Christmas Wonder (RotG)

Chapter 4

You opened your eyes and found Santa standing right in front of you. He frowned as usual whenever he looked in your direction, maybe even deeper than before. "I think you should take a break."

"No, I have to—"

"Clearly you need something else to help with your Christmas wonder."

"But I—"

"You probably won't get anywhere at this rate."

"But..."

"Please. This is for the best."

You sighed. "All right."

Santa patted your shoulder. "Follow me around the workshop."

As you walked after him when he turned and strode off, you rubbed your sore hands. Going through the same Christmas memories over and over was beginning to run their wonder dry.

Santa strode across the floor, weaving around Elves and ducking under flying toys. "This workshop has been a protector of childhood wonder for a long time. My friends—Bunny, Tooth, and others—helped me build it." Bunny? Tooth? Were those the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy? Were they real as well?

Santa took a turn down a hall, walking away from the main area of the workshop. "We protect children—their wonder, their hope, their memories—but adults are unfortunately beyond our reach. They are less sensitive to magic, and more hardened to the world. That is why many lose their Christmas wonder. However, I can try to help if they still believe in me." He stopped just outside a wooden door carved with geometric patterns. Then he opened it and stepped inside a spacious room, gesturing for you to follow.

The room was held up with wooden arches yet was half-made with sparkling ice. It was lit with candles set in divots in the ice walls near wooden shelves with their many wooden toys. Moonlight also spilled in from the large windows at the far end of the room. In the middle of the space stood a table topped with many ice prototypes like the ones on the tables in the main part of the workshop.

"Is this your... personal office?" you asked Santa.

"Yes." He closed the door. He paused while you took in the room, then stepped toward you. "What I'm here to ask you is—what has hardened your heart to Christmas wonder?" His bright eyes beamed into yours.

"I..." You looked away at the intensity of his gaze and thought. Lots of things had happened to you over the course of your life, both good and bad, but had any of it specifically affected your Christmas wonder? You'd experienced school bullies, friendship drama, horrible stress over exams, and even a couple of traumatizing incidents. But what had caused your Christmas wonder to flicker? You thought and thought. Had your trauma made you lose light? Had the bullies taken the magic from your head? Had your friendship drama taught you that the world wasn't how you'd envisioned it? "I think it's just... life," you finally concluded. "Nothing in particular. I've lived so long, every magical thing has become dulled. Everything's just... normal." You looked back up at Santa.

He nodded and patted your shoulder again. "It happens to most adults," he said. "But most also lose belief in me. You must have not given up hope completely yet."

"No."

"Would you like to search for the magic again?"

"I'll try." You set your shoulders. "How do I do it?"

"You must find beauty and the extraordinary in the world like you did as a child."

When you returned to the workshop, Santa smiled at you and walked off to elsewhere in the workshop.