All I Wish for Christmas

Tilly felt like a new angel by the time she left the recliner behind and walked back to the tree with Olivia. If she’d known what a New Year’s Resolution was, that’s what she would have called her renewed, forward-thinking outlook on how she was going to approach life from here on out.

Returning to Captain Tinsel on her own, Tilly resolved to finish their conversation, though it still hurt her deeply. “Captain, I’ve not come to try to change your mind. I understand where you’re coming from and respect your feelings. Above all, I value our friendship and don’t want to jeopardize that in any way. I’m here to take you up on your offer to remain friends if you’ll still have me.”

Captain Tinsel looked as though his day had been made as Tilly looked at him pleadingly, “Oh Tilly, of course I still want to be your friend!”

They hugged tightly, vowing to be more upfront and honest with each other in the future. And though things were a little awkward for a while between them, they soon fell into their old routine, only with Tilly being more assertive about what she wanted to do or if she needed to spend time elsewhere. Now that she wasn’t trying so hard to please him all the time, she felt more relaxed overall, and so did he.

Tilly spent the remainder of the Christmas season taking stock of her life, hopes, and desires. She reevaluated her blessings and examined how she’d been going about showing love to those around her and how she could better appreciate the love that came her way.

She also spent the rest of December contemplating the perfect Christmas Wish, now that she understood the grand scope of wishing. When Christmas came and she knelt next to Baby Jesus, she whispered into his ear with tears in her eyes, “I wish, dear Jesus, for love all around. I wish that others can feel the love and joy that I have. The love that fills my heart with joy this very night. Love from family, friends, and even strangers whom I’ve never met. For I feel love from my fellow Christmas ornament friends—the ones who I consider family. I also feel love from Alexa, who brought me to life through her Christmas magic so many Christmases ago and hangs me with care each and every year. And beyond that, I feel the love of Alexa’s family, who love her enough to care for the items of her youth, then gift her those old decorations or buy her new ones who continue to fill my world with joy and love. I simply wish for this love to expand and be felt all across the world.”

And so, Christmas passed and so did time. Tilly’s Decembers became fun again and were filled with joyful moments with old and new friends alike.

In light of the lesson the pair learned about confronting their feelings, Captain built up his own courage to speak with Rose on a more serious note. Tilly had never mentioned the conversation between herself and Rose to anyone besides Glint and Olivia, deciding that Captain needed to come to terms with the false beauty on his own. Soon, the blinders he’d been wearing came off and he found her to be nastier inside than the Grinch ever thought about being at the start of each Christmas season. Captain was devastated as his infatuation dissolved, but he had his true friends, to include Tilly, to help him move forward again.

As for Rose, she couldn’t understand that her position at the top of the tree didn’t mean that she was better than the others, and instead of being someone to look up to in a figurative sense, she became the one that no one looked for at all. Not that the others were mean or cruel to her, she was still invited to participate in the holiday festivities, but if she didn’t come, no one seemed to care or notice after a while.

Balthazar wisely mentioned to Tilly once that one day Rose’s plastic facade would age much quicker than their clay ceramic exteriors. And when that day came, if she didn’t come to terms with how she wanted to be perceived on the inside, she would be easily tossed aside for something more beautiful. Of all the ornaments, she was in a position of honor, yet she wasted her gift, making herself lonely at the top.

On Tilly’s seventeenth Christmas, Alexa had moved them again. This time to a suburban neighborhood. The house was larger than any they’d lived in before, yet not extremely large nor fancy. She discovered that Alexa was spending a lot of time with her handsome new boyfriend throughout this past year—more time than she had with others in the past, often going on trips and vacations with him, and the two even spending time with each other’s families. Tilly had never seen their life-bringer so involved with someone else. The pair looked happy together, Tilly thought as she looked through Alexa’s photos on the office computer whenever Alexa left it on. She hoped that this meant Alexa was really finding love this time.

On Christmas Eighteen, Tilly awoke to the light playing of Christmas music and the sound of masculine humming to the end of the song as the last lights were turned out in the house. She’d been put on the window-side of the tree again but noticed that the living room had been completely redecorated. As she scanned the room, she suddenly heard a faint noise from below and she paused to listen.

Crying? Who’d be crying? she wondered. Deftly unhooking herself from her limb, she listened for the soft noise and fluttered her wings, gently drifting down the tree trying to find the source of the sorrowful sound. Finally, nearing the bottom, a white ball of something was wedged in the branches, huddled near the plastic needles as if it were attempting to be one with the tree.

“Hello?” Tilly called softly, not wanting to scare the ornament. At least she was pretty sure it was an ornament, for it was definitely hooked onto the tree limb it was clinging to. “Please don’t cry. It’s okay,” she softly consoled as she hovered closer.

Finally, the tiny ball unfurled itself, turning around with difficulty, so that it faced Tilly. She smiled softly back at the teary-eyed face with pink cheeks peering out at her. Tiny black dots, much like her own eyes, contrasted with his pure white face, and still held large teardrops.

