Peter and Lacey lay on the floor of their hollow beneath the overhang, sheltered on all sides by the walls the avalanche had created. Nestled together, their bodies in sync.

  ‘What did I see earlier, on your face, when you were deciding on whether to come lie with me?’ Peter asked. ‘It looked like you were struggling with something.’

  Lacey lightly traced a small circle on his chest as she thought about how to answer the question. The story itself was easy, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. The emotions, however…

  ‘That’s a hard one,’ she said. ‘I was reminded of something that happened to me in the group home. A very painful experience, and something I never spoke to others about afterwards.

  ‘Cassie?’ he guessed.

  She gave a slight nod with her head on his chest. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Would you like to tell me?’ The invitation hung there, open, and Lacey knew without a doubt, safe. Not even Mathilda would hear about it from him.

  But she had pressed it down so deeply, guarded it so well, that she hardly knew how to retrieve the words even though Peter was safe. ‘It’s hard for me to talk about. Painful.’

  ‘Would you rather not?’

  ‘No, it’s not that. It’s just that… You’ll need to be patient with me.’

  ‘Of course,’ he said, like his patience went without saying. That there would always be patience for her.

  ‘I told you that my parents left me at the group home when I was young?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What I didn’t say is that it was on Christmas morning.’

  He drew a sharp breath. ‘Oh Lacey, I’m sorry. That sounds terrible.’

  She shrugged. ‘No more terrible than any other day of the year, I would think. But Christmas does hold a special place in the hearts of families.

  ‘So, I would always decorate my room for Christmas. I’d do it for my family, even though they weren’t there. In the early years, I would imagine their faces when I showed them how what great a job I did. They would’ve been delighted, and told me what a good child I was, and we would have a lovely dinner together that my mom would’ve made for us all.’

  She smiled a grim smile as the hurt drew closer.

  ‘After some years, when I was a teenager, I began to truly understand how much I had lost when they’d dropped me off that Christmas. I never knew anything outside the group home, so initially that was just normal for me. But as I grew I learned more about families and Christmas, and I yearned to be reunited with them.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  ‘Eventually, the meaning behind the decorations in my room changed for me. I created a story for myself that my parents were coming to fetch me, so I had to decorate my room nicely so it would look good when they came. I had to prove that I had the right Christmas spirit.

  ‘A part of me wondered whether that was why they left me. Maybe I just hadn’t been Christmassy enough for them. But, I could change that. I could make Christmas come, I told myself.’

  Peter’s grasp held steady as he listened patiently.

  ‘Then, Cassie arrived. She was wonderful. So upbeat, and energetic. I had a great time with her and we became best friends. Eventually, Christmas came around and she saw what I was doing. And because we were best friends, I thought I could trust her with my secret.’

  She paused, taking a deep breath. She was clenching her shoulders, she realised, and she consciously focused on relaxing them. Peter quietly waited for her to continue.

  ‘I told her.’ Lacey’s breath hitched, and she turned her head to press her forehead against his chest. He slid up a hand to cradle it.

  ‘And then?’ he quietly asked. ‘What did she do?’

  She needed to draw another breath before she could answer.

  ‘I don’t know why she did it,’ she said, not ready to speak it yet. ‘I thought about it so much afterwards, and I could never understand it.’

  ‘That’s okay Lace.’ He lightly stroked her head as she gathered her thoughts, not pushing.

  ‘She went to Ms Gabby, our group home mother. I know what I thought and the reasons I made up for it wasn’t great. But she made it sound like I was planning something dangerous, like I meant to leave the world to go be with them that Christmas.’

  He tightened his arms around her, pressing more tightly against him. ‘Oh Lace. And then?’

  ‘Ms Gabby had no choice but to report it to social services, and they took me away for observation. It was during Christmas too. Instead of spending it in the only home I ever knew, I spent it in the observation ward.

  ‘It’s kinda like Mathilda’s Healing Hall, only not nearly as nice. I was there for a week before they decided that it was safe enough to let me go. By that time, Christmas had gone. And I still had to see a counsellor every week for months after. The questions he would ask…

  ‘After a while I figured out what story he wanted to hear, and which story was good enough to get me out of it. And eventually that ended too.

  ‘But I’d lost everything that mattered to me that Christmas, again. My best friend, the joy of decorating, and somehow, my parents too. I had nothing to show them anymore.’

  Tears had started to flow from her eyes. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘You must think that the only thing I do is cry.’

  ‘Not at all. I’m just so sad that this happened to you. What a terrible loss.’

  His fingers softly traced the curve of her cheek.

  ‘Can I ask you something?’ he said.

  ‘After these past two days? You can ask me anything.’

  ‘How is being in our village making you feel? You’ve had two terrible losses on Christmas, and now you’ve been living in the heart of Christmas for almost two weeks.’

  ‘That’s okay,’ she said, a touch too lightly. I just focus on the people instead of the Christmas. And all that matters right now is finding Jinxy anyway. I may not have my family, but the village shouldn’t be without Jinxy this Christmas.’

  ‘Oh Lace,’ he sighed. ‘Jinxy isn’t the only elf who matters. Or should I say person? Your heart is just as important. Nothing is worth breaking it over.’

  ‘We’ll have to disagree on that,’ she softly said. ‘Jinxy is that important.’

  He gently pressed his lips to the top of her head. ‘Well, just know that you’re always first to me.’

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