Page 67 of A Winter in Wonderland
Chapter 30
AlthoughChristmastime would go on here in our corner of Lapland for several more weeks, I was still feeling that change in myself when I stepped out of the house that morning for work. Like I wasn’t so worried any more. And like I could appreciate the beauty around me.
‘Morning, hello!’ I greeted people I passed as I made my way first to the activities’ lodge and then around to the snowmobile park.
Despite being Christmas Day, I was sure today wouldn’t feel quite as busy as it had been recently. Not so many daytrippers, and the overnight tourists appreciated having a later start and a chance to open gifts with their families in their hotels before hitting the snowy hills for activities.
I hoped I didn’t get us all lost in the woods and ruin everyone’s Christmas or anything … No! That wasn’t going to happen. It might be a little premature but I was going to believe we wereoutof the woods now.
I was taking a family out today for one of the longer Seeking Santa Claus snowmobile safaris, where we’d stop to spend time with the reindeer, huskies, Santa’s cabin and I’d take them to some viewpoints. When I met them that morning, they seemed friendly and relaxed, here on holiday from Italy, and ready for a day of adventure. After showing the young teenage boy how he could transfer from his wheelchair to the snowmobile, his parents helped him on and off we went.
‘Did you see the Northern Lights last night?’ I asked the family when we stopped on the first fell for everyone to take some photos and have a snack. After the clear night, the sky was lit up with pinks and blues today, the sun still sleeping below the horizon but casting Happy Christmas colours up into our world.
‘I did!’ said the boy, whose English, like his parents’, was brilliant. ‘I woke up in the night and my bed is right by the window, so I said,Mamma,Papa, wake up.’
‘It was incredible,’ the mother agreed. ‘My favourite thing about the trip so far.’
It had been pretty incredible. And with that, my mind flitted back to a memory of Josh watching them with me at three a.m. I was bursting to tell this family about how I’d watched them and with whom, but they probably wouldn’t care so I should just focus on the job.
And what a job this was. For the first time on one of these snowmobile adventures, I found the wind stretching my face into a genuine smile as we zoomed and sliced our way through the snow to our different stopping points.Everything was going well, much to my relief, and finally I could see why the other guides loved being on them so much. It was freeing, not scary, not if you let yourself be in the moment.
After I bid farewell to my family at the end, and was packing up my stuff in the activities’ lodge ready to head home, Daan came up to me.
‘Myla, great job today!’
‘Really?’ I said, pleased because … I thought so too.
‘That family you took out just came up to me and wanted to sing your praises. They said you were a kind, friendly guide who made their Christmas incredibly special.’
‘I made their Christmas special?’ I repeated, the words catching in my throat. But I was the buzz-kill, had been for years. Making Christmas special was a talent that was beyond me, I thought.
‘That’s what they said. And I was watching when you came back in. You’re confident on the snowmobiles now, aren’t you?’
‘I wouldn’t sayconfident.’
‘That’s how it looked. Well done. You’ve come a long way.’
I beamed. ‘Thank you.’
‘Merry Christmas.’
I took a pause and a breath. I’d really made their Christmas special? I could do that, despite everything? And then out popped the words that I’d long felt like an imposter saying, only this time, it felt different. I meant them. ‘Yeah. Merry Christmas.’
