“How did you get that? And so fast?” I quizzed her.
“I’ve been flying Rudolf around since I was a kid and well Barry pulled a few strings for me at the DMV.”
I chuckled, “Rudolf? Really?”
“Come on!” She grabbed my hand and we headed for the station that would take us to New York City.
*
Nichole had a lot of questions about the potion as we flew her blue convertible at super speed towards Florida’s coast. “Are there any side effects? How long does one dose last? How soon will the snow stop after I take it?” She’d admitted to never taking any type of potion before. Which was new to me. Witches and potions were like fairies and pixie dust, you never saw one without the other.
“Relax, Nichole, breathe.” I had to laugh a little at her nervousness. It was so cute. As we landed the car in our usual spot I popped the cork on the vial and handed it to her. “Want me to drink one with you?”
She gasped. “What would that do to you?”
“Nothing. It’s designed just for you, but if you’re scared--,” I mocked her.
“Hand it here.” Nichole downed it and almost spit it back up as she laughed. “White hot chocolate and buttercream frosting? How did you do that?”
Without even looking up I pointed to the sky. “I’m good with potions.”
Nichole gasped again. “Chris, you did it! This is amazing!” Tears filled her eyes as she looked up into a snowless sky. She lowered the veil and the human world enveloped us with no snow in sight. “Oh no!”
I was pulled out of watching her joy, “What! What’s wrong?”
“Julie’s shop is closed.” She pouted. Even her pout unhinged me. We walked closer to the building to read the handwritten sign on the door.
‘Dear Loyal Witches Brew Customers, we will be closed until January 1st and hope to see you all after the holidays. Best spells and potions, Wicked Julie.’
“Awe man this sucks! I wish there was some way we could’ve helped her stay open through her slow time.” I took my hat off and pulled my hand through my brown mop of hair.
“Me too. She was so nice,” Nichole said and continued after I gave her a confused look. “Julie’s the first human I’ve ever met.”
“What? Really?” I was shocked and a bit sad for her.
Nichole nodded her head and looked away. “I’ve never met a witch before either,” she whispered. For some reason that one sentence melted my heart and I had an idea.
“Come on.” I put my hat back on, took her hand, and headed back to the car.
“Where are we going?” She asked, but followed my lead.
“A baseball game to have hot dogs and pretzels with screaming fans, the Eifel Tower to take pictures with tourists, and the Colosseum just for its pure magnificence, you name it and we’ll go. I’m going to show you the world!”
*
“What is this thing we’re going to see called again?” I asked for the tenth time. I couldn’t understand why we were headed all the way to Rome, Italy and instead of wanting to see the Colosseum, Nichole insisted on seeing some statue first.
“It’s the statue of Pluto and Proserpina by Bernini,” she huffed. “And we’re here.”
“Oh man! You didn’t even do a flyby over the Colosseum first?” I slouched in the passenger seat.
“Later. The gallery closes soon. Now will you land this thing already?”
“Okay, okay.” I did what she asked. How could I not? She dressed up for her first official outing into the human world in the prettiest long navy blue skirt I’d ever seen. Her grey blonde hair was tied low in a side ponytail and her silver highlights shimmered when she moved. I had to wipe my palms on my pants while we landed. Every time I looked at her they started to sweat profusely. We got out of the car and Nichole lowered the veil. The sun’s evening light hit her orange sweater and it created a breathtaking glow about her. It was almost as if her happiness was radiating out of her as light.
Walking into the gallery I got bored pretty fast though. Old oil paintings and statues weren’t my idea of fun. But watching Nichole’s reaction to them was entertaining. She absorbed the details of every piece we walked passed on our way to the statue. Presumably she was admiring the artistry within each work, but I just didn’t get the appeal. And then when we walked into a smaller room and saw what we had come for she froze in what I could only describe as awe.
“Wow!” She said breathlessly. “It’s even better than I had imagined. I mean, I’ve seen pictures, but this?”
“It’s a guy carrying a girl and they’re naked!” I whispered.
She rolled her eyes and walked closer, admiring the detail, “It’s amazing.”
