“One gift?” I ask as I drag yet another box out from where Arlo dropped no less than five of them at the base of the staircase.
“The town has a tradition.” Autumn saunters in, holding two large exercise balls she decorated to look like ones we always hung on our Christmas tree. She also has oversized plastic candy canes hanging off her arms. “One gift.”
“Okay.” I draw the word out, ready to give up on the lights that are truly never coming apart. I’ve doomed them to forever live tangled. I may as well just hang that from the tree and call it my very own personal Christmas decoration.
“The tradition,” Saffron interrupts as she enters the room with a plate of cookies, “is quality over quantity. All year, we think of what we truly want, and then that’s what we ask from Santa.” Saffron winks at Lark. “What we want in our hearts.”
“Huh.” I toss the lights on the floor and reach for a cookie. I sink my teeth into a double chocolate mint gooey deliciousness that is otherworldly. Holding back a moan, I gobble it down like my life depends on it, and heck, it just might.
The sugar gods have spoken, and I declare myself their eternal loyal follower.
“Last year, Willow wanted nothing more than to cure world hunger.” Seraphina smiles at her sister affectionately.
“So what was your gift?” I look at Willow curiously. She’s the one sibling I know the least about. I know she’s been traveling this entire year, but now I wonder if she traveled because of this gift.
Her messy bun bobbles with her thick brown hair, but her young face lights up with affection for everyone in the room. “The entire town donated what they could and sent me all over the United States to help in food deserts, and to study the environment so I can help them problem solve how to make their situations better.” She beams at me.
Shock ripples through my system. When they mentioned one gift, I thought of something simple, like a gaming system for the entire family where they could wage battles against each other.
Not…this.
This is so much more than a gift. What they gave didn’t just help Willow, it helped so many other people. She didn’t just show up and give them things, but she problem solved and taught, and that…that kind of gift is utterly priceless. It renders me speechless.
“Speaking of!” Autumn chimes in. “So we need to talk about Paris’ gift. So far, all the girls are in on it. I just haven’t had time to speak to you yet.” She points directly at me. “Because of the whole skunk situation and all.”
Saffron pauses in untangling lights to give me a pointed look.
Cooper has been questionably absent recently, and I swear the little critter is all too aware of the destruction he caused.
“I didn’t hear about this.” Robin stalks out of the kitchen, speaking around a mouthful of cookies.
Autumn gives him a disturbing look before she carries on. She’s not helping us, by the way, but she is taste testing versions of eggnog.
“All right, so she’s ready for life. The veterinary clinic is partially up. No one touched the building in the last five years, for good reason.” She gives each of us a look before carrying on. “She will be in and out of town for the next few months getting her credentials up to date.”
“Point, Autumn. Where is the point?” Robin asks before slouching into a chair. Also not helping.
“We want to finish the clinic and open up a preschool slash after-school program for her little creature.T way she can have legitimate office hours.” Autumn taps her chin, trying to determine if that’s everything. “Dirk at the hardware store is already on top of everything she needs, but it’s going to be a lot. She has most of the things she needs but is missing the rest.”
“I think her first patient should be Cooper,” Saffron says as she somehow expertly untangles the last of her pile of lights. That’s a witch talent if I ever saw one.
I sigh. “I will bring it up to him, but I’m not sure he is going to like it.”
“Sis, he is a skunk. They don’t have feelings.” Robin sips the eggnog Autumn hands him.
“Don’t mention that to Paris, she will gut you.” Autumn takes back the glass when Robin makes a disgusted face. “What was it?”
“Too many spices.”
“Noted.” Autumn goes back to her mixing.
Meanwhile, I just sit in my little corner with my pile of lights, dumbfounded at this scenario, this town, and their tradition of Wonderland. Something inside of me just clicks, and I’m getting it.
The thrill, the whispers to neighbors about what they really want out of life, and how they all band together to make that happen. It reminds me of a fairy-tale land, and it doesn’t just blow my mind, but it also gives me hope to think of impossible feats.
“What about you, Robin? What do you want for Christmas?” Seraphina asks. Just like her mom, she unwinds lights like a wizard.
“I’m new here.” He sits up, but I know my brother, and he already knows what he wants. “I want to give back. You guys took in my sister when she was stranded.” He looks at me, his eyes warming. “You healed wounds in her that I never could, and for giving me back my sister, I owe you all so much.”
