Page 16 of Christmas Wishes
Chapter Five
Turned out, the walk into the town ofSnows Fallhadn’t taken as long as Rand thought it might. He’d slept on the couch the whole night and woken up feeling lighter and happier than he had in years.. He felt hopeful, too. That his life wasn’t over or destined for boredom, but that there was still purpose and still things for him to do, to see, to become.
He chalked it up to being free to run through the woods again. Yesterday had been the first time he’d been able to do that since before he hit mating age.
He missed home, but it wasn’t a melancholy feeling. He couldn’t explain it, and he didn’t understand it. He only knew it was there, inside him. It was something new and whereas new wasn’t really his thing, he could get used to this one thing, this one change.
Rubbing his hands together to generate some warmth between them, he started down the street to explore his new home town.
He hadn’t been outside the North Pole for any length of time. His only real interaction with humans was through the wishes and letters that came in. He knew the overall perception was that only children believed in Santa or wrote to him, but Rand had found that to be far from accurate.
Plenty of adults used Christmas to wish for promotions, or old lovers to return. They wished for money and more possessions than they knew what to do with. They sought more, always more.
Before technology… Before instant gratification… Before living to work and accumulating all they could, they were working to live and live they did. Before cell phones and always being connected from a distance, they connected in person, face to face. Love and family and friends sustained them. If those feelings still existed, they were few and far between.
Rand didn’t understand what had changed with the world and he didn’t understand feeding humans and their insatiable material appetites. He didn’t have any solutions for it, either. He knew the rules, though. Doubt wasn’t something his father would tolerate. Christmas magic depended on faith, belief, and wonder. If any of those faltered, especially in the immediate Santa Claus family line, it could spell disaster for the holiday season around the world.
He didn’t see the greed in the North Pole and he didn’t see it here inSnows Fall. In fact, it seemed like a small replica of home. It was quaint and old fashioned. There were no late model cars lining the streets, no bling in the windows, no chain stores promising the lowest price, no competition or commercialism.
Snow covered the ground and the steps that led up to a long row of buildings on each side of the road. Several storefronts looked to be under renovation, but others were warm and brightly lit from the inside.
Christmas decorations hung from street lamps and windows.
The scent of coffee permeated the air as he walked by a café. Bells jingled as a child opened a door and ran outside from a candy shop. Sugar hit his senses and he could practically taste it in the air. Peppermint. Chocolate. Vanilla.Snows Fall Bookstorewas wall to wall with people and books.Snows Fall Hardwareshowcased wagons and fresh Christmas trees. On the other side of that, was exactly the place he was looking for:Snows Fall General Store.
He’d never been in a human store, but he hoped they carried food. He needed some in a near desperate way. Water, too.
The door to the candy store behind him, opened again and he stopped, turned, and slid inside before the door could close. Candy canes of all sizes hung on a red wire above the counter. Chocolates and caramels and gem-like sweets sat behind a glass case. His mouth watered as he took it all in. He wanted one of everything.
“Can I help you?”
Rand glanced up to find a tall, yet rounded gentleman standing on the other side of the counter in green plaid with a red apron. His smile was wide, his eyes bright, his cheeks rosy… He could have been a relative of Rand’s father, he appear so jovial.
Rand smiled as well. “I’m wondering if I can buy some of your candy canes.”
“How many do you need?”
“I…I don’t know, exactly.” He hadn’t thought that far ahead. “How many can I have?”
The man laughed. “As many as you want. Tell you what. I’ll sell you ten of any size for say, twenty dollars.”
“Oh, Stanley, stop that.” A short woman stepped up to Rand’s side. She had the same jovial look about her, with dark hair and a matching red apron. “Don’t you mind my husband, young man. He’s been giving away those candy canes all day.”
“Giving away? As in no one paying for them?”
“Yes.”
“But why? Don’t you need to make money?”
“Sure, but we like to give, too. And with it being so close to Christmas, what better time? You take as many as you like. We have more in the back.”
“I wouldn’t feel right.”
“We insist,” the man named Stanley said. He set a brown paper bag next to the cash register and began collecting candy canes from the red wire. Carefully, one by one, he wrapped each in a cellophane, tied it with red string, and set it inside the bag.
“I…” Rand started to protest again, but the woman squeezed his arm, and he stopped before he could say more.
“If it means that much to you that you pay something, there’s a donation tree on the edge of town where you can add money to an envelope and tie it to a branch.”
