helmfirth Christmas Fete had sold out within an hour of opening.

More were being bought directly from the attractive website Win had set up, by those who were willing to make the trek through the snow to Helmfirth from the train station lower down the mountain.

Every B&B in Helmfirth was booked for Christmas Night.

The Vorfreude Inn was forced to open up additional slots for the lavish Christmas dinner service to accommodate all the advance bookings, while the dance and drinks would cater to walk-ins all evening until midnight.

The village square was transforming into a Winter Wonderland.

There were stalls to sell fresh bakes and hot drinks, attractively packed local cheeses, meats and preserves, beautifully knitted woollens and other small souvenirs for the guests to buy.

Carnival games and variety shows were set up, with pony rides and a vintage carousel for children. Carollers would roam around the village and take requests from guests.

A big, fat, jolly Santa had a corner to himself, with Win's giggling fangirls from the farms dressed up as elves to help move the crowd along.

There were fantastic photo ops everywhere. Win had spotted the points which had the best views of different parts of the surroundings - the valley below, the Alps, the forests and waterfalls.

He had set up signs at each of these spots for the guests to stop and take pictures at, with the Schmetterling logo and Helmfirth's flag making subtle appearances on the sidelines.

There were maps printed with walking tours marked out that people could follow if they wanted to explore the countryside.

The square and all roads leading to it were covered in fairy lights that reflected off the snow and made everything seem more magical.

And at the very centre of the square stood a twenty-two feet tall fir tree, decked in tinsel and lights and ornaments of all colours, shapes and sizes. The large golden star at the very top could be seen from every corner of the village.

The entire village and people from the surrounding villages had come together to decorate the massive tree two days before Christmas.

Mix and Win had passed out cups of coffee and buttered buns to everyone as joyous shouts and laughs filled the air.

"Isn't this the most wonderful thing ever?" said Gun, warming his hands around a hot cup.

"The tree is beautiful" agreed Win.

"No, the community. The people. The togetherness. That feeling inside that you belong. That's what Christmas is about, after all" said Gun, smiling.

Win nodded. He knew exactly what Gun meant. He felt it too. The days leading up to Christmas had been unforgettable for Win.

The pageant was shaping up beautifully.

Khao had rewritten the script and when he was done, it was as though Star Trek had always been a part of the Nativity scene.

Mike had offered to read the narrations from backstage. His clear, loud voice was well suited for it.

Ohm and Nanon had turned out to be very handy with tools and the set looked elegant and professionally done, including a small floating Enterprise.

Mix and Love had pulled an all-nighter to ready the costumes. The children looked cherubic and adorably cute as they obediently took their places and smiled and waved.