Christmas

First things first. If you missed my post about how I came back, go one post down and see A Collage of News.

Second things second. I decided there is no point in saying I'm back and then never posting after that, so here goes, even though I have nothing to post about. I had thought I would try writing a Christmas story again this year, but I remembered how miserably I fail at realistic fiction, so I decided, nothing wrong with making it a bit more exciting, right?

(Warning: May contain Narnia influence.)

  Eldon sighed, leaning back in the large armchair that he was occupying as he rapped his knuckles against the bare wooden handle exposed at the from of the arm rest. Rolling his eyes slightly to himself, he called out impatiently, "Will you hurry up, Lacey? I know you're a girl, but surely you can be quicker than this." He struggled to keep his lips from twisting into a smile as his younger sister appeared in the doorway, cheeks flushed and looking flustered from being hurried by him. Clearly, she saw the smile, because she stormed past him as he stood up, thrusting a coat at him so hard he fell back into his chair. "Hey!" he protested. "I'm doing this for you, you know." He threw her an injured and accusing glance. While Lacey was only a year younger than him, Eldon often acted much more superior to her.
  "Maybe. But perhaps you should act your own age sometime and admit that you want to go out and buy Christmas presents much more than I do," she retorted, though not angrily. It was difficult to get Lacey actually angry. You could only get her melancholy, and get her to cry in a corner of the house all on her own, making you feel sorry for her. Although Eldon sometimes felt guilty about it, he was an expert at upsetting her.
  Shoving on his coat roughly, and bending down to make sure his boots were tied properly, he followed her out of the door, shrugging. "That isn't true. Christmas is only for little kids. Maybe you should learn to grow up." He reached out to close the door behind him, but only after hearing the stern voice of his older brother screaming down from his study,
  "Stop bickering, you two!"
  Shaking his head, locking the door, and turning around, Eldon was astonished to see Lacey smirking at him, her earlier bad temper completely gone. Oh no, he thought miserably. This is when it becomes war. "He was talking about you," Lacey accused, her smirk broadening into a winning grin.
  "Shut up," Eldon muttered, shoving her enough to make her stumble, but lightly enough so that she would not fall. Then he followed her down the stone path as she led him to the store she wished to shop at first.
  She was just paying when the unexpected happened. Not just some silly little random thing, but a large event. One that changed their lives forever. The ground started vibrating immensely, and objects were dropping to the floor, shattering into miniature glass pieces. Eldon grabbed Lacey and pulled her down under the counter, feeling the shake grow stronger each second, even more things getting destroyed. Pulling her closer toward him, he peered out from the side of the counter to see more destruction. He jerked his head back in not a moment too soon; if he had stayed even another half of a second, a large chunk of the ceiling would have squashed his face, and likely killed him. Shuddering, he wrapped his arms around Lacey, who was trembling, and waited the earthquake out.
  Still, the shaking did not subside. It grew stronger and stronger, until he could hardly see anything, it was all moving so fast. Eldon began to wonder why the counter had not collapsed, and also only just realizing that this was no ordinary earthquake. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, childishly afraid to look out at what was happening. Then all of a sudden, it all stopped. Eldon opened his eyes slowly, then shut them again at a blast of sunshine that hit his eye. It was all well until he realized that there should be no sunshine in a corner of a store on a cloudy day. He opened them again, just as Lacey pulled away from him, also blinking in her surroundings.
  For one, the counter was no longer a counter. It seemed to be some sort of shallow cave in a tree. Hesitantly, Eldon uncurled himself and stepped out of the cave, nearly collapsing with shock, for they were no longer in a little store, but in a large forest, standing face to face with an extra large squirrel.
  "Hello!" the squirrel greeted energetically, sniffing around and leaning close to Eldon to figure out who he was.
  To anyone else, this would have been frightening, and a good reason to run back into the cave or somewhere else, or even faint, but Eldon stayed perfectly calm. "Lacey! Look where we are!" he called out to her, happily, a grin breaking out onto his face, a true smile that he had not felt since three years. "Hullo, Mouse!" he replied just as enthusiastically. The squirrel broke into a low bow at the mention of his name, then stood up again, looking around, then stumbling backwards as Lacy slammed into him, her arms wrapped tight around him in a hug.
  "Oh, Mouse, I've missed you so much! It's been three years since I last saw you and everyone else here! How have things been?" After her snuggle with the squirrel, Lacey got up, allowing Mouse to recover himself too. Brushing the dirt off his fur, Mouse bowed to Lacey also before speaking.
  "We have been great," he told her in a high pitched, happy squeak. During this reunion, even Eldon couldn't resolve himself to act more dignified, instead grinning madly and walking along Mouse. He could see the same joy reflected on Lacey's face also as the three of them walked along a dirt path, one on each side of the giant squirrel. "We missed you too. Nothing has been as wonderful as when you were around. Why must you leave us so every time?"
  Lacey cuddled closer to Mouse just as they reached the outskirts of a clearing, not replying. In the end, Eldon felt as though he should respond to their squirrel friend, saying, "Well we do have lives there too. We can't stay here forever." Eldon had a feeling he had been too dry with him, but he couldn't help himself. The excitement at finding themselves there had begun to wear off, and he found himself slightly irritated, wondering why they could have come there again.
  They shoved their way through some bushes, and found themselves in the clearing, with numerous animals of all sizes and other creatures standing in a circle. "Seems like everyone but us knew we were coming," Eldon muttered under his breath.
  Mouse must have heard him, because he replied in a guilty voice, "We got a sign a few hours ago, indicating when and where. I was sent to come collect you." Eldon didn't respond, just took a step forward and bowed, old habits from years earlier coming back to him. He ruled these people, he should at least act royal. He was vaguely aware of Lacey dipping into a curtsy beside him, just before all of the animals bowed in return to them.
  "So," Eldon began, "what are we here for? Any battles, any danger, anything?"
  A few in the crowd chuckled, which led Eldon to believe nothing of the sort was true. Mouse stepped forward past Eldon and Lacey, and turned around. "No, nothing of the sort. You just came here so we could wish you a Merry Christmas!"


Okay, so the most pointless story I've ever written, I know. I was going to have a whole action scene and etc, and but I never got the chance to write it, because we've been busy for a while. So I'll just leave it at that, and maybe next year I'll give you guys a real story. Still looking for ideas!

Oh, and also, you must listen to these four tracks from the Narnia soundtracks. They are too pretty to not share with you all. And also, LWW is my acronym for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

The Blitz, 1940 - LWW
A Narnia Lullaby - LWW
Prince Caspian Flees - Prince Caspian
Raid on the Castle - Prince Caspian