North Pole Magic

Santa’s Daughter

I’m part of the most magical place in the whole wide world and I’ll never stop believing in the magic of Christmas being sheltered inside the protective shield of North Pole Village. It was like growing up inside a snow globe where nothing bad could ever happen and magic bloomed all year long. I’d watched the humans in their realm with all of the lying and cheating and traffic and as they got older, they lost sight of the magic in their own world. I guess if I had to deal with everything in their world, I might be a little less inclined to keep sight of the joy in the world and that was something I could never live with.

My dad had been Santa for the past thirty years and I was so glad that he’d taken up the coat. Him and my mom. Had been asleep in bed when the previous Santa got wrapped up in an electrical cord for their lights and had apparently fallen off their steep roof. Her parents had been woken by the ruckus and went running outside to find out what had happened. All they had found when they got outside was Santa’s coat in a snow drift beside the front door and her father had done the only reasonable thing there was to do. He had put on the coat, delivered the toys with mom and become the newest Santa , starting a family at the North Pole.

Being born here is the absolute best thing I could ever imagine, like waking up to a warm peppermint latte on her bed stand on a particularly cold day. Although, I had to admit, it could be a little bit lonely sometimes. Oh, don’t get me wrong, my parents are phenomenal and love me, my brother and my sister more than absolutely anything in the known universe and we have time magic. It’s just that sometimes I daydream about finding someone that I got to pick out all on my own. I’d witnessed friendships and relationships through the snow globes, but I wanted to really feel that magic. I wanted to make my own magic by making something new and messy and amazing, but I just felt stuck.

I would never tell my dad that though so I wondered to the Frost Woods where Gyra lived with her thirteen sons and a multitude of yulecats. Gyra was the Icelandic Christmas witch and she wasn’t exactly well liked, but I bet she’s just misunderstood. There had to be some ginger in her snaps and I’m pretty sure she really enjoyed our little visits. I bet being the only woman in a house full of mischievous testosterone had to be kind of frustrating sometimes. I’m pretty sure I’d lose my marbles if I had to put up with them all the time, but they had pretty well accepted me into their little clan of shenanigans and I was thankful for people other than my family to talk to. Well, my family and the elves, but they couldn’t exactly understand me.

It was winter solstice which just so happened to be my birthday and the night of our northern lights meteor shower. It was a phenomenon that had begun the night I was born and happened every year since. Mom said it meant that I was special and had the heart of Christmas, whatever that meant, but the light show wasn’t until the stroke before midnight and continued until the sun rose the following morning. I had plenty of time to chat with the cantankerous witch before meeting up with my family for a night of peppermint lattes, gingerbread man cake topped with mom’s famous bourbon balls and all the cheer you could dream of.

I passed through the juniper draped arches leading out of our always decorated home and headed straight for the stables. I wondered over to Prancer’s stall and held out the peppermint stick that I had brought for her as she glided to gate for affection. She bent her magnificent head down, ate the mint and nuzzled my palm before locking her big brown eyes on my evergreen gaze. Are we going to the Frost Woods?

What would make you ask that?

Pranced eyed her suspiciously and pawed at the straw beneath her hooves in obvious indignation. You only bring peppermint when we’re going to do something you know I won’t like, otherwise I just get carrots.

Oh don’t sound so upset about it. We both know that you love your carrots and you have way more fun with me than anyone else. We’re gonna go see Gryla.

Prancer tossed her elegant head, antlers scraping against the oak of her stall door and stomped her massive hooves. Her yulecats chase me all the way to her cabin and her sons are nutcrackers.

Oh, stop being so dramatic! You love proving you’re the fastest thing in the North Pole and we both know it. Prancer snorted, but kept any further moments to herself as I tossed a halter over her head and she bowed to let me slide more easily onto her back. Once I was in place, she took off out the open stable door, garland and lights blurring into a streak of Christmas cheer and dashed away into the forest. They had barely passed the border into Frost Woods when the yulecats fell in around them and Prancer put on a burst of speed. Jova nipped at the back of her legs, eliciting a snort of fury and she dropped her head, scooping the cat up with her antlers and tossing her into the nearest tree.

She dodged in between the trees, evading the sharp teeth of the snapping yulecats and slid to a stop in front of Gryla’s cottage. As soon as they were on the old witch’s property, the cats gave up their chase and disappeared into the shadows of the trees. Prancer gave me an accusatory look and plopped down on the bed of pine needles Gryla had piled up in preparation for their visit. She bit into the plums that had been left out for her and tossed her head in the direction of the door. Go have your people time. I can keep myself busy while you chat.