Catching a glimpse of a legendary all-white reindeer is supposed to bring good luck.
Not for Georgia Greene.
As Georgia makes her way home for Christmas, a white reindeer dashes across the road in front of her, causing her to crash her car into a...
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Georgia
The Nissen farmhouse was quiet and dark in the early morning hours. Not a creature was stirring... except for Georgia. She snuck downstairs, careful not to hit the creaky spots in the floorboards that she had already learned, her arms laden with the results of her work.
She had spent most of the previous day digging through the back room to find all the right pieces for the present. Fortunately, there was plenty to work with. She had found a good collection of photos, cards, newspaper clippings—a hundred little pieces of memorabilia that Felix's father, Gareth, had squirrelled away. Along the way, she'd found other useful pieces too, like an empty photo album and even a gift box to put it all in.
After her day of searching, she'd spent her night putting it together. She had snuck all the pieces up to her room, and when everyone turned in for the night, she set about putting on the finishing touches. She had originally intended to do more work on Hugo's project, but that had gotten pushed aside in favour of finishing her present for Sue and for Felix. It just seemed more important. She'd deal with Hugo later.
When it was finally ready, she wrapped the whole thing up in simple brown paper and a scrap of ribbon she'd found in the gift shop. Even though it was a last-minute gift made from things she'd found, it looked pretty good if Georgia had to say so herself.
Tip-toeing into the living room, she was surprised to find the Christmas tree lit. Did Sue forget to unplug it before—
"Good morning!"
Georgia screamed, clutching the gift to her chest.
Sue had just popped out of the entrance to the other side of the tree. She was still in her pajamas, with a fluffy robe and even fluffier slippers, with a cup of coffee in her hand.
"Oh dear, I didn't mean to startle you!" Sue said, hurrying over.
"Y-You're up early," Georgia gasped. Her heart was thrumming in her chest.
"Oh, I usually get up this early. Gives me time to relax before starting my day. But what are you doing up so early? They don't post road updates for another hour at least." Sue's gaze shifted to the box Georgia still had clutched in her arms. "And what do you have there?"
"This is your gift," Georgia confessed. No use hiding it now. "I was going to sneak it under the tree, but..."
"My gift, eh?" Sue said, narrowing her eyes at Georgia.
Georgia narrowed her eyes right back like they were facing off in a duel.
After a moment, Sue cracked a smile and laughed. "Oh, alright, alright. You get one."
"Thank you," Georgia said as she bent down and pushed the Nissen's gift under the tree. "Think of it as your gift to me."
"Oh, dear, it's too late for that," Sue said with a chuckle. "Yours is already wrapped." She pointed to the other perfectly wrapped gift that was already under the tree.
