A Moltara Christmas

      Gwyndon had been reading a different story to her every night for the past two weeks; tonight’s was the last in the book. He’d hoped the light-hearted tales would help his baby ixi daughter get into the holiday spirit, but for some reason, it still hadn’t happened. And now Christmas was only a few days away. The fire draik flipped the page in the book and continued reading.

     “Mitsie turned over, snuggling into the soft mattress,” he read. “If only that sun wasn’t shining in her eyes. Sun? Morning? She opened her eyes. It was so bright. She looked out the window and was shocked to see a coating of snow everywhere.” Gwyndon showed his daughter the illustrated page for her to study.

     “Wow, snow for Christmas!” Jorei pointed at the illustration depicting the view Mitsie had from her window, then her father turned to the next page.

      “Her eyes opened wide in excitement. It was morning! But not just any morning, it was Christmas Day! Mitsie jumped out of bed and ran to the family room. Her gaze went straight to both the Christmas tree and, wrapped in bright colours and sparkly tinsel bows, her presents!” Gwyndon gave Jorei a moment to look at the picture, then turned to the next page and resumed reading. “While Mitsie was reading the name tags on the presents, she was joined by her parents. ‘Can I open this one?’ Mitsie asked, holding up a long thin package with her name on it.

     Her parents shared a smile as they joined their daughter by the tree. “‘Of course you can,’ her mother told her. ‘It’s Christmas!’”

     Gwyndon turned to the last page.

     “’Merry Christmas Momma, Merry Christmas Dadda,’ Mitsie shouted as she ripped the ribbon off the present. The End.” Gwyndon closed the book, then looked down to see if Jorei enjoyed the story. Reading it was supposed to get her excited about Christmas, but it hadn’t worked. She sat quietly as she sucked on her thumb and looked like she was fighting not to cry. “What is it, Jorei? I thought you’d like learning about Christmas. It’s only a few days away. Why aren’t you excited, my love?”

     Jorei wiped at the tears on her face, then left her little hoof in her mouth. “Because we won’t have Christmas,” she mumbled.

     Her father breathed a sigh of relief, then reached out to comfort Jorei, grabbing her little feet. “Of course we will. Christmas happens everywhere, not just in books.”

     “Nuh-uh!” Jorei grabbed the book from her father’s hands and threw it across the room in an unusual fit of temper. “All those stories have pretty trees, and holly, and stockings hung by a fireplace,” she sobbed uncontrollably and had to take a breath before she continued. “And santa and reindeer and . . . and . . . and snow!” The baby ixi jumped down from her father’s lap and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her.

     Gwyndon walked over to pick up the book.

     Jorei’s mother, Saertil, who was a beautiful striped ixi, heard the door slam and joined her husband in the living room. “What was all that about?”

     Gwyndon shook his head in sadness. “She’s convinced we can’t have Christmas here in Moltara because it’s too hot.” The draik returned the book to the bookshelf carved into the walls of their cave home. “We don’t have fireplaces, chimneys, snow; I just don’t know what I can do to get her into the holiday spirit.”

     “Maybe it will help once we start putting up the decorations.” Saertil tilted her head to one side in thought, looking around the living room for inspiration. “I have a few ideas, but I don’t know if we can get it all done before Christmas, especially with both of us having to work tomorrow.”

     Gwyndon sighed, then turned to glance at Jorei’s closed bedroom door. “I know we’ll both be tired, but why don’t we start decorating tomorrow evening?” He stroked his chin with one paw. “Once Jorei sees the tree and other decorations going up, maybe it’ll convince her that we really can have Christmas in Moltara.”

     “It’s certainly worth a try.” Saertil stepped over to lean on Gwyndon, both looking at their daughter’s closed door.

     The next evening, after they got home from work, Jorei’s parents started putting up decorations while Jorei sat on the floor playing with her snowbunny plushie. They tried to get her to help put up the decorations, but she showed no interest. Even the large tree that towered only inches away from the top of the high ceiling in the living room elicited no comment or reaction. Gwyndon had spent days welding metal scraps and pipes together to make a tree for his family, but Jorei’s response was that “real trees have real leaves”.

     Gwyndon and Saertil were patiently setting up the tree. The ixi mom placed the last ornament on it, then stood back to look at the effect. “All it’s missing now is the star.”

