{"id":1265,"date":"2013-12-24T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-24T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vg-ford.com\/?p=1265"},"modified":"2013-12-24T16:30:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-24T21:30:00","slug":"advent-monday-december-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/?p=1265","title":{"rendered":"(advent) Monday, December 23"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zoey, Zoey, look what I found!<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoey looked up from the book she was only half-reading when she heard Schrodinger call. Corrine had given her, Lily and Jack a choice that morning: they could stay at the Barretts\u2019 house and play, or they could go to the bookstore and hang out with Molly. As much as she didn\u2019t want to face the Advent Calendar yet, Zoey definitely did not want to be at the Barrett house any more than she had to. The reminders of Santa and home were just too painful. Especially since she no longer had a home to go to.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So they had gone to the bookstore, where Molly greeted them with a tray full of cookies that Zoey had no appetite for. She had retreated to the bed beside the wood stove and tried to read, but the words blurred on the page, and the smell of the smoke made flames tear through her mind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But now, when she saw what the CrossCat coming towards her had in his mouth, Zoey dropped her book and covered her mouth with both hands. \u201cIs that\u2026?\u201d She couldn\u2019t whisper any more words.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is.<\/em> Schrodinger dropped the slender case of paints in front of her. Other than a light coating of ash, it was undamaged, at least on the outside. Open it! I think it might be okay!<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoey picked up the case with trembling fingers. Her father had said the entire house was destroyed. How could her paints be anything but a melted mess? But the ash flaked off, and underneath, the metal case glowed brightly. She opened it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And the jewel-toned paints shone in the light, untouched by the fire. Even the brush that had come with it was not only intact, but in pristine condition.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHow is this possible?\u201d Zoey whispered, touching the brush fibers with one trembling finger. \u201cHow could it not be destroyed, like everything else?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Because of the magic,<\/em> Schrodinger said, patting her leg with one paw. It came from St. Nicholas, and it has the magic of Christmas to protect it. You believed in St. Nicholas, and in Christmas.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“But why did the rest of it burn, then?” Zoey asked him quietly.\u00a0 “Was it because I didn’t believe enough?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No.\u00a0 Sometimes bad things just happen, <\/em>Schrodinger said.\u00a0 We can’t guard against everything, but we can believe it gets better.\u00a0 Can you believe that?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoey touched the brush again, and to her surprise, she found herself smiling a bit. \u201cYes,\u201d she said at last. \u201cI think I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then I think we have an Advent Calendar to open,<\/em> Schrodinger said. Don\u2019t you?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lily and Jack were in the kitchen with Molly when they came in. Zoey held the paints clutched tightly in her hand, and held it up.\u00a0 “Look what Schrodinger found!\u00a0 It survived the fire!”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lily’s eyes widened.\u00a0 “Your paints from St. Nicholas!\u00a0 Are they okay?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoey nodded, a pleased smile creeping across her face.\u00a0 “They’re just like new.\u00a0 Schrodinger says the magic of St. Nicholas protected them, because I believed in him and the magic of Christmas.”\u00a0 She looked at them.\u00a0 “Maybe if we do the Advent Calendar and believe really hard, Santa will bring me a new home for Christmas.\u00a0 Do you think that’s possible?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anything’s possible here in the Cove,<\/em> Jack said, his tongue lolling out in a grin.\u00a0 We can all ask Santa and believe as hard as we can!<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“The mailbox is still upstairs, you know,” Molly said.\u00a0 “There’s nothing saying you can’t send another letter to him.”\u00a0 She smiled down at Zoey.\u00a0 “And he does answer all of them, you know.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Let’s do that after we open the Advent Calendar,” Zoey said, after looking at her friends.\u00a0 “We didn’t do that yesterday, after all.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They all clustered around the painting, looking for the 23.\u00a0 Should we look for 22?<\/em>\u00a0 Schrodinger asked.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I think the Advent Calendar knows what day it is,” Molly told them.\u00a0 “I’d just look for 23.”\u00a0 When they looked over at her, she said, “It IS magic, after all.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

