Our Last Christmas Together

by Matt Mikalatos

  “Two months later he was in the hospital, and Dad flew back, but I didn’t go. I put his photo up next to my bed, with Grandma beside him so he wouldn’t get lonely.

  “That was our last Christmas together. But if Grandpa were here, he would get up on this stage and tell you that this is our last Christmas together too. Our first, yes, but also our last. So we should work hard to enjoy it, and be patient with each other, and celebrate this time together. Who knows where we will all be in another year, or who we will be with?

  “So peace on earth and good news to all. Let’s celebrate our last Christmas together with joy and good cheer. Merry Christmas!”

  And all the people gathered in the courtyard echoed it back to her, a warm wave of blessing and well wishes: “Merry Christmas!”

  That was Jason’s cue. He turned the knob on the embiggenator, and as soon as Delightful Glitter Lady was her regular size, he jumped onto her back, yelled at Hanali to follow him, and marched into the courtyard.

  Madeline had barely wiped the tears from her eyes when she started laughing so hard she thought she would burst. Jason entered the courtyard riding Delightful Glitter Lady. She had branches stuck to her head to look like antlers, which looked very strange rising up on either side of her horn, and Jason wore the red stocking cap and suit of Saint Nicholas.

  Close behind him came Hanali, dressed in a dark green outfit that flared out a solid two feet as it came near his feet. As he came closer, she noticed the star-shaped hat and the glittering colored circles on his coat. He was, without a doubt, dressed as a Christmas tree, and he was smiling broadly.

  “Ho, ho, ho!” Jason shouted. “Merry Christmas to all. Ho, ho, ho!”

  Just behind Hanali came a tiny camel, with a pack of gifts thrown over its back.

  “Gifts for all,” Hanali called. “Come get your gifts from this capybara.”

  As the humans crowded around, Christmas Tree Hanali reached into the bag and handed out small stones to each one. They looked at them, perplexed, and Hanali shooed them along. “Make way for the others,” he said.

  Madeline held the smooth stone in her hand. “Hanali, what is it?”

  “Oh, just a bit of magic. It works for today only. But it will let you see what your family is doing right now. Just warm it in your hand, then look at the surface. You will see.”

  Jason slipped away, finding the boy with the mask. “Hey,” he said. “Nice party.”

  “Thank you.”

  He couldn’t stand it anymore, and he couldn’t keep talking to the creepy kid, so he just thrust the puddings he had collected at him. “Go on.”

  The boy took the puddings, and even through the mask Jason could tell he was thrilled and deeply touched. “But these are for your white elephant exchange.”

  Jason rolled his eyes. “That’s like the anti-Christmas Christmas thing. And besides, this is definitely our last Christmas together if I can help it. You might as well enjoy some pudding.”

  Jason escaped into the crowd before the boy could say anything more.

  Shula sat holding her magic stone in her hand. Madeline sat beside her. “What does it show you?” she asked.

  Her friend smiled sadly. “Nothing. My family is gone, Madeline. What does yours show?”

  “Oh, my dad at work, my mom in the garden.” She put her arm around Shula. “Look at the stone again.”

  “It only shows family,” Shula said.

  “Look again,” Madeline insisted, hoping she was right. Shula cupped the stone in her hand and warmed it. She lifted it up, and she and Madeline could see themselves, as if in a mirror.

  “We’re like sisters. You’re family to me, now,” Madeline said. And then she couldn’t talk anymore because Shula had thrown her arms around her.

  It wasn’t long before Jason wedged himself into the group hug, and Shula gasped when she saw him appear on her family stone as well. “Jason adopts people quickly,” Madeline said, laughing.

  “You found a tiny camel!” Shula said to him.

  “It wasn’t easy, either. As soon as I heard your story, I ran into the city to find one. The Elenil weren’t much help. They offered me a zebra, a tiny giraffe, a platypus, and a cat. A cat! But I thought it would make your Christmas a little better.”

  “It did,” she said. “Thank you.”

  Baileya came over and put her hand on Jason’s shoulder. “I have brought you a Merry Christmas present,” she said. “The story you shared was a great gift to us all, and I wanted to give you a gift as well. I spoke to a messenger bird while you were preparing.”

  Jason looked at her quizzically. “Oh yeah?”

  She held up her hand, revealing a single white feather. “It is light, but my respect is real.”

  Jason grinned. “It’s wonderful,” he said.

  “The messenger bird did not think so,” Baileya said.

  Madeline took a deep, full breath—something she couldn’t have done if not for the magic of this place. She laughed again at the sight of Hanali giving out gifts while dressed as a Christmas tree. How did Jason convince people to do these ridiculous things? She looked at her friends and thought of her grandfather’s words. This was their last Christmas together, but it was also their first. She missed her grandfather, and she missed her parents, but she was enjoying this.

  “If it hadn’t been for the magic of the Sunlit Lands,” she said, “this could have been my last Christmas ever.”

  Jason wrapped an arm around her. “And what if it had been?”

  “It would have been a great one.”

  Then the carols started, and they sang together, and Jason gave all the children rides on Delightful Glitter Lady, and there was dancing, and they shared favorite Christmas memories and made new ones. They stayed up late into the night, until the Knight of the Mirror declared the day done and one last song was sung, and they made their reluctant farewells and last wishes of happy holidays and Merry Christmas. They said good-bye to Jason and Delightful Glitter Lady at the stables, and Baileya waved to them all merrily as she left through the castle gates. Madeline and Shula climbed the tower stairs to Madeline’s solar, and they laughed late into the night as they told each other stories of Christmases past.

  And in the morning Madeline woke to find Shula sleeping innocently, and candy and tiny gifts in her shoes.

  THE END

  The Crescent Stone, The Heartwood Crown, and The Story King

  www.thesunlitlands.com