@Ravendipity @Saramitra_

One day, you noticed a package sitting outside your door. You open it to see a snow globe along with a note reading, "Shake and the Magic of Christmas will appear." Skeptical, you shake it and an elf appears.

Word count 2615 on Google Docs but Wattpad is saying 2499

 1999 was the year that your grandma took you to see the show of your life, Christmas On Ice, and she got you the best present ever when you were just 10 years old.

It looked like an ordinary teddy to most, but to you it was special; it had a cute button nose and eyes that shined in the light, and the best thing was it was purple, which was your favourite colour.

When she bought it, you and the handler over it knew you loved it.

"Thank you, Grandma."

Smiling, she hugged you and said, "You're welcome, treasure." That was her nickname for you.

You might not have said it a lot, but she knew you loved her.

The last time you got to tell her in person was just before your twentieth birthday, and now you had a job that you always wanted.

So now you were 35 years of age, and it was a snowy winter afternoon. You had just gotten back from work when, as you entered your house, you noticed a parcel on your doorstep.

You opened the door and carried it in. Your eyes widened at the snow globe that was inside.

When you picked it up, you saw a note attached; as you read it, you laughed at the message.

Shake the globe, and the magic of Christmas would appear.

You sighed. The magic of Christmas hadn't been a thing for years for you.

You didn't believe the message, but shook the globe.

You put the globe to the side and walked away mumbling, "Magic of Christmas, yeah right," but ‌when the globe glowed and the room shook, you turned round and your eyes widened and your mouth hung open because right there in your home was a Small creature with a hat, a green jumper, and stockings. I couldn't believe it, but it was real.

They're in your living room, was an elf.

Your other senses kicked in after your shock. You heard the jingling of the bells on the elf's hat; the room smelt of fresh-baked cookies, and the elf's clothes were shiny in the room lighting.

"Hi."

The voice snapped you out of your trance, but you were so startled that you fell back on the settee.

The elf jumped onto your lap and asked, "Are you alright?"

Returning to your senses, you screamed, "What the hell was this? What do you want?"

Giggling, the elf said, "I'm here to show you the magic of Christmas."

Scoffing, you shook your head. "What could you show me?"

The elf grabbed the snow globe and turned it a kind of purple.

You weren't sure what was happening, so you said, "Where are you taking me?"

"I'm going to take you to the places you last went with your grandma."

"That's impossible," you said, but you found yourself in your winter suit in the middle of a busy market street.

Turning to the elf, "This is not some Christmas Carol business, is it?"

Giggling, "No."

Nodding, you followed him around the space.

While you looked around, you found a stall with different teddies; one caught your eye.

Picking it up, you noticed that it was like the one your grandma got you.

You scanned it with your eyes, and it was almost the same; it had a cute button nose, eyes that were shiny in the light, and it was purple in colour.

The only difference was that this one had overalls while yours had a knitted jumper that she had made especially for your bear.

You didn't realise that you were almost crying until you heard, "You okay?"

Looking at the elf, you blinked the tears back and smiled, "I'm good, thank you."

He gave you a look, and after a few seconds, smiled, "Okay," he said, and you carried on walking.

Walking around, you liked the songs that were playing.

It ‌made you feel Christmassy as you sang along to the songs playing.

At one point your favourite song came on, "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day."

"So you feeling Christmassy?"

"A bit, I, but this is normal at this time of year," you said.

The elf smiled, and he shook the globe, and you found yourself in a forest.

"What is this?" you asked, looking round.

Pointing, the elf showed you a tree, and after you looked closely, you realised it was the tree with your grandma's and your initials carved in.

This brought back memories of your childhood and how you and Grandma would come here every year.

Looking at your names, you thought of the time you came and carved your names.

It was 2002. You had just turned 13 that year, and like all teens, your first disappointment was finding out that Santa was something that they told kids.

Your grandma could see that you were disappointed that Santa wasn't real, so on the week before Christmas, she took you to the forest, and there was one old oak tree.

With help from your grandpa, you carved your name into the tree.

You remember your grandma saying, "Even when I'm not here, you can come here. I will always be here in spirit."