True,<\/em> Schrodinger said, and they turned back to the calendar.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Number 23 turned out to be hiding in the sleigh with the children, nestled in next to the image of Zoey.\u00a0 She pressed her finger to the number and they all stepped back to see what the snowflake would do when it came out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It flowed out of the hole in the painting and, to Zoey’s surprise, it snuggled up next to her cheek, almost like it was giving her a kiss.\u00a0 It smelled like cold and peppermint, and she was reminded of the smell of the air when they went to see the Snow Queen.\u00a0 “What are we doing today, magic snowflake?” she asked.\u00a0 “Is it something fun?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The snowflake shimmered in response, colors fluttering from its center to the very tips of its arms, and then floated slowly out of the kitchen.\u00a0 Zoey, Lily, Jack and Schrodinger followed it, to see the Snow Queen standing in the middle of the tea room.\u00a0 Instead of the glorious gown she had worn to the ball, she was in a deep green dress, the color of Christmas tree needles, with just the faintest of shimmers to the fabric.\u00a0 A matching cloak, trimmed with white fur, was thrown over her shoulders, and instead of her tiara, she had a simple circulet of snowflakes holding her hair back from her face.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Jade!” Lily and Zoey said together, rushing to give her a hug.\u00a0 She smiled and knelt down, enveloping both of them in her arms.\u00a0 Zoey buried her face in the soft velvet of her cloak and inhaled the sweet scent of candy canes and fresh snow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I am so happy that no one was hurt,” the Snow Queen said, hugging them tightly.\u00a0 “I was so afraid when we first heard of the fire!”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“But all the lovely decorations Santa left us were destroyed!” Zoey said, feeling the tears start to rise again.\u00a0 “Everything we brought with us!\u00a0 It’s all gone!”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Snow Queen kissed the top of her head.\u00a0 “Not everything,” she said.\u00a0 “Your paints survived, didn’t they?\u00a0 And you have your friends, and your family here, Zoey.\u00a0 Don’t ever discount that.\u00a0 Things can be replaced for the most part, but people cannot.”\u00a0 She hugged her again.\u00a0 “And I think that Santa will be happy to help you start replacing the things you lost.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Really?” Zoey asked, pulling back and looking at her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Really,” the Snow Queen said firmly.\u00a0 “After all, he’s Santa.\u00a0 That’s what he does, if you believe.”\u00a0 She reached into her cloak, and brought out a small wrapped gift.\u00a0 “Now, I want you to have this.”\u00a0 She handed it to Zoey.\u00a0 “But you can’t open it yet.\u00a0 It must be opened outside, on Christmas Day.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Okay,” Zoey said, accepting the wrapped box.\u00a0 It was heavier than she expected, and she looked at it curiously.\u00a0 There was no tag.\u00a0 “Is it from you?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“In a way.”\u00a0 The Snow Queen smiled.\u00a0 “Santa and I are very close, and we…well, let’s just say we collaborated on this together.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Really?” Zoey’s eyes got wide.\u00a0 “You know Santa?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I do, very well,” the Snow Queen said.\u00a0 “He’s been around all my life.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Wow,” Lily said.\u00a0 “So you get to see him all year long?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Oh yes,” the Snow Queen said.\u00a0 “And Mrs. Claus too.”\u00a0 She smiled down at them.\u00a0 “Maybe I shall throw a party in the summer, and invite them, and you.\u00a0 Would you like that?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Yes!” Lily and Zoey both nodded enthusiastically.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Then we shall have to do that.”\u00a0 The Snow Queen stood up and rearranged her dress.\u00a0 “Now, do you think that maybe Molly would be kind enough to give us some tea, or hot chocolate, and some of her cookies?”<\/p>\n

<><><\/p>\n

Later, after Zoey, Lily and Jack had gone home with Corrine,\u00a0 Jade sat at the island in Molly’s kitchen, sipping on a cup of hot tea and chatting.\u00a0 Schrodinger was napping in the tea room, and for some reason, the bustle of the rest of the bookstore seemed very far away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Thank you,” Molly said, as she kneaded bread dough.\u00a0 Corrine had asked for a couple of challah loaves for french toast for Christmas morning, and Molly was happy to oblige.\u00a0 “The Advent Calendar really made this Christmas season special.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“It was fun,” Jade admitted.\u00a0 “Although I should be thanking you, honestly.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Me?”\u00a0 Molly gave her a confused look.\u00a0 “Why me?\u00a0 All I did was tell you they needed some help in believing in Santa this year.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“It was your idea,” Jade said.\u00a0 “And you kept their belief alive by believing yourself.\u00a0 That’s a very, very powerful thing, Molly.\u00a0 Don’t discount it.”\u00a0 She traced one fingertip around the edge of her mug.\u00a0\u00a0 “Neither Santa nor I could exist without belief.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They sat in silence for a bit, and then Molly put the bread dough into a bowl to rise.\u00a0 She turned around and looked right at Jade, asking the question she’d wanted to ask for a while now.\u00a0 “Jade, what relation is Santa to you?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Snow Queen chuckled.\u00a0 “He’s my uncle.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zoey, Zoey, look what I found!   Zoey looked up from the book she was only half-reading when she heard Schrodinger call. Corrine had given her, Lily and Jack a choice that morning: they could stay at the Barretts\u2019 house and play, or they could go to the bookstore and hang out with Molly. As …<\/p>\n

>>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[61,15],"class_list":["post-1265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent","tag-advent","tag-christmas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1265"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1266,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1265\/revisions\/1266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}