Luna Magazine, December Ed. 2013

Chimney Fire Stories: A Little Christmas Magic

December Edition, 2013.

© l_unaMagazine

Chimney Fire Stories

A Little Christmas Magic, by IridescentStarlight

     “Come on, Jeanne, don’t be such a Scrooge!”

     I glared up at my so-called best friend, Makyla, feeling a jab of annoyance run through me – I was not a Scrooge, and I take full offense at being called one simply because I would rather stay in my small, cozy apartment on Christmas Eve than make small talk with the fake, smiley faces of my coworkers that I know whisper behind their hands to each other when they think I’m not looking.

     I paused, for a second, running over what I just thought again in my head…huh, maybe I am a bit of a Scrooge. Oh well. It doesn’t sway me in the slightest.

     “Ky, I don’t…”

     She interrupted me, quite rudely I might add, throwing her arms up dramatically – as was per Ky. “You’re going to miss out on all the fun! Who cares what those classroom gremlins think? You should go in there with your head held high and say–” I leaned back in my chair with a surprised laugh as Ky hopped onto the table and proceeded to do a very poor impression of me, her posture and voice emulating that of a proper English gentleman rather than a reclusive English University Professor. “‘By Jove, gov’na, but I do believe thou hast no right to assume much about me, when thou hast been plundering the white linens nightly for quite some time n–”

     My hysterical laughter cut her off mid-sentence while I practically teetered off my bed, clutching my stomach and barely breathing from laughing so hard. Ah, now I remember why she was my best friend – she was possibly the only person in the world that could make me laugh like this. We’ve been best friends for ages, though – since diapers, I believe – so she’s had a lot of experience in what I find funny and don’t, what I’m like at my worst, my best, and vice versa. She’s my best friend, and I love her to death.

     But when she tries making me go to a party I would never normally go to just so she can make kissy faces under the mistletoe with one of my hot coworkers…well, that’s when even her theatrics can’t soften me too much.

     Once I was calm again – which was probably a good thirty minutes later – I looked up at her and, flatly, stated, “I’m not going.”

     She groaned, falling back on the bed beside me, her golden blonde hair smacking me in the face on the way down. She probably did that on purpose, the brat.

     “But you know I can’t go without you! I don’t work there!” She whined, pouting at me. I rolled my eyes – she of all people knew I was impervious to puppy dog eyes. She complained about it enough – her parents, her boyfriends, hell, even strangers gave her practically everything she asked for when she pulled that face, and yet I could still look at her and tell her no every time she did. It aggravated her to no end.

     Which is why I smiled broadly, turned completely toward her and said, “No.”

     She let loose a really loud groan this time, punching one of my pillows – it was like a kitten throwing a tantrum by tossing down it’s itty bitty paws, so it was no wonder I started laughing again, and no wonder she ended up hitting me with a pillow and knocking me off the bed.

~

     I walked into the coffee shop the next day, escaping the small, devious little flakes set out to steal my body heat to be encased in a wondrous thing called indoor heating. I sighed, pulling off my scarf and gloves as I walked to the relatively long line and stood at the end, glancing up at the list of hot beverages. I already knew what I wanted, but looking at the sign was a lot easier than meeting people’s eyes…eyes that I could feel staring at me, eyes that instantly had knots forming in my stomach. In order to further avoid them, I pulled out my phone and feigned swiping my thumb across it a few times, trying to look like I was thoroughly engaged in the black screen.