I scratched my head. “I guess I just don’t get it,” but I hadn’t said it unkindly. I wanted to see it the way she did, I just couldn’t.
“A human carved this, by hand,” she whispered back. “Bernini didn’t wiggle his nose and use magic and he didn’t drink a potion to become an artist the easy way. Here look at this,” she walked around to the side of the statue where Pluto’s hand was gripping Proserpina’s upper thigh. His fingers were making indentions in her skin under his grip. Nichole parted the slit in her skirt and demonstrated on her own leg showing the way her skin sunk in under the pressure. “I mean, how did he do that? The way he was able to form the marble like that is simply amazing.” For a moment I actually forgot I was supposed to be looking at the statue. Her show of skin had made my palms sweat again and this time my heart was beating fast. Blushing she fixed her skirt and looked back at the statue. I swallowed hard and turned back to the statue and studied it again as well. “Bernini did this one chisel mark at a time into a block of raw marble,” her words washed over me as I saw the huge uncut block of marble flash in my mind and the artistry of what Bernini had been able to create out of nothing. “He created beauty out of a solid hunk of rock with his bare hands! There’s real magic here, Chris, everywhere. You just have to open your eyes and--,”
“And believe?” I asked and she nodded eagerly. I got as close to Pluto’s hand as I could and concentrated on its detail. His small finger was digging into Proserpina’s flesh and I swear I could even make out fingerprints on the sides of his fingers. But wait, it was marble, not skin. It was so realistic I forgot I was looking at stone for a minute. “Wow!” My breath caught in my throat. “How did he do that?”
She looked at me and smiled, “Now that’s real magic.”
Nichole and I had spent every day together for the past two weeks and even when we weren’t flying around in her magic car I felt like I was in the clouds. She was smart, courageous, and beautiful. And I think I was falling for her. Every day after school we’d go on a new adventure around the human world. Yesterday we’d gone to the top of the Empire State Building, she shifted us into the magic realm, and we had eaten a picnic of conjured sweets from some of our favorite places we’d been to. Crepes from Paris, chocolates from Belgium, and of course gelatos from Rome. I didn’t just think I was falling for Nichole, I knew I was, and I couldn’t wait for today’s adventure after school. No matter what it was I knew it would be great as long as I was with her.
Magic folk didn’t get a week off from school like most human kids did. In fact, Christmas Eve was the busiest school day of the year for us and we were all required to attend or suffer the consequences. As I headed down to the subway station, snow began to fall in sheets. Crisp white snow was everywhere. It was blinding. I couldn’t even see two feet in front of me and wondered if it could have anything to do with Nichole. I shrugged it off as simply winter hitting New York hard right before Christmas. I passed my card over the turnstile and the golden light of the magic realm enveloped me, but something was wrong. A wave of collective sadness hit me, taking my breath away. Then I heard the sobs. Fairies and pixies were crying and I found it odd that there weren’t very many elves around. Even the trolls were upset. Everyone’s despair clung to the air like a wet blanket I was trapped under. I cou
ldn’t get the feeling off of my skin as it tried to seep into my pores.
My coven friends were out of phase, but I rushed towards them, knowing that they’d be able to hear me. “What’s going on? Why is everyone so upset?” I asked a somber Blake.
“It’s Santa, he’s sick,” he said. “I heard they can’t wake him up. Some sort of sleeping sickness.”
“Kringle Junior and most of the elves are down too,” Lynne sniffled. “There’s whispers that there isn’t even going to be a Christmas this year. Hey, where are you going?”
I bolted back through the turnstile, leaving the thick air of despair from the magic realm behind me, and ran smack into a human.
“Hey, watch it!” He grunted.
“Sorry. Sorry,” I said.
The force of the impact along with the wind rushing down the steps knocked my hat off my head and blew it back into the subway station. Dammit! But I didn’t stop. I rushed up the stairs, out of the terminal, and onto the street. I didn’t know why I thought Nichole would be in our parking spot, but I had to check. I had to know if she was alright.
