Dear, St Nick.

2nd December Wednesday


As I trudged through the early morning snow and buried my face in the scarf that was wrapped tightly around my neck, I decided that I did not give two shits about Harry Styles.

It was cold, cold enough that even I could feel it. It was early and I was way too freaking tired. But I trudged my way to the stables letting myself in so I was assaulted with the smells of farm animals. It was warmer inside the stables and I shook off my jacket, stamping my boots out so the snow fell to the ground and I began to walk through the stables.

“Harry?” I called out, unsure what I was supposed to do now that I was here.

I walked the length of the stables and couldn’t find anyone within sight. There was a snort and I turned to find one reindeers’ head over the top of its gate. I stared at it for a moment before reading the nameplate hanging above the door.

“So you’re Vixen,” I murmured, reaching out tentatively to let the reindeer sniff my hand. She did so easily before pushing her wet nose against it. I smiled and leant closer rubbing my hand up the ridge of her nose and between her large antlers. She seemed pleased, pushing into my hand before I startled when the sound of boots arrived behind me.

“You should be careful,” Harry said sternly. “Don’t pat any animal you don’t know.”

“They’re not wild, otherwise I doubt you would let kids near them,” I defended.

“She’s not normally so welcoming in the morning. Did you bring her food?” Harry wandered, stepping closer and reaching a hand out to Vixen. She snorted and stepped away from the gate to avoid his hands.

I laughed and shrugged. “Guess she just likes me more.” I teased, earning a small, confused look in response.

“Come on, I’ll show you what you will be doing,” Harry led me to a door on the side of the stables. “All their food and care products are in here. I will need you to feed them and care for them every morning. You won’t be spending all day here, every day. As this is only a small task. But today while guests are settling in in the hotel I want you bonding with them all.”

“How many are there?” I asked.

Harry once again shot me a confused look. “Eight of course. There are a few younger ones that I’ll be keeping an eye on. But you will look after the main eight.”

Harry left me with the food and I wandered from gate to gate realising that each reindeer was one of the eight reindeer that was supposed to pull Santa’s sleigh. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. But no Rudolph.

I snorted at the cliché that this Village seemed intent on creating. Each reindeer slowly began to wake up as I moved between each stall, feeding and greeting each one. Some more grumpier than others.

Harry only reappeared when I had finished with the feeding and had begun to groom Vixen.

“Can I ask you why your name is Noelle?” I looked over from the stool I was standing on to see Harry leaning forward over the gate. He didn’t have a coat on and once again his tattoos were on for show. I wished I could get closer to see what exactly they all were.

Vixen seemed caught between wanting a pat from Harry and letting me groom her. She thankfully decided to stay with me.

“That’s a bit personal don’t you think?” I said simply. The decision of my name wasn’t really my favourite topic of conversation.

“Is it?” Harry responded simply. I ignored him and began to brush Vixen’s long coat.

“Well Noelle, do you believe in magic?” I paused and turned back to Harry. I had officially decided that he was a nut job.

“No, do you?” I scoffed. Harry seemed to find my answer particularly frustrating, causing him to run a hand through his messy hair.

“Why did you come here?” He asked.

“What’s with all the questions?” I bit back, finding myself increasingly private about my life. I didn’t know why he wanted to know what he did, but this was a two way street. I knew nothing about him and I was unsure why he insisted on knowing everything about me. Maybe living up in this isolated place all year round made him extremely nosy.

Harry kept staring at me, waiting for me to answer.

I sighed and focused back on brushing Vixen’s coat.

“I don’t know. I’ve always wanted to come here. It’s like something was pulling me to come here. Sometimes I think that pull was there before I even knew about this place. Before it even opened.”

“Now that sounds a lot like magic,” Harry said, smiling widely at me, like he had won something.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I don’t know if I can keep working in a place this full of delusional people.” I commented. Vixen snorted and shook her head.

“You might be surprised. We’re not all as delusional as you think. Now the people who don’t see the magic, they are definitely the delusional ones.”

I watched Harry go before turning back to Vixen’s coat.

“And what are you looking at?” I asked the reindeer as she side-eyed me. She snorted, in response, her shoulders rising like a shrug and I laughed.

Harry stayed away for the rest of the time I was in the stables only appearing when it was lunchtime. He sent me up to the workers hall without a spare glance. His attention already focused on the strong and sturdy Donner. The one Reindeer who had seemed unsure of me. I paused at the door of the stables when I noticed Harry talking to the reindeer, his face serious. Donner stared back intently, occasionally making gruff noises. I sighed and left the stables, trudging all the way through the snow.

Melissa was heading into the hall when I got there, her face lighting up when she saw me.

“You should have seen the hotel today, there was so many freaking people in there it was insane.” Her nose wrinkled. “You smell like the stables.”

I rolled my eyes and nudged her forward. “Well considering that is where I’ve been all morning, it’s not exactly a surprise.”

We stepped in through the doors of the building to be met with someone dressed as Mrs. Claus. I blinked in surprise when she reached out for us, her hand warm when it circled mine.

