Ellis and Mr. Christmas

Once upon a time there was a charming crawkulian named Ellis, who lived in a small town called Greenwich, which was to the east of Blackwich, but to the west of Greywich, and to the south of Redwich, but to the north of Whitewich. At first glance, Ellis seemed to be an ordinary crawkulian. She had the muzzle of a bat, the wings of a crow, short hairy paws, and a kind heart. Yet it was only on the surface that she seemed ordinary. In fact, she was quite special, because one of her eyes could see everyone’s future, except for her own.

To keep Ellis from wasting her gift, Grandmother Goldie taught her to keep the magic eye closed until the right moment, and to never look at her own reflection. “Otherwise”, she warned, “something IRREVERSIBLE might happen.” Ellis never asked Grandmother what that “something irreversible” could be, nor did she dare to find out. Therefore, she didn’t know what she really looked like. Ellis was sure that she had two wings, four paws, a tail, a mouth and ears. So, depending on the weather, she pictured herself as a seagull, a pelican, or an owl. Ellis spent her whole childhood with Granny Goldie in a green house on the main street of Greenwich. By the way, all the houses in Greenwich are green, and everyone’s name starts with the letter “G”. All of them except for Ellis’, of course. As a crawkukin*, Ellis adored sitting by the window all day long watching passers-by. She used to squint her left eye, open her right eye and follow the miraculous changes that were happening to Greenwichers. She saw them as grown up and even old crawkulians** with wings turned grey or wearing wigs, lonely and with crawkukins clinging to them. After her grandmother’s death, Ellis moved to the northern edge of Greenwich. She settled down under a bridge in a house made of yellow sailcloth. The house was held down by four stakes made of oak. One of the four walls had a door, the three others had windows. Two windows were round, while the third was square. The round windows had a wonderful view of Greenwich and its hills and cypress grove.

* crawkukin: a child ** crawkulian: an adult

A year in Greenwich lasted four months. At the end of each month, the town was happy to welcome one of its holidays: in winter there came Mr. Christmas; in spring, Mr. Lily-of-the-Valley; in summer, Mr. Bell; and in autumn, Mr. Mountain Ash. Greenwichers were especially happy to welcome Mr. Christmas. He was a tall (almost seven feet!) hedgehog.

The sleeves of his coat were covered in glittering tinsel, while in his hood chirped chickadees and brown-red mice played about. The townsfolk would greet him with decorated Christmas trees, carrot and pear cakes, and pockets full of hope. Mr. Christmas would hand tinsel and sweets out to crawkukins, the chickadees would burst into songs about white snowflakes, and the mice would sing a familiar tune about white snowbanks. Ellis used to prepare for Mr. Christmas’ arrival very thoroughly. She would cover the table with a red tablecloth, stick white paper snowflakes onto the windows and the ceiling, put candles into high silver candlesticks, and decorate the windowsills with cotton wool and Christmas ornaments. But the decoration Ellis was most proud of was the festive wreath. She would craft it using anything she had: pieces of sailcloth, beads, buttons, bells, knitting threads, dried berries, colored paper, and, of course, amber-colored fir tree branches.

Ellis had become friends with Mr. Christmas when she was a crawkukin. Mr. Christmas would enter Ellis’ house without knocking, stay with her longer than with other Greenwichers, and teach her to play checkers. He liked watching Ellis as she squinted first her left eye, then her right eye, trying to focus on the checkered sheet of paper that served as their board. She reached out for a black button checker piece on one square, shifted her gaze abruptly to another and quickly brushed Mr. Christmas’ white piece aside. “King! King! I have a King!” Ellis would bounce on her short paws. Mr. Christmas would grab his head, imitating surprise, then they would both laugh loudly and make funny faces. After that, they always returned to their game. Mr. Christmas was always very talkative, and during two rounds of the game he would manage to tell Ellis about all the events that had taken place in Blackwich and Redwich, as well as one or two happenings in Whitewich. Ellis would listen with half an ear, while trying to concentrate on the game. From then on, playing checkers became their holiday tradition. Over time, the paper checkers board they used wore out and faded. Having seen Mr. Christmas off, Ellis would fill in the blurred lines with a pencil, carefully fold the piece of paper between the pages of a thick book, and then place the book on a shelf; to be kept there until next year.

Mr. Christmas would arrive in town on the last Friday of winter and usually stay until Monday. During those days, Greenwichers would put their notes into a small Wish Barrel that Mr. Christmas carried behind his back in his hedgehog pines, filling it up to the brim. Only Ellis had the ability to know the fate of these wishes. So during Christmastime, Greenwichers, both big and small, would line up at the sailcloth house to find out whether their wishes would come true. Ellis never turned anyone away. She would sit by the square window and greet everyone with a smile and a glazed cake. Greenwichers would enter the house in pairs and ask about their wishes. Ellis would squint her left eye, open the right one wide and stare first at one visitor, then at the other. Those who got a «yes» from Ellis for their wishes to come true thanked her and rushed to town to bring the good news to their family and friends. “Ellis, we’re the happiest crawkulians in the world!” they would shout. Those who got a “no” would turn around on their heels without saying a word, shuffle slowly on the straw floor, muttering something, and were sure to slam the door. And no one would miss a chance to grab some items from her festive wreath, just for luck. So by the beginning of the next year, all that was left of the festive wreath was just a wire frame, a pair of ribbons, and several worn-out fir tree branches.

