The Nameless Mask

A Cold Winter Morning

Lucky inhaled the cold winter air, it passed into her lungs chilling her to the bone. She quietly walked down to Jamaa Central to get her Jamaaliday gift. The sun hung low in the sky, painting the clouds in a gentle orange hue. The frost glittered with the early morning's sunlight, a cold winter breeze rustled the leaves in the trees causing little fragments of snow to fall. A few birds could also be heard drowsily tweeting in the distance. A thin layer of ice covered the cobblestone floor of Jamaa Township, the fountain and pond were completely frozen over too. Jamaa Township was silent, there wasn't a soul in sight. Lucky hated crowds, and would do almost anything to avoid them. So, in the Jamaalidays she'd wake up early and get her gift before anyone else could. Lucky loved winter, she could spend the whole day watching each unique snowflake gently swirling down from the sky, landing in her paws and melting into a perfect little puddle. Every Christmas, Lucky would make hundreds of cookies and put them next to the Jamaaliday Advent calendar early in the morning for the other Jammers. That's one of her favorite parts about Christmas. She loves watching the other Jammers giving each other things and eating her special Christmas cookies. None of them know that she made them, of course. All they know is that every Christmas they're always there, and they are very thankful. And she was fine with that.

She walked to the box containing the Jamaaliday gift. She took one of them and sat on the side of the bridge to open it. She lifted the small package to hear ear and shook it gently. A small rattle could be heard from the inside. She cautiously opened the box, careful not to damage the ribbon, she needed that for her Christmas decorations. Inside the box, there was a diamond and something else wrapped in thin paper. She picked up the diamond and held it towards the sun, the rays reflected the seven colours of the rainbow onto her lap. She smiled and put the diamond into her bag. She unwrapped the object in the paper, and a distinct ginger aroma filled the air. In the box, there was what looked like a gingerbread man mask. She looked at the name tag on it, which was blank. This confused her. Every item in Jamaa has a nametag on it, usually sewn to the back of an object so people know what the item's name is. She disregarded this, and marked it as a mistake by AJHQ. She put the box beside her and looked at the mask. It was a perfect circle with a little bow-tie beneath it. There was white icing-sugar bordering the mask and the tie. There were two large eyes and a blank smile also roughly drawn onto the mask in the same fashion. She started feeling a bit nauseous while examining it, and her vision became slightly blotted and distorted. She decided that she should probably go back to her den and put on some warmer clothing so she didn't get a cold. So she carefully put the mask back into the box and began to walk back home.