     The fire draik picked up and, using his fire breath, swiftly charred a normal cog into a brilliant star ornament. The smiling dad turned towards his unenthusiastic daughter. “Jorei, wouldn’t you like to put the star on the tree?”

     The baby turned her attention to the tree for the first time since the decorations began going on. She gasped as she saw it in all its glory. The sheen of the ornaments drew one’s attention so that they weren’t sure which bauble was the most beautiful; at least, that’s how Saertil saw it when she was putting each one up. But, perhaps even more importantly, the entire tree glowed. Instead of a string of flickering lights, as described in the stories, Jorei’s parents had used real glow worms. Red, green, white, purple, blue . . . all ten colours were there, placed throughout the unattractive metal branches. The worms shone with such radiance that Jorei was mesmerized by the colours, their lights all synchronized in what looked like a magical light show.

     “What do you say, Sweetheart?” Gwyndon held the star in one hand as he extended the other towards his daughter. “Want to place the star on top?”

     Jorei could only nod as tears threatened to overwhelm her. Gwyndon handed his little girl the star, then picked her up and flew them both to the top of the tree. Jorei reached out and added the finishing touch, making the metal tree even more dazzling.

     Smiling, Saertil took her daughter from Gwyndon as he landed. She held Jorei close as she cuddled her in her arms. “So what do you think?”

     “It’s beautiful, Mommy,” Jorei whispered.

     “So, does this mean you are starting to believe we can have Christmas here in Moltara?” her father asked.

     The little ixi shook her head no. “The tree is pretty, but there’s still no fireplace and chimney for santa to come down and we’ll never have snow!” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she squirmed out of her mother’s arms and ran to her room, closing the door behind her.

     Saertil sighed, looking at the defeated draik. “Somehow we need to figure out how to give her what she wants.”

     “Snow?” Gwyndon asked rhetorically.

     “No, of course not, but there may be a way to provide a chimney.” The striped ixi mother walked over to a desk for a pen and paper to write down all the necessary materials.

     Over the next few days, Jorei’s parents continued working hard to create a winter wonderland for their daughter. They both used Christmas paint brushes to look more festive, and while Jorei loved their new look, it really didn’t help. They placed garlands of tinsel and foil, lit by more glow worms, over nails they hammered into the rock walls. Gwyndon made a faux fireplace surrounding an emergency access hatch where they then hung stockings. They even laid out a soft white blanket around the tree to simulate snow, but the baby wasn’t fooled. Deep down, she loved the decorations, but was still adamant that it couldn’t be Christmas without santa and real snow.

     When Gwyndon returned from work on Christmas Eve, he found Jorei clutching a toy as she sulked on the couch. Saertil entered the room carrying a glass of milk, a plate of cookies, and some carrots. She put them on the end table by the couch.

     “What’re the carrots for?” Jorei wanted to know.

     “Santa’s reindeer, of course,” Saertil replied, smiling conspiratorially as she glanced at her husband.

     “Why do you keep saying that? Santa isn’t coming!” The baby stood and threw her toy on the floor as she bawled at her parents. “How could he, we live underground! There’s no snow for his sled and that’s not a real chimney, so how could he even get here? I bet he doesn’t even know I’m alive!” The capricious child ran from the room in tears. A moment later, they heard a door closing, but it didn’t sound like Jorei’s bedroom door.

     “Jorei?” Gwyndon ran to the baby’s room. The door was open, but she wasn’t there. “Jorei?”

     The mom was instantly concerned. “Jorei! Where are you?” She ran to each room and searched. “Come on, Jorei. We need to know where you are.”

     The worried parents kept searching, but they didn’t find Jorei anywhere.

     “Oh Gwyndon, she must have gone out into the caves.” Saertil grabbed two lanterns and checked to make sure they were strong enough for several hours.

     “How? She can’t even reach the bolt, let alone have the strength to open the door by herself.” Gwyndon reached out and placed his paw on Saertil’s arm, trying to calm her down.

     “I don’t know.” She handed him one of the lanterns. “But she’s not here, so where else could she be?”

     Gwyndon sighed in agreement as he took the lantern. “You go west, I’ll take east. We’ll meet back here and if neither of us have found her, we’ll try the south cavern. I don’t think she’d go there, but . . ..”

     Saertil nodded and opened the outside door, Gwyndon only a step behind her.

     Two hours later, they met back up at their home, dejected after their failure to find Jorei. “Where could she be?”