*
When I emerged from the subway station Nichole wasn’t there. The only thing that greeted me in the human world was a massive snow storm and people rushing to get out of the weather. Deflated and confused about what to do next I pulled my jacket tighter around me and just stood there.
“Yankee Chris! Yankee Chris!” Sam yelled coming up from the subway terminal. His dingy red and green flannel jacket was still a bright contrast to the grey snowstorm and dark jackets most New Yorkers were wearing. I imagined it had been festive and almost jolly and one point in time, but now was caked with dirt and grime from years of living on the streets. “You dropped your hat.”
Dumbfound, I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Oh wow. Thanks, Sam. I--, I thought it was gone forever,” I said, amazed at his kindness to me, a relative stranger, who had judged him moments ago.
“Nah, nothing’s ever gone forever. Things that are important always find their way back to us.” He handed me my hat and headed back down into the terminal, but turned toward me on the bottom step. “Merry Christmas, Yankee Chris,” Sam said with a jolly wink.
“Merry Christmas, Sam.” I had to smile at his positive outlook on life and generous nature. A homeless man with nothing seemed to have everything he needed.
“Chris?” I heard Nichole’s sad cry through the storm.
I followed her voice through the snow and wind. She must have sent my name into the human world because I still couldn’t see her. Then I saw it. The edges of the magic realm shimmered with its golden light so I stepped through and found her. I ignored the sadness that swept over me again and walked towards the curb. I had to see that she was alright. Nichole was sitting in her convertible as her uncontrollable self-induced snow storm howled around her. Tears were streaming down her face, turning to ice across her cheeks. Her emotions must have made the storm worse. Even my strongest potion wouldn’t be a match for an intense emotional spike like this. I flicked my wrist and stopped the snow temporarily from falling right above her and warmed the air. She gave a little sigh of relief. With her emotions this heightened my potion alone wasn’t going to have any effect on the weather that plagued her.
Something huge drew my attention and I turned to look at the big blue sack that was strapped to the fin of her Lamborghini. Christmas presents? I thought to myself, then looked in the front seat. On the dash next to the passenger seat was a long list of names written in gold lettering. The Nice List…Holy shi--
Right then I knew what she was about to do. Even with all the grief in the magic realm assaulting her, she had found the strength to overcome it and carry out her father’s tradition, his legacy, and in that moment, I fell in love with her. Without saying a word, I knew what she was asking of me. She couldn’t finish the Christmas deliveries alone and it meant we would have to use magic in the human world to do it. It meant I would have to use magic in the human world.
Without hesitating a minute longer I jumped in the car next to her and started to examine the Nice List. “Who’s first?”
“Chris, I--,”
But I cut her off, “You don’t even have to ask me. We’re doing this. Together.” I looked into her eyes and made a promise, “Your dad and the others are going to be alright.” I sent a wish up to my great, great Grandmother Nature and a prayer to the powers that be to make it so. The wind shifted and a sense of peace settled over me. Even Nichole gave a contented sigh as the despair of the magic realm lessened. Did me having hope in my heart just do that? I wondered. Nichole was right. Real magic was everywhere. I just had to believe.
Nichole nodded and started to cry again, but this time they seemed like happy tears. “It’s not just your abilities that I need, you know?”
Confused I looked at her. Of course it was my abilities, she couldn’t do the List all in one night, not without me. “What do you mean?”
“It’s you. I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone except you,” and then she gave me that smile that always stopped my heart. Beneath all the sadness and despair of our realm, Nichole shined through. “I mean, yeah, your abilities help. Maybe just a little bit,” she teased.
“Yeah, just a little bit. Come on, Junior, let’s do this!” I lifted the car, presents and all, off the city street. Then without a second thought I concentrated all my power and slowed time everywhere, all over the world, and in both realms. No going back now! With a flick of my wrist I turned up the volume on the radio and created chiming jingle bells reminiscent of what children heard when Santa’s sleigh flew by. I chuckled to myself and brought Nichole up to speed by holding her hand. As soon as she came to she shot us through the air like a rocket.
