The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

December 15th

I am going slightly crazy. I have no idea how "renounce my wish and learn my lesson." The Victorian Era is great and all, but I can't stay here forever. I have to go home. At least I have a friend to help me now. It was easier than I thought to explain the whole situation to Christabel. I gave her a confusing, long-winded explanation, and she managed to sum it up in a few sentences.
"So, my understanding is you are from another time, wished to be in our time. And this wish was granted through magic, by those two odd men we met yesterday. And now you do not want to live here anymore because you want to return to your family. So, you must learn your lesson about why you wanted to come here and fulfill that, then you can go home."
"Um, yeah," I confirmed.
"And you need help to do this, correct?"
"Yup," I nodded.
"Alright, I'll help you,"
"You will? Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
The next day after breakfast, we discuss ideas for how to start.
"I think we should start in the library and see if we can find something to help us. Maybe a book on psychology and the true meaning of wishes or something."
"Or perhaps a book on magic?" Christabel suggested. "Your grandfather, I mean, Miss Clara's grandfather has an interest in books about fairytales and such,"
"That's probably better. Let's go!" We try again to find the library. Finally, we come to a hallway draped in tapestries.
"Tunnel of thread!" I exclaim. "This is it! It's one of the clues!' From there, the clues are easy. Soon enough, we open the door to the most gorgeous room I have ever seen in my life. My. Jaw. Drops. The shelves are floor to ceiling. It smells like old books and happiness. There is a fireplace and comfy furniture in a corner and one of those moveable ladders for reaching books.
"Oh, yes!" I whisper. I immediately fall in love. I run to the ladder. I am definitely going to reenact the ladder scene from Beauty and the Beast. You know the one where she glides on the ladder while singing about books?
"Um, Miss Noelle?" Christabel says. "The magic books are over there. And psychology is over there, I believe. It's on the labels." Sighing, I climb down the ladder. Reenactments will have to wait. We end up finding ten books each. Mine are on the psychology of dreams, psychology, and folklore. Christabel has found some on magic and on Santa Claus, which apparently is relevant because "its a Christmas wish, he must be involved." I doubt the reliability of psychology knowledge they have (I've heard about those old insane asylums) but it's my best bet. First, I'm reading about magic. Boring stuff can wait.
The magic was not very useful. Everything I could find on wishes warned you to be careful what you wished for, and blah blah blah. I knew that already. I still had a magic book left, but that could wait. I opened The Psychology of Dreams. It was pretty useful. It identified the causes of different kinds of dreams, which is close enough to wishes. Apparently imagining being somewhere else is a sign of feeling unsure of yourself and having too little confidence. When I really think about it, I guess that is partly why I wished for this. Imagining myself in a ballgown with fancy manners at a beautiful castle does help boost my confidence. And I think it has to do with feeling a bit out of place as well. Which also has to do with confidence. I guess that means that I have to work on confidence. I wish I had some way to ask if that was right. If I see the wish granters I'll ask. But maybe that's part of it too. Being confident that I have to work on being confident? It feels right somehow. I just don't know how I'll work on it.
"Christabel? I think I figured out what I have to do."
"What?"
"I have to be more confident." Christabel looked confused.
"Why?"
"That's what I have to do to return home. Be more confident. Its why I wished for this,"
"Alright," She still looked puzzled. "How will you do that?"
"I...have no idea," I admit. "How do you improve your confidence?"
"Well, I am rather bashful, so I don't believe I am the best person to ask that." I look at Christabel, who has been kinda, well, wimpy since I first met her. She's really nice and fun but so shy and quiet. I think she could use some confidence as well. Don't people always say it's better to set goals with friends or something?
"Christabel," I say. "We are going to become more confident together."
"Yes, Miss."
"It's Noelle," I remind her, "And you don't have to be so polite to me. I'm not some fancy rich lady. My mom's a baker. I go to a normal school. We're the same. Besides, you're equal to any stuffy rich person, "
"Yes," she says firmly. "We are equals. We are equals," she repeats. I'm glad I decided to help her. Maybe this wish has to do with me being a bit selfish as well. We return to looking through the books when Christabel gasps.
"Look! It's them!" She shoves the book toward me. It's called A Guide to Christmas Traditions and Lore. The page is about elves. Underneath a bunch of explanations and charts, is an illustration. An illustration of people who look exactly like the wish-granting guys. Well, not them exactly, but they have the same clothes and oddly sharp faces. I read the description. "Elves can hide in the human world and grant special wishes. Kris Kringle, commonly known as Santa Claus, directs them to people he knows have special wishes. These wishes can be anything from extreme change in fortune, love, or even time."
I slowly look up at Christabel's equally shocked face.
"They're elves," I whisper.