All I Wish for Christmas

“Sure you don’t want to come?” Tall and slender elf Olivia teased a week after Tilly had first woken.

Tilly shook her head with wide eyes, the gold-colored star sitting at the tip of her pointed pink cap swayed with the adamant motion, “No, thanks! I’m not ready to climb like that.”

“But you’ve got wings! We don’t even have those,” Olivia’s twin brother, Oliver, joined in, trying to talk her into climbing up the garland to the fireplace mantle where Alexa had put them this year.

“Yeah, but I can’t fly yet!” Tilly protested with a bit of panic in her voice as she fluttered her golden wings to no avail with much effort. “And you’re both more flexible and movable than me! I still have to have help getting off my hook every night.” She pointed out their green, felt-covered wire legs nearly as long as she was tall. “Maybe when I get my wings working,” she added hesitantly.

The glass and ceramic decorations knew that a bad fall could spell certain death, for if they were unable to be mended again, they’d probably be thrown away. Once in the trash, all Christmas Magic would be lost.

The two elves gave her mischievous, but friendly grins before Oliver added with a wink, “We’ll keep you to your word once those little sprouts start doing their thing!”

She wasn’t sure what was supposed to be so great about getting to the top of the mantle anyways, and part of her wouldn’t mind if her wings decided not to work until next year, if that meant she didn’t have to accompany the pair to their perch.

Are they teasing me again? Tilly questioned herself. The elf twins and extra-large, but extra-lovable Dolly, dressed in her candy cane striped dress, were quickly becoming her closest friends, though she admittedly had difficulty determining when the twins were being serious, or when they were teasing her.

Tilly watched the twins scale the garland, giggling and teasing each other the entire way, when Balthazar came from behind her. “Don’t let them pressure you to do something you don’t want. They mean well, but sometimes they forget the rest of us are a bit more clumsy or slow, or just plainly don’t see the fun in the same things they do. You won’t hurt their feelings if you tell them ‘no.’”

She smiled, realizing now that they weren’t being serious, but rather giving her a hard time all in fun. “They are definitely full of energy!” she simply replied, not wanting to come off any more naïve than she already knew she was.

“That they are,” the old sage returned. “Alexa purchased them from a thrift shop last year. You might not think so, but they probably have more years on them than any of the rest of us, having spent many, many Christmases with a different family.” He continued as Tilly watched the twins excitedly dance around the mantle upon reaching the top. “Their original owner had gotten very old and passed away, and sadly, none of her grown children or grandchildren wanted them.” After a moment of silence he continued again, “I’d like to show you something I think you’d find interesting. Come.”

She’d spent more time with Balthazar than most so far, trying to get caught up on what life as an ornament during Christmas entailed. As they walked towards the edge of the table where Jasper was waiting, she realized that Balthazar, too, was her friend, but not in the silly or fun way she saw the other three. He was more serious and contemplative, garnering her deepest respect. Having watched several come to him with questions or suggestions, she was sure that all the toys and decorations felt the same way about him—maybe even the Grinch, just a little.

“Hi’ya Tilly,” the rotund stuffed bear greeted her in his usual warm, deep voiced manner. “If ya climb onto my back and hold onto my neck, I’ll get you to the floor, okay?”

He flipped the tip of his Santa hat back and out of the way, before helping her up to sit piggyback. She wrapped her arms around his soft, furry neck, holding on with all her might. She’d only been down to floor level once, and wondered what Balthazar had in store for her tonight. There was a whole apartment she was dying to explore at some point.

Once they safely reached the ground, she thanked Jasper for the lift, then walked in tandem with Balthazar as they embarked on what seemed like a long walk—at least for a two-inch tall decoration. Down at the end of the hall, they found their destination. Alexa’s bedroom.

Tilly had only seen a few photos of Alexa hanging in the living room, up near the mantle, so seeing her in the flesh was new and exciting. As Christmas life-magic dissipated when Alexa was awake, Tilly had never gotten to see her move about the apartment. Now, here she was, a giant tucked in under a mountain of blankets and Tilly was amazed. Despite her size, she was even more beautiful than her photos. Her face was soft as she peacefully inhaled and exhaled in deep slumber.

“She won’t wake up?” Tilly whispered worriedly, and the wise man shook his head.

Carefully, the two walked to a small bookshelf and Balthazar stepped onto the bottom, then crawled over some flat-laying books, angling himself so that he could push a medium sized shoe box to the edge of the shelf. When he pushed up on the lid, it easily slid off, and Tilly peered inside. To her surprise, it was brimming with stacks and stacks of photographs.

“These are Alexa’s. She keeps many of her most special memories in here.”

For the next several minutes, Balthazar shared Alexa’s life story with Tilly. From her birth on, many of their life-bringer’s favorite moments involved Christmastime, and Tilly excitedly pointed out Balthazar’s home, the manger, in the background of several photographs from when Alexa was much younger.

“Yes, the Nativity actually belonged to Alexa’s parents, Diane and Felix, who bought us when they were first married. We watched Alexa and her brothers and sister as they grew up, then as she left home a couple years ago. Last year, we were very surprised to find that we’d been gifted to Alexa by her parents.”

“Were you sad to leave her dad and mom? You know, after so many years?” Tilly asked, wondering how it would feel to have been with a family for so many Christmases.

Balthazar smiled, “Some of us felt odd about it at first, but we realized that we were given to Alexa because out of Felix and Diane’s four children, she was always the most excited about putting us up each year. We were given with love—or the Christmas Spirit—to someone who already loved us.”

“Ah,” Tilly nodded, “that made it more special then.”