“Hello lovely, and what is your name?” She asked, politely. Her voice was soft and kind, reminding me of lullabies and milk. Her eyes, however, seemed to be somewhere off in the distance. Barely focusing on me.

“Noelle,” I responded softly, placing my free hand on top of her hand.

That caught her attention. Her eyes snapped back to me so quickly that I was frozen in place when caught with such a strong blue colour.

“Your hair,” she moved to reach out when Liam appeared at her side.

“Come on Mary, we should get you back home, you’ve been out all day.” He pulled her away from me, barely looking at Melissa or I.

“What was all that about?” I wandered, watching Liam lead away the woman who had seemed so happy when we first came in.

“No idea, but how was working with Harry this morning?” Melissa handed me a tray before we lined up for the buffet.

I shrugged, turning my attention away from the strange lady. “He was barely there and when he was, it was just really weird.”

Melissa waited for me to elaborate.

“I don’t know,” I sighed, “don’t you think people here believe in the Village a little too much. Like I get we have to act like this is real when we’re in front of the guests. But when its just workers wouldn’t you think people would stop acting like it’s real?” I asked Melissa as we found an empty table.

I was relieved when she nodded along with me, her eyes wide. “I totally agree. Like today, right, I overhead so many people mention about getting Liam’s magic touch with customers. And at first I was like, he must just have great customer service. But literally everyone constantly said magic, like Liam can work his magic, or Liam can use his magic on them. People were saying it too much to be normal.”

I took a bite of my sandwich and sighed at how good it tasted for a basic chicken and salad meal. “Well Harry tried to convince me magic was real and called me delusional for not believing in it.”

“Have you got enough cookies there?” Laney dropped into the seat next to me and moved to grab one. I smacked her hand before she could touch them and glared at her.

“Do not touch my cookies,” I hissed, earning a surprise look. “I don’t share cookies, okay?”

Laney laughed, loudly while Melissa giggled. “Okay, someone is protective of her cookies.”

I smiled toothily and grabbed one too much on. Reveling in how good they were.

“So I heard you girls talking about magic?” Laney asked, leaning forward and taking a drink of her juice. I rolled me eyes.

“You don’t actually believe in it do you?” Melissa asked Laney.

The girl shrugged, her eyes staring around the room before pointing over at someone. “Magic has to be real if Louis Tomlinson can have that good of an ass.”

I looked to where she pointed to see someone standing with a still shivering Niall. Louis was grinning mischievously, his eyes wandering around the room until they landed on us.

I quickly ducked my head, letting my white hair becoming a curtain against his stare. I could feel his eyes still burning into us while I tried to focus on my next cookie. Laney was bright red, her eyes downcast as well.

“He couldn’t have heard that, right?” Melissa asked.

I shrugged, the heat of Louis’ stare still burning into us. Something wasn’t right with this place or the people in it.

I tried to change the subject. “What was with the lady who was dressed as Mrs. Claus.

“Oh that’s Mary, Santa’s wife.” Laney told us. I rolled my eyes aware what character she was. “She hasn’t been right in a long time. She’s kind and sweet but always far away you know? Something happened a while ago, way before the Village opened. No one really knows, just that the Elves tend to be very protective of her.”

I looked back over to the so-called ‘elves’ as Harry and Liam walked back in the door and joined Niall and Louis. They were talking, quickly. Rushed and serious, pausing every time someone walked a little too close. I wandered why they would be so protective of an old lady who was clearly not mentally in our world.

Except, I thought, the moment her eyes had met mine after I had told her my name. She was mostly definitely within this world in that moment.

“You two better get going, our lunch hour is almost up. The elves won’t be happy if you’re late.” Laney picked up her tray.

“People keep saying that the elves won’t be happy. What are they going to do? Like what is punishment in this place?” Melissa asked.

“Let’s just say they are tricksters at heart. One day you might just wake up and find your hair has changed colour or your eyes sights just on that side of annoyingly blurry. Maybe you have an unexpected itch that lasts all day.”

I gaped at Laney.

“What? They’re elves. Mischief is their middle name.” She left our table and Melissa groaned when she saw the time.

“She’s right we really should be getting back. God knows why I thought working here would be like a holiday.”

I followed Melissa’s lead and we dropped our trays off. Saying our goodbyes before I headed back down to the stables. It was quiet, once again when I reached it. I pushed the large doors open and found all eight reindeers already peering at me, their heads leaning over their gates. I paused in shock, as all attention seemed to turn directly to me. It was like walking into a room and realising that everyone was talking about you only seconds beforehand.

“Hey guys,” I said, taking my coat off and trying to play off the weird tension that filled the stable.

Vixen snorted, seeming to break the trance and most of the reindeers retreated from the gate. I patted Vixen’s nose before noticing Dancer struggling to reach me, her neck straining over the gate, her feet tapping excitedly on the ground. I walked over to her, laughing at her excitement. Her tail was swinging like crazy and I grabbed onto her face to calm her down. Rubbing between her antlers and down over her nose. She seemed to relax in my grip; her feet calming down but tail still swaying.