Coming out of your thoughts, you felt your eyes burning, and your nose was starting to run.

You looked around, and when you couldn't see the elf, you wiped your eyes and nose and then continued to find him.

After you caught up with him, you tapped him, "So where are we going next?"

"Oh, we are going sledging."

You were about to say something but soon found yourself in the park where you used to go sledging.

You saw a sledge and got hold of it.

Thinking back to when it used to snow and your grandparents would always take you sledging.

Your grandpa would take you as high up the hill as you wanted, and then he would get scolded by Grandma, and you would play the kid game by saying grandpa shouldn't listen to you.

"Ahh!" You were jolted out of your thoughts by a snowball, and the elf was smiling at you.

"Oh, you want a snowball fight? Okay." You picked up a bit of snow and turned it into a snowball and threw it.

The elf screamed and got you back.

"Ahh, you little, you're asking for it."

You chased the elf round throwing snowballs at each other.

At one point you caught him up and hugged him, but something felt familiar, so you picked him up and then realised that the fabric was the same texture as your grandma's old winter coat.

You didn't understand, but something about it was comforting, so you put the elf down and asked, "Where are we going next?"

Looking at you in the eye, "We're going to meet Santa."

You laughed, "Please, Santa isn't real."

He looked at you, "I'm real."

"So this is all very nice, and I like feeling the different emotions I haven't felt for a while, but take me home. W

Shaking his head, he shook the globe and clicked his fingers.

You found yourself outside a large building.

You saw a sign, and it said.

Welcome to Santa's workshop.

Not believing what you were reading, you said, "No way is this real."

Elf giggled and took your hand, leading you inside.

While you looked around inside, you noticed someone had decorated the place with tinsel and a gigantic Christmas tree.

It smelt like the cookies your grandma used to make; this caused you to have mixed feelings.

You first walked through what looked like a stable where all the reindeer were kept, and suddenly you were almost blinded by a red light, but when you could see again, you realised it was Rudolph.

Stoking him, you laughed when he licked you.

You hugged him and said bye, then you continued walking.

As you got further through the building, you found yourself going through a busy area with elves running back and forth; some were making toys, others were keeping the machines in order, and the top dog elves were writing on a notepad.

As you were about to enter another room, you saw a conveyor belt that had loads of teddies that looked like the one Grandma got you, but these were in all colours.

You sniffed back tears, wondering what was wrong with you.

Never in your life were you this emotional.

A jolly, loud voice greeted you as you entered the room: "Hello, we've waited for you."

When you looked up, you saw a guy in Santa's attire, and you knew it was Santa.

"Hi." You cringed as your voice cracked.

"Hohoho, it's okay." "Tell me what you want for Christmas, young lady."

You thought about it, and you smiled. "All I want is to spend time with my family."

That was true. You hadn't spent time with your family for a while; that would be nice.

Santa smiled, "Well, is that it?"

You should have known that Santa knew what the one thing you wanted more than anything was.

To get your grandma back.

You shook your head. "No, but what I want is impossible for even you, Santa."

You started to think of the first time Grandma had taken you to a Santa's grotto.

You were 5 years old, and you sat on Santa's lap, and he asked you what you wanted.

You told him you wanted a puppy and kitten like the ones on a TV show you liked.

You did get a kitten, but you never got the puppy.

Snapping out of your thoughts, mixed emotions washed over you, but the most predominant one was guilt.

You felt guilty because after you lost your cat, you were inconsolable, but when your grandma died, it was like you couldn't feel anything; you were just numb.

Santa stood looking at you. "Ah, you want your grandmother back?"

Sniffing back tears, you nodded, "Yeah, but I know it can't happen."

It couldn't happen no matter how much you wished for it.

Santa stepped forward and put his hand on your shoulder. "That might be true, but she is always here." Pointing at your chest near your heart.

You stood feeling a wave of despair because even though you had the memories, it wasn't the same. Your mind kept going through your memories, and even though they were happy, you felt the despair get worse.

Clutching your heart, you felt the tears you had been holding back all day roll down your face.