By the time they’d finished going through the box, Tilly had a clearer picture of Alexa’s life in her mind. The Community College student of two years had grown up in a very loving home, and had obtained several of her decorations and ornaments during her childhood, taking them with her when she left home to get a degree in business.

“Alexa’s dream is to run an advertising company, making product commercials for all the big household names,” Balthazar explained.

“But how do you know these things?” Tilly queried, sure that he couldn’t know everything from the photographs.

“I’ll show you soon. But, you can learn a lot about the people living in a household from what they leave lying around. Mail is the best, especially since Alexa’s mom writes her a handwritten letter almost once a week, plus Alexa keeps a journal. I’ve learned that she’s trying to save up money by renting this small apartment so that she can transfer to a bigger university once her lower-level classes are finished. She’s got a good eye for art and design, you know, and her parents are pretty sure she’s going to get the scholarship she’s applied for.”

Tilly listened in wonderment, very interested in reading these tidbits of information for herself. Alexa sounded like an amazing person, and Tilly wanted to know everything about her.

“Last year,” Balthazar continued, interrupting Tilly’s wandering thoughts, “Alexa went home to her parents’ for Christmas Eve and spent the holiday with them and her siblings. I’ve just found out that that’s the plan again this year. Unfortunately, that means Santa Claus won’t be visiting the apartment. He only visits the households where the people are, spreading his extra special Christmas magic there.”

“Oh,” Tilly was disappointed. “I was really interested in meeting Santa Claus. Oliver and Olivia keep talking about him.”

Balthazar sighed, “One day, when Alexa gets older, perhaps she will host Christmas in her own home and her family will come here.” Then he perked up, “And then perhaps someday she will find love and have her own family who will enjoy us all, too! Children produce the most wondrous Christmas Magic.”

Tilly was suddenly confused, “What do you mean, perhaps she will find love? From the photos and what you say about her family, it sounds like she already has love?”

Balthazar laughed, “True, Tilly. You are very right, Alexa knows love, that’s for sure. But I wasn’t talking about that kind. She has family-love. And she also has love in friendships. But there’s other types of love.”

Tilly cocked her head as she helped Balthazar get the lid back on the box of photos, and together they shoved it to the back of the shelf.

“Alexa has love for her dreams and goals, love for life, and things that matter to her.”

“Like puppies?” Tilly proffered, having seen evidence of Alexa’s love for baby dogs in the photos.

“Well, sort of. But yes, there’s also a love for things like puppies,” Balthazar laughed. “There’s one more kind of love that Alexa has not found yet. Romantic love.”

“Romantic love...” Tilly repeated the words slowly, and the wise man nodded.

“Yes, romantic love is different. When the right person comes into Alexa’s life and they both share romantic love, then the seeds of family love and even friendship love begin to grow within each other. Then, they might decide to become a family and have children of their own.”

As the pair walked back to the living room, Tilly pondered on Balthazar’s words and finally asked, “Can we find all these kinds of love? You know, as we are not people, but as ornaments and decorations?”

“Oh, yes! All of us are capable of love. Even the Grinch loves all the rest of us as friends and family.” Then, with a smile he whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but he really loves us all year around. He just doesn’t allow himself to show it until Christmas week.” Tilly giggled, then waved to Jasper who was waiting for them to return so that he could give her a ride back up to the tree.

Instead of spending the rest of the night with the others, Tilly hoisted herself up to her branch. She felt contemplative, so sat watching the group down below. First, she mulled over what she’d learned about Alexa and her family. What an amazing miracle it was that these people and their joy and love brought her and the rest to life. Then, her thoughts turned to what she’d learned about love.

She tried to pick out the kinds of love she could discern from the others. But it wasn’t nearly as clear as she thought it would be. Sure, Olivia and Oliver had a strong sibling love, but they also shared friendship. And of all the toys and decorations, Dolly was the only one to pay the Grinch any mind. Even though she said he got mushy with everyone by Christmas, it seemed as though she were trying to get him to open up and find that Christmas Spirit and joy more than anyone else. Did she see him as a friend? Did she really love him, no matter how bad of a time he gave her?

The Nativity group had a wide variety of love. They were all friends and regarded each other with a deep love for the others’ talents. But the shepherds and wise men had a definite bond and understanding of one another within their respective groups, viewing each other as brothers. And still the entire set loved each other as though they were different parts of a larger family.

Then there was Mary and Joseph, who loved their baby, Jesus, as only parents can love a child. If he cried or wanted to be fed, a tenderness came over the two as they cajoled him, oftentimes making him giggle. Of course, that giggle brought about love from the entire household of ornaments, decorations, and toys. Perhaps their love of baby-giggles is like the love Alexa has for puppies.

Finally, as the hints of sunlight began to brighten the sky in the early hours of morning, Tilly watched as Mary lay Jesus down, kissing his forehead as he slept. Turning to Joseph, Mary smiled and tucked herself under the crook of his arm as they strolled out of the manger, slowly making their way around the tabletop, looking at all the lights on the tree while talking quietly between themselves. They laughed and talked some more, then finally paused turning to one another. Joseph wrapped his arms around his wife, and she in turn locked her fingers behind his neck and they smiled tenderly at one another. When they kissed, Tilly knew that this had to be the romantic love that Balthazar had talked about. It was beautiful, and yet something she couldn’t yet understand in her naïve youth.

She sighed, knowing how little of love she had experienced in her few short nights of being alive. Yet, the bits of love she had experienced so far—that in which she felt for the others, and that received in return from her new friends—felt warm and wonderful! And for the first time, she thought she just might be getting the gist of this Christmas Spirit thing after all. Still, there was so much more she needed to know.

Topping that list though, was Santa Claus. How does he fit into this, and what sort of love does he hold?