On one Friday evening, as usual, Ellis was waiting for Mr. Christmas to visit her, when suddenly there was a timid knock at the door. Startled, Ellis flew to the door and peeped through the keyhole. Outside there was a 5-year-old crawkukin named Grey. Under his arm he was holding a box wrapped in silvery paper. Ellis quickly opened the door and lit a red candle. “My mum and brothers went to see Aunt Gwen. I stayed with my father at home, but he fell asleep and here I am,” the kid blurted out before any questions could be asked. Ellis made him sit by the fire and handed him a glazed cake. “I made a special wish to Mr. Christmas. I’ve only ever asked for sweets for my mother, glasses for my father, and toys for my brothers. I have never asked for anything for myself. I want,” the kid bit off a piece of the cake and started to chew it, “to become a LITTLE GUST OF WIND. I want to see the world. Mum will never let me go beyond this grove.” The kid gave a nod toward the round window to the right of Ellis. “I dream of seeing the sea, mountains, ships, elephants and giraffes. Tell me, Ellis, will my dream come true?” “Let’s see,” Ellis whispered as she stared at Grey with her right eye. Grey stopped chewing and stared at Ellis. His whole life flashed before Ellis’s eye like a short film.

It was as plain and predictable as a checker board: Greenwich school, work at Girsh’s shoe workshop, peaceful evenings spent reading Greenwich’s only newspaper, city festivals with cakes and punch, and a thick photo album without a single giraffe.

Ellis started to blink. “Your wish will come true,” Ellis crawkuked as solemnly as possible and broke into such a broad smile that she felt ringing in her ears. Ellis had just told a lie for the first time in her life. Grey flew up to the ceiling, began to whirl like a humming bird, then plopped down laughing loudly. “Ellis, I’m the happiest crawkukin in the world!” he shouted. “Thank you!” Ellis laughed together with him, having already forgotten about her lie. It was only in the morning that she found out that the box that Grey had brought was still lying by the door. An inscription on the box, scribbled in a childish scrawl, read “For Ellis”. She cut the wrapping paper carefully and gasped: there was a real checkers set inside! With a wooden board and perfectly polished pebbles for checker pieces! It was the first time in her life that she had gotten a present. And what a present it was!

Mr. Christmas came to see Ellis on a frosty Saturday morning. With some difficulty he squeezed through the door and immediately sat down on the low bench that Ellis had made specially for him. Mr. Christmas was surprisingly quiet, the chickadees silently warmed themselves sitting side by side with the mice, golden tinsel ribbons clung to his sleeve. The new checkers set was on the table, and water was about to boil in the kettle. “I am so happy! Oh, I am so happy to see you!” Ellis began to chatter and set to pour hot water on dried herbs. Mr. Christmas smiled and sipped the chamomile tea. “Ellis,” he started gently, “during the years of our friendship you have never asked me to do anything for you. I can make any wish come true. Just say the word.”

Ellis dropped her head and stared at her talons. “Grey, the son of Gloria and Gordon, came in to see me yesterday. He put a special wish into your Barrel. He asked me if it would come true. And I,” she hesitated, “told him.... a lie. He is dreaming of the impossible and I wanted so much to cheer him up. Christmas, make his dream come true – for me. Turn him into a LITTLE GUST OF WIND – that’s what I’m asking for this year.” “You’ll have to help me, Ellis. It’s beyond my power to fulfill such a wish on my own. It’s your eyes that can work such a miracle. You just need to look at your reflection.” Without hesitation, Ellis took out her grandmother’s chest from under the bed and found a small mirror there. She wiped the dust off it, opened both her eyes widely and looked at her own reflection for the first time in her life.

“I’m so...” Ellis began but never finished her sentence... because she had disappeared. The mirror fell to the floor.

Mr. Christmas put it back into the chest, shifted a black pebble checker piece across the board and, having closed the door firmly, headed off to Greenwich, which was growing still and quiet after the festive boom. He walked towards the Greenwich that was to the east of Blackwich, to the west of Greywich, to the south of Redwich, and to the north of Whitewich. It was a wonderful winter day and a LITTLE WIND gratefully brushed the hem of Mr. Christmas’ long blue coat. It was him, Grey! His dream had come true! It had happened so suddenly that Grey didn’t even have time to pack his things or make his bed. “It’s a miracle!” he cried, stirring heaps of snowflakes. “A miracle indeed!” And what about Ellis? Nobody knew where Ellis had gone, but Mr. Christmas kept smiling mysteriously and repeating: “She’ll be back. She surely will.”