You felt your ears going red because you were crying in front of Santa, and you put your hands over your mouth to muffle your sobs. You were soon brought out of your thoughts when you felt something pulling on your sleeve; you saw the elf looking at you with big eyes, so you picked him up. He wiped the tears rolling down your face. "Do not cry; it makes me sad," he said.

Laughed wetly, you hugged him and said, "Thank you."

Hugging the elf in your arms felt comforting, but you had not expected Santa to speak.

"I may not be able to bring back your grandmother, but I could get you a pet."

You put the elf down and wiped your face. "I've always wanted a dog."

Sants smiled, "So you would have one."

Clicked his fingers in your arms was a puppy.

It had long ears, so you knew it was a Cocker Spaniel.

It turned towards you and licked your face, causing you to giggle.

"Thank you, Santa. I loved it."

"You're welcome, my dear, but my helper here better get you home."

Grabbing your arm, the elf shook the globe, and you only just heard him say bye when you vanished.

You woke up in your bed. Was it a dream? You thought, but when you saw the puppy go towards you,

You knew it was real.

Picking up the puppy and naming him Buddy. You went over to your window and looked at the snow.

Maybe it was the adventure you had, but at this moment you felt like you had found the magic of Christmas.

After you got dressed for the day, there was a knock at the door. Raising an eyebrow, you went to the door and opened it.

Standing there was some of your family.

"Wait, what are you doing here?"

Smiling, your dad put his hands in front of you and gave you a present.

"Don't worry about it; we're just here to see you."

You wanted to ask questions, but then you remembered asking Santa, so you smiled, "Come in."

Leading everyone in, you called Buddy over and picked him up.

"So this is Buddy."

You showed him off to everyone, and after everyone said hello, you got on with the dinner preparations.

Everyone enjoyed themselves; there was laughter, and spirits were high.

You spent the afternoon with your family talking about the things you used to do as a child, and even some stories about your grandma were shared.

It was probably because you cried in Santa's workroom, but you felt at peace now.

Just before everyone left, your grandpa found the snow globe. "Hey, Em, where did you get this?"

You smiled. "Oh, I got it yesterday. I must have ordered it and forgotten because it was a surprise."

Nodding, "Well, I can see your grandma in it; she must be with us."

You looked, and he was right, "Hi Grandma, I love you. Thank you for watching over me."

Afterwards everyone left, and you got ready to pack up, but first you looked at the globe.

The image of your grandma had faded, but the elf and Santa were looking.

You sat down, and Buddy got on your lap; he sniffed the globe and started barking.

"Hey buddy, it's Santa and the elf look."

He wagged his tail and barked, licking the globe.

You laughed and put the globe down.

"That's enough, Buddy, but I think we should do something to say thank you, don't you?"

Jumping down and wagging his tail, Buddy ran to the kitchen.

"So we're making a batch of cookies then?"

You got the reply of Buddy barking.

So you got to work, and a few hours later you had a full batch of cookies and gingerbread men.

As you got ready for bed, you took the globe into your room and looked outside one last time.

"So Buddy, that was one of the best Christmases ever. What about you?"

"Woof." you laughed, "Well, I'll take that as a yes."

You looked at the Globe, and the Elf was still there.

Sitting down on the bed, you said, "Merry Christmas, Buddy."

Looking at the globe, you kissed it, "Merry Christmas, my Christmas elf.

You put the globe down and sat with Buddy.

Thinking about the adventures you had, you once again said Merry Christmas.

You decided to write a note and leave it on the globe.

Merry Christmas! My Christmas Elf, thank you for everything.

You put the globe on the side, and before you fell asleep, you were sure that the globe started glowing once more, and you saw Santa the Elf and your grandma.

Only Grandma spoke, and she said, "I love you, Tressure."

Smiling "I love you too, Grandma. Thank you for doing this, Sanat."

You knew from that Grandma was okay, and your Christmases could always be great no matter what.

"Merry Christmas, my Christmas Elf, thank you for showing me the magic of Christmas."

You said before you fell asleep and dreamed of the Christmases you spent with your grandma.