     “I don’t know. I asked everyone I could, but nobody had seen her.” Saertil thought of her baby all alone out in the caves. “Should we try the south cavern?”

     “No, Kalip was on duty at the entrance, and he said he hadn’t seen her. Let’s try the east and west again, this time we’ll knock on doors and ask if anyone’s seen her.” Gwyndon stretched and cracked his back, then his neck.

     The demoralized parents left their cave home again, their steps dragging from exhaustion.

     Jorei had climbed into the small recess of the cave walls. She sat there, sucking her thumb, and sobbed quietly. She had run blindly from her home, and now she was lost. Strangers walked past, their talk loud and intrusive, but none could see the small ixi child curled up and hidden inside the niche. A part of her wanted to stop one of them to ask for help, but she remembered her parents constantly telling her that she shouldn’t talk to strangers.

     The baby woke. It was dark, her bed hard. Hard? Memory rushed back and she realized she must have fallen asleep. She peeked out into the corridor. There were small glow lights barely illuminating the path, but there was no one in sight.

     She climbed out of her niche and took a couple hesitant steps, her footfalls the only sound. No, not the only sound. Was that music she heard? It was very soft, almost like an echo through the cave. She couldn’t make out the song, but it was certainly music. If there was music, then someone had to be near. Jorei followed the sound. The music was definitely getting louder! She quickened her steps and, in moments was able to hear the words being sung.

     “Holly, jolly! Oh holly, jolly! Moltara, spread the cheer.” The voice singing was deep and sounded happy. “The lava glows! Just like snow!”

     The song was coming from the open door up ahead. Jorei inched forward.

     “Oh the joy of a Moltara Christmas,” the voice rang out.

     The baby ixi peeked into the room. The beautiful singing was coming from a neopet on the far side of the room. The voice sounded familiar, but the singer was in shadow. She couldn’t tell who it was.

     “Because your family loves you with hugs and kisses!” continued the catchy tune.

     The baby ixi stepped fully into the room. Her eyes opened wide as the singer stepped out from the shadows and into the light of some candles on the mantel. She watched as he placed gaily wrapped boxes under the tall Christmas tree. The red scorchio was dressed in a red suit and cap trimmed with white fluff along with a wide black belt around his waist. He hummed in glee as his belly shook like a bowl full of chocolate jelly. It was an image she knew from the books her father had read to her. “Santa?”

     He turned and saw the child standing just inside the door. “Jorei, you should be asleep.”

     Jorei’s eyes grew wider still. “You know my name?”

     “Ho! Ho! Ho!” The scorchio’s shoulders shook as he chuckled. “Of course I do. Santa knows everyone’s name. Come, Jorei. Your home is next on my list. Will you walk with Santa to your home?”

     “Oh no! I’m not supposed to see you, or I won’t get any gifts.” The ixi looked around frantically as if looking for a place to hide.

     “Ho ho ho,” Santa chortled, then picked up his large red velvet bag and took the child’s hand. “I think we can overlook it, just this once.” The scorchio’s hand was so warm that it calmed Jorei, who couldn’t stop smiling.

     Together, they left the room. In a very short time, Jorei started to recognize the corridors around them and soon found her family’s front door embedded in the wall. In moments, Santa had the door open and they were inside.

     “Mommy? Daddy?” she called out, hesitant as she feared what her parents would say about her going missing, but no one answered.

     “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll be home soon.” Santa smiled at her, then opened his bag and started placing presents beneath the tree.

     “Jorei!” There was a shout behind her, and she was quickly scooped up into her mother’s arms. “Where have you been?”

     “Santa brought me home,” the baby pointed to the man by the tree. The happy reunion was cut short when the parents looked over to see a stranger inside their home, dressed like santa.

     “Don’t mind me, folks,” the santa chortled. “I’d love to stay and talk, but I have a lot of stops to make tonight. There are a lot of families who need presents delivered.” With a twinkle in his eye, he nodded towards them, then placed one finger on the side of his cherry nose, and disappeared up the access hatch!

     “Ho ho ho,” they heard faintly. Gwyndon and Saertil shared a stunned glance.

     “Mommy, Daddy,” Jorei tugged on her parents’ sleeves. “Look! Snow!”

     They turned their gaze to where the baby pointed and saw tiny flecks of snow falling from the ceiling.

     “Ho ho ho!” There was a soft sound of sleigh bells ringing. “Merry Christmas to all!”

     The End.