The round figure was about a head shorter than Tilly—just a tiny thing. He wore an equally tiny red and white knitted stocking cap and a matching scarf. And with two yellow ceramic buttons attached vertically to his belly and a rounded orange carrot for a nose, which sniffled, Tilly knew this little snowboy was the cutest, albeit saddest, snowperson she’d ever seen.

“Ah sweetheart, it’s alright. I’m Tilly. Let me help you down, okay?”

The youth sniffed again and nodded his head. Tilly noted his wire branch-arms were much too short to reach above his head, and she made a mental note that he was going to have to have help getting down each night. As Tilly reached above him to get at his metal hook, he whimpered slightly, “My dad. He usually does this. But he’s not here. I don’t know where he’s at!”

Tilly frowned, helping the snowboy balance himself on the limb while looking around for another snowperson. “What’s your name, honey?” she asked, taking things slowly.

“S-Sammy,” the snowboy replied, relaxing somewhat as she held onto him, stooping to his level.

“It’s nice to meet you Sammy. I take it that this isn’t your first Christmas?”

The boy shook his heavily garbed head, “N-no. Me and my dad have had lots of Christmases. But this is the first time he wasn’t with me! You don’t think...” Sammy trailed off, his eyes wide in fear, and Tilly, being ceramic herself, knew what the child was thinking.

Goodness, I hope he isn’t broken! Tilly thought, but good-naturedly squeezed the snowboy’s hand, “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere. You’re new to Alexa’s home, so perhaps she split you up not realizing you both were a set.” She sure hoped that was the case anyways.

“But- but we look just alike! There’s no way she wouldn’t know!” Sammy panicked, then rethought what Tilly had said. “Who’s Alexa? We belong to Bill!”

“Bill?” Tilly knew that name. “Bill!” She exclaimed, recognizing Alexa’s boyfriend’s name. But what would Bill’s ornaments be doing here? This was still Alexa’s house. Perplexed, Tilly helped Sammy down the rest of the tree and safely to the ground. By the time they arrived at the base of the Nativity set’s table, the rest of the ornaments were awake and moving about. Several of her friends were also bringing other newcomers to the official meetup location. This was beginning to be quite an unusual Christmas as the number of new ornaments and decorations grew.

To Tilly’s relief, Sammy recognized many of the other new faces—they all seemed to belong to Bill. But as the growing crowd began conversing, a worried atmosphere came over the room.

“What happened to Bill?” was the resounding question murmured all around.

“He wouldn’t just give us away to someone else! Some of us have been with him for years,” a red- and green-furred dog worriedly barked, as Dolly tried to console him.

At that moment, an elegant female wooden soldier, wearing a tall black and gold cap stepped up. Seeming to be the leader of Bill’s ornaments, she quieted the overly worried ones in her kind, but no-nonsense manner. “Don’t panic, I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for everything. Let’s stay calm so we can figure things out.”

Balthazar hadn’t made it down from the tabletop yet, and while Jasper was on his way to go help him down, Tilly decided to take the lead on her group’s behalf. With Sammy still nearby, she introduced herself to the soldier, “I’m Tilly. Tilly Tippy Toes. This is Alexa’s home. I’ve been with her for eighteen years, and if Bill is who I think it is, then Alexa is his girlfriend.”

The girl soldier nodded, extending a hand in greeting, “I’m Major Candy Cane, but most just call me Major or Candy, whatever you prefer. Nice to meet you, Tilly.” Then waving her hand to acknowledge the room, she continued, “Alexa is indeed the name of Bill’s girlfriend. So, it seems we have found our connection. Perhaps they have moved in together, for I recognize the couch and some of his other home decor.”

“Oh!” Tilly exclaimed as realization came to her. Alexa really was serious about this guy, she thought to herself.

From the top of the tree, a silky and familiar voice overpowered the murmuring crowd. “They’ve gotten married,” Rose, who rarely spoke to anyone, announced pointedly. Waving her hand towards the bookshelf in the corner, she proclaimed again, “Alexa and Bill were married this year.”

Smiling down at Sammy, who was still attached to her, Tilly told him to stay while she flew to the bookshelf, landing in front of several framed photos of the couple, some of which she recognized from the past. But one stood out, larger and more ornately framed than the rest. And it was definitely a wedding photo, featuring Alexa, Bill, and both their parents and siblings smiling joyfully in their luxurious wedding attire.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Tilly breathed out with joyful tears misting her eyes. Her appropriately revised Christmas Wish had come true for Alexa and Bill! “It’s true! They’re official!” Tilly called out as she flew back to the group all smiles, acknowledging Rose as the one who made the discovery. Happily, she alighted again in front of Major Candy Cane and Balthazar, who’d made it down from the table, taking his rightful spot as lead advisor.

But before she could say anything further, Sammy quickly pulled at her feathered tutu with fresh tears in his eyes, “But my dad! He’s still missing!”