Page 1 of A Little Merry

Merry 1

When I was an adorable, rebellious teen, I was obsessed withGilmore Girlson Netflix. I must have watched all seven seasons over and over again until I could quote from the episodes.“Reality has absolutely no place in our world,”a quote by Lorelai being my very favorite.

My mom hated that quote. I used it whenever I wanted to counter her, which had happened almost daily.

Not so much anymore. Not since she married Tom Jennings and moved to Kentucky. We still chat on the phone, but only once a month now, if that.

I loved the whole feel of the show: the characters, the events, the relationships, the fast dialogue, but my very favorite, most obsessed with feature about the show was the small town of Stars Hallow. I promised myself that when I grew up, I would find my version of Stars Hallow that I saw up close in a painting when I was about ten… and move there. I even lit candles for that wish and chanted, and manifested it over and over again, until I truly believed it would happen.

Unfortunately, about three months ago, I got sidetracked with a marriage I regretted within the first few hours and ended up getting annulment papers drawn up. The entire affair turned out to be incredibly complicated, so on the eve of my twenty-seventh birthday, I moved here to Cricket, California, from Omaha, Nebraska, a town where I never truly fit in, nor did I ever want to fit in. It just wasn’t me.

Cricket… now that was a town I could settle into, and could grow to love. A town where I could build a family, start my own business, have my dreams fulfilled… and I could wish upon a star in that town, and have my wish come true… I just knew it!

My actual move began twelve days ago when I started my drive across the country in my six-year-old Subaru Crosstrek that was packed tight with boxes, with an extra storage pod strapped to the top. Despite some minor road closures and a bad night’s sleep in a shady motel, I made it. And eight days ago, I emptied my first box in my lovely new apartment.

However, even though there were a myriad of charming people strolling along the sidewalks, working in the charming shops, or walking around the beautifully decorated town square where several Christmas events that I’d participated in had already taken place, I still hadn’t made any real friends, which I knew would come.

Waiting for anything wasn’t something I enjoyed doing.

Sigh.

Regardless, I loved beginnings of all kinds: a new day, a new book, and in this case, a new town. I even loved the fact that it had started snowing.

“I smell snow,”I said aloud, quoting Lorelai Gilmore.

No way could I stay locked inside my new apartment when my very first snowfall had begun over my new favorite small town. Ihadno choice but to step outside and catch a snowflake on my tongue and make my Christmas wish… which I knew would come true this time.

I grabbed my coat, hat, and gloves and scurried out my door, down the stairs and out onto the main street that ran through town. As I strolled down Moon Street, admiring all the twinkling lights in the shop windows, and swirled around the street lights and trees, twinkling in the town square with the extra-largegazebo and all the festive, decorated trees, I noticed a large silver star atop the tallest tree.

I headed straight for it, as if it were calling me.

As I took my first step into the beautifully ornate town square, my phone rang out with the first notes ofJingle Bells, reminding me of this magical moment.

I’d set the clock to chime at twelve midnight, exactly the time to make my wish. I truly believed this year, in this town, on this cold, snowy night, while I was completely alone, standing in the middle of my Stars Hallow recreation, my wish would at last be granted.

I closed my eyes, crossed my fingers, including my thumbs, stood on my toes, opened my mouth, stuck out my tongue, and spun around like Grandma Merry, my namesake, had instructed me to do when I was twelve years old. She’d given me a tiny golden elf pendant that I still wore around my neck on a golden chain every December. She’d given it to me a week before her spirit transitioned up to heaven.

We were alone in her colorful bedroom when she whispered the secret Christmas wish instructions and told me to only share them with my own grandchild when she or he was twelve years old.

When she first told me, I thought she was silly and never really followedallof her instructions, so none of my wishes came true. Well, maybe portions of them did but not the total wish. Not my true heart’s desire.

Tonight was different.

Tonight, I believed my wish would be granted. I was sure of it.

Everything had lined up.

Everything was right, down to the monster snowflakes that had just begun to fall.

An absolute sign.

She also told me the date had to be 12/12. The time had to be twelve midnight. I had to be surrounded by at least twelve Christmas trees, which I knew was true… there were exactly twelve trees… and I had to be lucky enough to catch a twelve-point snowflake on my tongue.

The real magic came when I found the biggest star to wish on, another of her instructions. Tonight, it wouldn’t be a star in the sky. I couldn’t see any with all the snow clouds. Tonight, that biggest star sat atop the tallest tree in the square.

I sucked in a deep breath and said, “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may. I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.” I kept my eyes closed and kept twirling, even though it was making me dizzy. “I wish for a best friend, a special friend, a truly loyal friend who will help me meet a fun, adorable guy who likes to make yummy goodies and drinks. He’s around my age. A guy who’s colorfully artistic. A guy who’s strong and a bit of a bad boy, just to keep me on my game. I wish that we fall in crazy, stupid love and live happily ever after right here in this lovely small town. And all this starts soon… and everything moves fast. I’ve been waiting long enough for this wish to come true.”

All the while, I held my head back and kept imagining that twelve-point snowflake falling right into my mouth. I felt the snowflakes falling on my face, so I was totally hopeful.

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