Mistletoe Magnet

🎄 04

All dressed up in her complete winter gear—a gray oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants set with a black-and-white checkered trench coat sitting over the whole outfit, a similarly thick gray scarf wrapped securely around her neck whilst also covering her lower face and lastly, a beanie; Aeliana just about looked like a larva wrapped in its cocoon.

The snow crunched beneath her white Nike sneakers as she traipsed down the sidewalk to her intended destination. As always, the city streets, particularly the mall centre, bustled with people but unlike today, Aeliana wasn't consumed by her usual hatred for the season or her dislike for the constant push and shove from the moving crowd. Instead, she dwelled on the idea of going shopping for her little nieces and nephews, quite unable to deny the slight excitement thrumming in her veins at the prospect of getting to meet them again especially after going almost two years without seeing them.

Finally, she arrived at a toy store amidst the other shops and buildings in the mall centre and from peeking into the store through the glass window taking up the entire front of the shop, Aeliana could see that the place was well stocked and only two to three attendants with less than five customers were there. Not crowded at all.

She craned her neck to look up at the store, ‘Little Tots Toys’, the bright neon sign read. Pleased, Aeliana approached the automatic doors, which slid open, welcoming her presence. She looked around the store, taking in the colourful designs, and she couldn't help but commend the owner and designer. The blend of colours as well as the aura of the whole place gave Aeliana a sense of calm (God knew how much she craved that in her life) and a tiny, barely existent, smile tugged at her lips.

She didn't know what was different about today, perhaps it was because she now had something to look forward to, something else to do rather than spend her days living the same old boring cycle of life, but Aeliana felt relatively lighter. It wasn't a huge change but even the most subtle growth should be considered significant.

And she did. She reveled in it.

“Hi.”

Aeliana turned toward the voice that demanded her attention, and there stood a casually yet appropriately dressed woman with a blinding, genuine smile on her face. Her wavy, strawberry blonde hair was tucked behind her ears and held in place by several bobby pins; she was petite, a few inches shorter than Aeliana, and also officially the first person to receive Aeliana's rare and genuine smile of the year.

“Hey,” she responded, looking down at the name tag pinned to the right side of the woman's chest. ‘Chloe,’ it read.

“How may I help you today, ma'am? Looking for early Christmas presents for the kids?” Chloe asked with a fond smile.

“Nieces and nephews, actually.” Aeliana clarified, scanning the nearby shelves. She was nowhere near being a child yet these toys all seemed so appealing to her.

“Oh, my apologies.” Aeliana shook her head as a sign to not bother. “So do these nieces and nephews have specific things they like? Hobbies? Favorite cartoons? Favorite game characters? Favorite comic books?”

At her question, Aeliana stopped short and tilted her head, a thoughtful expression on her face. Now that she thought about it, it had been a long time since she'd seen or communicated with the kids, therefore, she couldn't possibly know if their juvenile hobbies had changed again, enough to give one whiplash—something that was ever common with children.

Plus, she couldn't call her mother to ask as well since she'd planned to make her visit to them a surprise and asking about what the kids liked would be a dead giveaway. Frowning, Aeliana bit her lower lip as she pondered what to do.