Like my Halloween Town (which has a series of blog post short stories written about it), I also have a Christmas village, created from a plethora of mismatched pieces I have collected over the years. It too resides on the bookcase upon which Halloween Town makes its appearance, usually being set up the weekend after Thanksgiving and taken down after Epiphany every year.
It brings me great joy to create, even though usually the other half and I are the only ones to see it.
Here is this year’s version:
I had been asked by friends if I was going to write a story about it over the past two years, ever since my Halloween Town stories took off. Because of my bout with COVID last year, I did not get to it. This year, I’ve been struggling to find the words to write a story…. but this week, the weather has inspired me. So here goes. This is part one of two – and yes, some of the “people” are bears….. It’s a magical village, after all!
Oh, before I begin – here’s the IG reel I made on the village!
It’s Christmas Time in the Village
It was just a week before Christmas in the town of Hays-Wayfare and everyone was hustling and bustling to get things done before the big day. The town had received some wonderful snowfall after several warm days, so it seemed to put everyone in the Christmas mood.
At the Hays-Wayfare train station, which still sported the name of the smaller village even though Wayfare had absorbed it many decades ago, old Max’s pickup truck and camper trailer sat outside, waiting for the train to arrive. It was bringing the last of his Christmas gifts….. his grandson, who was coming home from a long deployment. The old man was giddy and joyous that his grandson was finally able to celebrate the holiday with him. He even picked out a tree and had it in the back of his truck to decorate once they got home.
At the First Community Church, a rather large nativity scene had been created. Once a year on Christmas eve, live actors took the place of the figures that usually graced the front. As usual though, the baby for which the season was inspired did not make a scene until the eve of his birth. Still, the figures themselves were quite impressive and nearly realistic in every detail, from the feathers on the wings of the angel right down to the fluffiness of the lamb. The church prided itself on having a large congregation, so they of course could spend a bit more on decorations than some of the other denominations. But that was neither here nor there.
The neighbors of Main Street were out and about even though the snow had fallen in spades. Corporal Neilson from the nearby Marine Corps base was going door to door collecting toys for the toy drive. He smiled at the snowball fight a few of the boys were having as he crossed the street. A snowball nearly took his cover off.
“Sorry!” Toby shouted, his cheeks red from exertion and the cold.
Corporal Neilson merely laughed and straightened his cover. He wanted to join in on the fun, but he had a job to do. He nodded in acknowledgement as he moved on to the next house on the street, dodging a few more snowballs that errantly flew his way.
Anna was putting the finishing touches on her snowman for the neighborhood snowman building contest. Her sister Linnea was pulling a sled with a few of her stuffed animals in it while their mother had their little brother Dalton out in his new snowsuit. All three children were smiling and laughing as they played in the cold weather.
The Waldens were driving home in their station wagon, a newly chopped tree tied atop their car. The youngest kid, Tanner, smiled from the backseat as he saw the snowman he had built the day before was still in the yard unharmed by the shenanigans of some of the neighborhood kids.
“It’s still standing, Dad!” he proudly exclaimed.
Just down Main Street from where all the kids were playing was Hays-Wayfare’s Town Hall and the Hays Baptist Church. Bertie Bearington was standing outside the Town Hall, watching the snowball fight from his end of the street with a smile. He wanted to participate, but had a job to do that day collecting toys for the toy drive at the drop off point. .
Meanwhile, his little brother Barrett Bearington was making a snowman for the contest across the street in the yard of Hays Baptist Church, the oldest church in the area. Their father was the pastor of the congregation. Since they lived in the parsonage, they were often playing in the yard. Barrett’s snowman wasn’t quite as large as Anna’s or even Tanner’s, but he hoped it would do.
Up the hill in what used to be the small village of Wayfare, a great deal of things were going on, but that’s a story for another day……
Stay magical!
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K. S. Wood Writes 
Such a flurry of activity in the village…you can feel the anticipation for what is just around the corner 💞
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