We were going so fast her words echoed through the wind in slow motion and I had to laugh. “Don’t call me Juniorrrrrrrrrr!”
Nichole and I had the entire human world to ourselves as we flew through the night sky and it was amazing. We picked a name off the Nice List, maneuvered the car in for a landing, and parked on the roof of a little girl’s house in Salisbury, United Kingdom.
As soon as I let go of Nichole’s hand she froze. Crap! For a moment I forgot I had to remain in contact with her while the rest of the world was in slow motion. Well this is going to be interesting, I thought as I touched her hand again and brought her back up to speed.
“Crap!” She said out loud.
“My thoughts exactly. Guess you’re stuck with me,” I said trying to lighten the severity of this setback. “Let’s get started and I’ll try to come up with a solution while you work. I know we can’t be attached like this all night if we want any chance of getting through the List.” I unstrapped the blue sack of presents and threw it over my shoulder.
Nichole nodded, took a deep breath, and lowered the veil of the magic world, “Ho, ho, ho, and away we go!” She twirled her hair and we were instantly inside the little girl Celine’s living room.
With my extra weight in tow we accidently made contact with the family’s Christmas tree and knocked it over. Ornaments began falling to the ground in slow motion shattering against the wooden floor like glitter suspended in a clear jell. Then the tree’s lights flickered out.
“Yeah, this is so not going to work. We don’t have time to fix things all night long!” Nichole hissed. She twirled her hair and righted the tree, conjured new ornaments, and fixed the lights.
I fidgeted one handed with the sack trying to get to Celine’s present. “I know, I know. I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” I retorted. She cleaned up the remaining mess we had made and I put the little girl’s present under the tree. As soon as the gift left my hands I felt a shift from the magic world resonate all the way into the human world and into me. It felt as though someone had wrapped me in a warm blanket fresh from the dryer. Nichole squeezed my hand and smiled. She had felt it too. Hope and cheer slowly began to re-emerge within our fellow magical beings and it was echoing down to us. They knew somehow
someone was saving Christmas and they were celebrating.
Something caught my eye and I smiled. Next to the fireplace was a plate of milk and cookies and a handwritten note from the seven year old Celine that read, ‘To Santa, I love you’. It was one of the sweetest things I’d ever seen.
Nichole saw the note and shook her head. I knew she didn’t want to disappoint any little boys or girls on this night. The weight of the responsibility of trying to get to everyone on the Nice List was obviously still taking its toll on her. “I need your help, but not like this, you’ve got your thinking cap on. Please think faster!” Nichole whispered pointing to my lucky New York Yankees baseball cap.
Her comment made a light bulb go off in my head. “You’re a genius!” I said pulling her towards the milk and cookies.
“What?”
I handed her a cookie and took one for myself. “Cheers.”
“And we are celebrating why exactly?” But she held up her cookie anyway.
“Because you just figured out the solution to our problem. Now take a bite and leave it for Celine to find.”
Nichole giggled at the thought of leaving a Santa nibbled cookie for the little girl to find. And apparently she had complete faith that I had indeed figured out a way to get through the entire Nice List. “Well then. Cheers.” We tapped our cookies together and each took a bite. She cocked her head because I was still chuckling. “What’s so funny?”
“Get ready. You’re about to put my thinking cap on, Yankee Nichole,” I teased.
*
“So, your hat is going to act like a talisman or something? Keeping me from slowing down like the rest of the world?” Nichole asked once we were back on Celine’s rooftop.
“Hopefully, yes. Something like that,” I said as we got back in the convertible. “Are you ready?”
“Ready,” she blinked at me and I let go of her hand.
I put my baseball cap on her head and tried to concentrate. Even in my grungy blue hat with wisps of her grey blonde hair flowing out she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I focused all my feelings for her and my magic into a pin point and flicked both my wrists at my hat. Tendrils of golden light flowed out of me and surrounded my hat. Then slowly the light surrounded Nichole in its glow. It were as though my hope and faith had manifested into pure light and created an aura all around her. And then all the light surrounding her went into her.