All I Wish for Christmas

The following Christmas season began much like the first, but this time Tilly was happy to know how to get herself down from the tree. Alexa had positioned her on the opposite side of the tree this year, and she had a spectacular view of the living room.

“Hello!” Tilly called out, more than excited that it was Christmastime, once more. Carefully, she started down the limbs, only to accidentally step on the Grinch’s long green finger.

“Ouch, little girl! Get out of here!” he snapped. “No one wants you and your pink frillies and feathers walking all over them!”

“I missed you, too!” Tilly teased, smiling at him before continuing down the tree, greeting everyone amongst the branches. It sure hadn’t felt like a whole year had passed, though a part of her did feel a bit different—older.

“Balthazar! Melchior!” she called out to the two wise men conversing below, before continuing on to see everyone else. In no time, she’d made her rounds, giving out hugs and squeezes to all.

But the question on everyone’s mind was whether or not there was anyone new. Tilly knew that there was no guarantee that Alexa would bring a new ornament into the household, but it was customary to search, just in case. They wouldn’t want a poor, unsuspecting newcomer to be left alone and frightened on their first night in this new world.

“Oh no, it’s him!” Everyone turned to look where one of the shepherds was pointing with his staff. That’s when Tilly first laid eyes on the grinning face of the Elf on the Shelf. Leaning on an elbow with his legs kicked out, he smirked, then waved to the group below, “Hey boys and girls! Guess who?”

The three wise men rolled their eyes and Mary laughed out loud as she bounced Jesus in her arms. Others murmured or giggled, while the rest looked just as confused as Tilly. As for those who knew him, she wasn’t sure whether or not they were happy or distraught at seeing the cheeky elf.

“Who is he?” Tilly queried Dolly standing next to her.

“I have no idea, but it looks like the manger folks know him. Let’s go find out,” and the two ambled over to the wise men to listen in to their mutterings.

“Glint, that’s his name. He was a family favorite in Alexa’s childhood home, and it looks like he’s the item her parents gifted her with this year,” Melchior explained.

Caleb, one of the shepherds, picked up where he left off. “He arrived in the family home when the kids were all pretty small and was the only decoration, toy, or ornament that was allowed to move throughout the house during the holiday season. Basically, he’s supposed to be in places where the children can see him watching them, and they know that he will report their behavior to Santa Claus each night.”

“Like Oliver and Olivia, Glint has a pension for mischief, but he’s also a ladies’ man,” Rodney further explained with exasperation.

Tilly wasn’t sure what that meant, and asked Mary, being she was a lady and all. Mary laughed, “Oh, it just means he likes to flirt and tease the girls. But he’s harmless. Just remember that when he flirts, he’s not all that serious.”

“Ah,” Tilly replied, though she wasn’t exactly sure what any of that meant, though it wasn’t long before she figured out the gist of this ‘ladies-man’ business. It was hard to put a finger on, but after a few days, Tilly began to notice how much attention Glint paid to all the females in their group, including her.

“Making those feathers look good there, Tilly!”

“How’s it going, beautiful?”

“If something happened to the tree topper star, you could easily fill its spot.”

These were just a few of the complimentary comments the good-looking elf had for her. And he never failed to have something new each time they crossed paths.

Olivia flirted back in her own way. Like the day he said, “No one’s as fine a climber as you, Olivia!” She called back with, “You’re too much!” Then grinned and shot up the garland to the top of the mantle in record time.

Clara, Cleo, and Clementine—the faceless angel trio—were extremely shy around him, mostly giggling in response to his flirtations. Mary just shook her head and smiled most of the time, treating him as a mother would a mischievous child. And Dolly would just take his compliments and return sweet ones of her own, treating him just like she did everyone else.

But Tilly wasn’t sure what to do. Sure, Mary said not to take him seriously, but the fact that he noticed her like no one else made her blush. She tried the techniques that everyone else used, but for some reason she would just freeze inside, and words or practiced facial expressions wouldn’t come out quite right.

What is wrong with me? Tilly wondered after one especially embarrassing moment when Glint asked her to help him with something, and she couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying enough to even know what exactly he needed help with. All she knew is that his words were like honey and his composure made her feel jittery inside.

It wasn’t necessarily unpleasant, and she had no desire to cringe when he came near. No, in fact, she would give anything to be near him. Only, whenever he was near, she couldn’t seem to function.

Finally, as another week passed, Mary put her arm around Tilly’s shoulders and ushered her to a more private area, while Olivia and Oliver played with Jesus. “Tilly, dear. I think you and I should have a talk about your feelings,” Mary kindly proffered.

As they tucked themselves away, sitting on a large lump of soft cotton ‘snow,’ Tilly queried, “My feelings?”

“Mm-huh,” the matron of the decorations answered simply. “I think Glint’s presence makes you a bit... nervous?”

The little angel blushed, it was one thing to feel her nerves within herself, and quite another to know that everyone else saw it, too. “Oh, I don’t understand it, Mary! I can talk to everyone, but him. I just become such a fool whenever he opens his mouth to me.”