Donner snorted from his stable next to Dancer. He seemed to be annoyed by the small reindeers antics.

“Hey now, don’t be mean.” I scolded, reaching over to rub between his eyes. He seemed caught between enjoying the pat and wanting to appear unmoved by it.

“He’s the leader.”

I snapped back to Harry walking through the stable doors. Louis by his side. It was an odd feeling of being trapped that swept over me when Louis’ smirk met my face. I could almost believe that he would be the culprit of punishing the workers.

“He’s there to make sure the younger one’s don’t misbehave and everyone does their job correctly.”

Donner seemed to puff his chest out even further if he could, head held high. I had never seen an animal so full of itself. I laughed and reached up to rub between his eyes again. The reindeer relaxed immediately, pushing his nose closer to my height so it would be easier for me to pat.

“Unbelievable,” Louis whispered, it was the first time I had heard him talk. He came to step up beside me and almost glared at Donner. “Please at least act like you are trying hard to resist.”

Donner ignored him, keeping his attention on me.

“Come on, we’re going to let them all out so they can graze in one of our paddocks.” Harry began to unlock gates and pull them open. I froze for a second; knowing how tall all the reindeers were and having eight of them out at once would be almost uncontrollable.

“Shouldn’t we put them on a lead or something,” I squeaked out when Dancer jumped out of her gate with excitement. Her head bumped against my hip, hard when I mentioned the lead before she took off with two other reindeers out the open stable doors.

I gaped thinking they had just escaped. Harry and Louis only laughed.

“They won’t leave, they’re Santa’s reindeers.” Louis explained like that would explain everything. The boys then walked with the other reindeers towards the large stable doors. Harry looking over his shoulder and waving for me to follow.

I hesitated, knowing there was still one reindeer in his stall. He seemed unsure whether he wanted to go or not. I could totally understand that feeling. I looked at his gate nameplate and saw it said Prancer.

“Come on little man,” I reached my hand out and let him sniff it. “You want to come play with the others don’t you?” I offered.

He gracefully stepped around me and began walking towards the stable doors. He paused and glanced back at me, waiting for me to catch up to his side before we both walked out into the cold.

Harry and Louis were by one of the paddocks, all seven reindeer already inside. They both watched, amused as I walked with Prancer all the way down. He seemed unsure whether to join the others, but after I gave him one quick pat he was happy enough to join his friends or family. I wasn’t sure what the breeding of these animals were.

I wandered if they chose each reindeer to specifically replace the one before when it got too old for playing Santa’s reindeer.

I joined Harry and Louis by one of the fences as they watched the reindeers. They both seemed to be able to tell them all a part. I even had trouble-spotting Vixen and she was the one that I had spent all morning with.

“It’s all about the personalities,” Harry explained. “Donner is the obvious one, he is bigger, stronger and definitely a leader. He doesn’t play as much with the young ones but you can see the way he looks after all of them, nips at someone who takes the game too far or makes sure that the older ones eat and stretch their legs enough. Donner always looks after his heard.

After Donner is Blitzen. Blitzen is the next in charge and is probably the most stubborn. She preteneds to be annoyed at the younger ones but she really isn’t.”

I watched as Blitzen did indeed ignore the constant pecks by the young ones, as they wanted her to play. Occasionally she would swing her antlers at them causing them to dance away before running back.

“Cupid and Vixen are mated but Cupid is forever flirting with everything he can, so be careful with him. He has some great pick up lines.” Louis said. I rolled me eyes at his grin. “Those two are always together and dopily in love.”

He pointed to a pair that was grooming each other. I did recognise Vixen’s coat once it was pointed out.

“Comet and Dancer are the naughtiest,” Harry continued. “They’re the ones constantly running around and trying to get everyone else to play or into trouble with Donner. They are the ones you most have to look out for. If they can trick their way out of their stall and into open air, they will do it. Occasionally Dasher will join them, he’s currently helping them hunt Cupid and Vixen now.” Harry pointed him out.

“Dasher is the fastest reindeer and also the laziest. He only runs when he wants to. And well he basically only does stuff when he wants to.”

I remembered him from this morning. It took forever for him to stand up so I could brush his coat.

“Lastly, you have Prancer. The one you brought out. He’s the most shy and also the most graceful. Whereas the others ones will constantly trip and fall over each other, Prancer has a way of staying upright at all times like he’s floating. When he gets running he’s amazing to watch. However his shyness can keep him from socializing like he should. Donner generally nags at him until he joins the group. I was surprised that you were able to do it today.”

Both Louis and Harry looked at me like I had the answers to everything.

“I’m surprised that you have given each reindeer such thorough personalities.” I retorted. Even though a part of me noticed every little quirk that both boys mentioned. It was a little unsettling to see them as a bit more than a domestic animal.

Notes

Hey so I'm supposed to be updating every day but something weird happened with my internet. But I'm back to all good, so expect a few extra updates next couple of days to make up for it!

Also thank you to everyone already commenting and voting. You guys are the best!