SAVING SANTA - ❝magic has always flowed in the soils of our land.❞
at santa clause's icelandic headquarters, arnþrúður glyrandottir - ash, for short -
is living her best life as santa's one of favourite and most devoted elves. ash is loved by her...
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St. Nicholas’s day was a special one at the Icelandic HQ of Santa’s Toy Shop. We usually celebrated the name of Santa Claus with a beautifully decorated factory and a long dance party till the next morning on Central Square with a huge feast.
2020 surprised me in a lot of ways. For the first time in my long life, I didn’t spend St. Nicholas day home. Neither did Santa, as a matter of fact.
“Maybe he’s at some fancy island, sipping cock… I mean, cocktails and not thinking about his works or all of you!” Brynhildr and I – although she insisted that I should call her just Bryn – sat at a cafe in downtown Reykjavik, sipping some really expensive hot chocolate.
I slept at her flat, on the spare bed in the living room. I’ve got pyjamas from her. She was kinder than I expected. For starters, she didn’t let me freeze on the streets. She let me sleep at her apartment. She shared with me. That was the kindest gesture I could have ever expect from a total stranger. Or an elf. Share something that is truly yours is the biggest selflessness I can imagine.
Maybe humans aren’t so bad after all.
“I doubt that!” I chuckled after I took a sip of my hot chocolate.
“You have cream on your face!” Bryn laughed loudly. I blushed it off in a split second. At least, I tried. “Come on, lean here!”
She lifted a white napkin and without hesitation, she wiped the cream off my upper lip. I froze when her thumb touched my skin.
Our skins' contact swept me off my feet completely. Or, would have, if I wouldn't already been seated.
“Why are you so sure that he’s not just taking a vacay because he wanted to?” my eyes were still half shut when she continued to speak. My brain couldn’t catch up for long seconds.
“It’s just weird. He wouldn’t bail on us like that.” I shrugged my shoulder. I was amazed by how fast she could change her mind about my whole world. She accepted my existence, my entire species and the reality of Santa in a single day.
“He is working non-stop since the beginning of time. He deserves a break.”
“If it was truly a break and not a kidnapping situation…”
“By who?”
“Gryla!” I answered like it was something I was completely and utterly sure of. I was not. But the more I thought about it, I became more and more sure.
“Remind me once again, who exactly is Gryla?” Bryn wrinkled her forehead in confusion. The creatures – especially the dark ones – were still new to her. And honestly, Icelandic Christmas folklore was complex with a lot of layers.