Mary smiled and laughed lightly, “Ah, to be so young and innocent! Tilly, you are feeling something called attraction. Do you know what that means?” Tilly shook her head. “Attraction is the beginning of romantic feelings for someone else. Glint promotes feelings of attraction with the girls because he says things that most people reserve for someone they care deeply about. He finds the things that make a girl feel special and has no problem telling her blatantly. Sometimes, okay oftentimes, he goes a little over the top with his compliments, but it’s his compliments that stir something inside you, making him seem more attractive than he already is.”

Tilly sighed, thinking contemplatively. True, he was cute with his dimpled cheeks and big blue eyes. Then, going over all the things Glint had said recently to her and the others in her mind, she nodded. Furrowing her brow, she asked, “That all sounds sensible, but why does it make me feel nervous? I mean Clara and the others kinda get shy, but they don’t seem to be affected nearly as bad as me!”

Mary laughed again, “It’s because you are a little more timid and innocent in your attraction than they are. You feel nervous because deep down inside you innately understand that the things he’s saying should mean so much more when the right guy tells them to you. When two people feel mutually attracted to one another, that often leads to falling in love.”

“Falling?” Tilly echoed, thinking that it didn’t sound very pleasant.

Mary’s eyes crinkled, understanding the connotation of the word in Tilly’s mind, “Yes, falling. But, when you’re doing this kind of ‘falling,’ it’s wonderful and romantic. Yet, like falling off your limb, it’s unstoppable once it happens. That’s why it’s called ‘falling.’”

“Oh! Romantic Love! Yes, Balthazar had explained different kinds of love to me last year. You and Joseph have this ‘romantic love,’ right?” Tilly was excited as everything started to make sense.

Mary wouldn’t have had to answer that question, for her sweet smile deepened to the point that words weren’t needed, yet she did so anyway, “Yes, that’s right. I fell head over ceramic heels for him years ago.”

“That’s what Balthazar said Alexa would find someday. That that was the one kind of love she hadn’t found yet.”

Mary nodded, thinking about the girl she’d watch grow up over the years, “That’s right. Though I think she’s starting to experience romantic feelings and attraction. She’s got a picture of herself with a nice-looking young fellow hanging on the refrigerator this year. But I’m not sure it’s ‘love’ quite yet.” Then, more seriously she looked Tilly in the eye, “Sweetie, you do know Glint doesn’t mean any of what he says to anyone romantically, right? That he’s not trying to find love?”

Tilly had heard the rumors that Glint was going steady with the Tooth Fairy—another magical being, like Santa Claus, who she also wanted to meet and know more about. It was said that he’d met Miss Tooth, as he affectionately called her, when Alexa and her siblings were very young and one of them had lost a tooth at Christmastime. It was love at first sight for both of them, though the circumstances of their own duties made it difficult for them to be together on a permanent basis. Yet, every Christmas she’d stop by the house whenever some kid in the neighborhood had lost a tooth. In fact, Tilly had overheard Glint himself joke with Jasper that he was tempted to sneak over to the neighbor’s apartment and see if he could ‘help’ a loose tooth along just so that he could be sure she knew where he’d moved to this year.

“So, it’s true... he fell in love with Miss Tooth?”

“Yep. That’s why it’s important to understand that what you’re feeling, while it is completely natural and normal, isn’t something to build up in your mind. Now that you understand what your feelings are, that is.”

Tilly seriously took in this information, knowing that she was going to have to think about her own feelings a bit more in solitude later on. “I have one more question, Mary.”

“Go for it,” Mary nodded.

“If he’s so in love with Miss Tooth, then why does he flirt with the girls? Joseph doesn’t talk to any of us like that. I guess none of the other guys do...”

Mary smirked, “Joseph better not!” she teased, knowing how faithful her husband was. Then more seriously she replied, “Glint enjoys the idea of all the lady-folk being attracted to him. It makes him feel good, and I suspect that a part of him needs the attention for some reason deep down. But, for as long as I’ve known him, which is most of my life, and for as long as he’s known the Tooth Fairy, I’ve never seen him do anything more than talk to other ladies. He would never do anything to compromise the love that the two of them share. And so long as she doesn’t mind his flirts, I suppose it doesn’t do any harm. What fears me is that he’s going to do it to the wrong girl and she’s going to get the wrong idea.”

“Ah, that’s why you’re talking to me, now?” Tilly murmured, feeling a little embarrassed about being so naïve about the whole thing.

“Oh, don’t feel bad, Tilly. That’s what we’re here for. You wouldn’t know otherwise, and I care enough about you, that I didn’t want to see you get hurt feelings at some point down the road.”

Tilly smiled, feeling a bit better and thanked her motherly friend before retreating to her branch to contemplate this attraction and love-falling business before morning broke. The way Balthazar had spoken about Alexa ‘finding love’ someday and how Mary now described ‘falling in love,’ made Tilly feel sure that this must be a very special kind of love. Especially if you have to find it and then fall!

So, when Christmas Eve rolled around and another holiday in which Alexa visited her parents allowed the Christmas decorations to celebrate the season on their own, Tilly had her simple Christmas wish already prepared to present to the little baby, Jesus.

“Jesus, I wish to find love that I can fall into.”