Noah Silvermoon ~ Girl's Best Friend
Whoever said Christmas only came once a year had obviously never heard of Christmas in July.
To be fair, Christmas in July wasn't a yearly thing. But it had been a hot, hot summer--one of the hottest on record--and maybe someone somewhere thought that a little frosty Christmas cheer was just the thing to cool people down. Secret Santa, LTD had set up a booth advertising a special summer version of its famous Secret Santa event near the fountain in the heart of Aldrect, and those people who were out walking and braving the heat were gathering around in curiosity.
Noah had never really celebrated Christmas before. His family only lived in Evelon during the summers, when his mother traveled back to her homeland to spend time with her family. Noah used to hate the summer trips--he missed the cool mountain summers of his home, he missed his favorite foods (none of the places around here served pickled eel, which was just tragic), and he missed his father, who didn't speak Evelonian and thus stayed home, but this summer, Noah had made cool new friends. Maybe, just maybe, when he went home, he'd have things to miss here.
Today he was walking Aldrect with one of those friends--a Ms. Wilson named Girl's Best Friend--when he spotted the both. "Oooh, look!" she cooed. Her tiny wings flapped hard and her pearl necklace jostled. "Look, it's Christmas! Christmas in July! Well, did you ever hear of such a thing?"
"Christmas!" Noah yelped. He'd heard about Christmas before, and he had to admit, it did sound really fun. "The real Christmas? With Santa and trees and presents an' everything?"
"Look for yourself! You can read, right?" She perched on top of the sign--not an easy thing to do in bright, red, doll-sized high heels. Noah's eyes followed her. Sure enough, there was the word "SANTA" clear as day.
"It must be!" Noah cheered. "Wait... can we really join in too, Bestie? Isn't Christmas all about families and things? 'Least, that's what I've heard..."
"We'll never know if we don't ask," Bestie replied. "C'mon, let's get in line!"