➶｡˚ part three of the RACING HEARTS series
Holly Lee is a Christmas lover. She adores everything about it. The twinkling lights making her heart beat with excitement. The beautiful time spent with her loved ones. The crunchy, sparkling sn...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Hey, mom," Holly exhaled, observing the steam escaping her mouth with each word. Her fingers, protected by her favorite gloves, would have chilled without them clutching the phone. "I know that you're probably on a plane right now. Let me know when you get to Copenhagen for the layover, okay? Love you. See you soon," she smiled for herself.
It was the day of Christmas Eve, the 24th of December. A normal person would sleep in during this holiday, right? Or maybe they would drink hot cocoa and eat some delicious pie while watching some holiday classics.
Holly was a normal person. She was a Christmas freak. Then why was Holly defrosting her car windows, preparing for more than a two-hour drive from Bristol to London at five in the morning?
The answer was very simple, actually.
But hey—why spill all the details at the beginning?
As Holly sat down in her 2008 Corsa, which she hadn't been using for quite some time (mainly because she hadn't visited the United Kingdom in more than a year), Holly ran her fingers over all the buttons. The familiar scent of the car lingered, unchanged.
The roads were empty so early in the morning, which was a perfect scenario for Holly. She loved solo trips and driving, especially when the ultimate destination was her hometown, London. It was, in her opinion, the most enchanting city during the holiday season.
The streets were adorned with captivating lights, festive decorations, and bustling markets offering mulled wine and tasty food. To top it off, the forecast hinted at the possibility of snowfall in the afternoon, adding an extra layer of perfection to the day.
Holly didn't mind dedicating her day to purchasing the decorations and gifts she hadn't managed to buy earlier. It was the ideal day for her!
As she pulled off her gloves, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her olive skin had a cooler undertone than throughout the rest of the year, and she applied a cherry lip balm to protect her plump lips. It was finally warm in the car, and she was ready to put on her favorite Christmas mix to make the drive even more cheerful.
"This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special," Holly sang, unconcerned about melody and perfect pitch. After a smooth thirty-minute drive, an almost shivering excitement gripped Holly.
She couldn't wait to see her mom, grandma, and her younger brother, Wesley. The absence of her family for a whole year had been painful, but the knowledge that they would all finally gather under the tree and enjoy hot chocolate brought her a sense of comfort. Unlike last year, when her work had forced her to stay in Paris, a place she had been calling home for the past year and a half.
Holly needed this Christmas Eve to be special and joyful. She simply needed everything to be perfect.
When another song started playing, Holly's eyes widened in shock as the car all of a sudden started slowing down.
"What the fuck?" She exclaimed as the car simply stopped and everything shut down. The dashboard went dark, the radio turned off, and the car simply refused to move.
"You must be joking," Holly moaned in frustration. Making another attempt to start the car, she watched as the dashboard flickered. "Bloody hell, not today!" She exclaimed, punching the steering wheel.
She grabbed her white, knitted hat with a pom-pom, stepping out of her Corsa. The unexpected onset of snow, much earlier than anticipated, greeted her with a biting cold. Not that Holly minded; she adored the crunchy and sparkling snow. It added an extra touch of magic to everything.
However, this scenario was an exception. Holly found herself alone on a road that nobody seemed to take on Christmas Eve—why would they, right? And who else would choose a longer, slower route to get to London purely for the joy of driving?
That's right—no one. Only Holly.
Lifting the car hood, she clicked her tongue. She was clueless about anything happening beneath it. Taking her phone out of her coat pocket, she realized she had no signal. It made sense, considering she was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by forests.
This was bad.
Really bad.
Holly sighed, settling back into the car. The interior was growing colder due to the malfunctioning heater. She faced two options—wait for someone to arrive or take a walk. After all, she had to reach some village, didn't she? The forests had to end at some point.
"Okay, I'm gonna wait for ten minutes. Then I'm gonna go for a walk in this freaking cold," Holly muttered to herself while putting on her gloves. She silently thanked her intuition for wearing multiple layers.
The idea of a perfect day started crumbling, but she held on to a glimmer of hope. It was Christmas Eve—she needed to get to London and make this day unforgettable.
She needed a Christmas miracle.
Little did she know that one was on its way to her.
∘₊✧────────────────✧₊∘
the first chapter is here! <3
thank you for your support, it means a lot to me! even if you don't celebrate or enjoy christmas, i hope that you'll love this festive short story. <3 another chapter is coming tomorrow!
