Georgia

The moment Georgia's eyes opened the next morning, she reached for her phone to check on the status of the road. But up here, in the small room Sue had loaned her, cell reception still barely reached one bar. She knew she needed to go downstairs to find a spot with better coverage, but first, she needed to shower, change, and do her skincare routine...

But she couldn't wait. Like a kid on Christmas morning, she slid out of bed and headed for a part of the house that she knew had decent enough reception—the living room.

In sock feet, she padded quietly down the stairs—she didn't want to get caught by Sue—or worse, Felix—still in her pajamas and with a classic case of bedhead. But as she peered around the door's edge into the living room, Felix was already there. He had his phone to his ear and was chatting away, his computer in his lap, obviously on an important call. Fortunately, he was too focused to notice her, so she snuck back the other way, towards the kitchen.

Though it smelled strongly of fresh coffee, there was no one there. Through the windows behind the table, Georgia could see Sue already outside, dragging the farm's festive signs down the driveway to put them out for the day.

Perfect, she thought. She had a little time to herself.

Usually, Felix was at the table to do his work, but since he was in the living room, she figured she'd sneak into his spot. She slid into his usual chair and pulled her phone out again. She had at least two bars now. That should be enough to check on the road conditions...

She pulled up the website and waited for it to load. Even with two whole bars, the website took its sweet time. Georgia impatiently tapped her fingers on the tabletop as she waited to navigate through each page to reach the right one.

"Up already?"

Georgia jumped, her phone slipping out of her hand and clattering to the table.

Sue was just stepping into the kitchen, rosy-cheeked from the cold. She headed over to the large french press of brewing coffee on the counter.

"I-I just wanted to check the road conditions, to see if the avalanche has been cleared," she said, picking up her phone again. The page was still loading...

"Here's hoping!" Sue said as she pressed down the French press' plunger. She let it sit for a moment and then went to grab mugs from the shelves.

Finally, the page on Georgia's phone loaded. As she scanned the update, her heart sank. She folded her arms across the table and dropped her head into them, burying her face, and let out a defeated groan.

The road was still out, and there was no timeline for when it might finally get cleared.

"Bad news, huh?" Sue said, placing a mug of fresh coffee beside Georga's lowered head.

"Yeah," Georgia muttered from beneath her arms. She didn't want to look up. She was trying very hard not to burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, dear," Sue said. Georgia heard the scrape of the chair on the floor as Sue pulled it out and sat down across from her.

"I'm going to miss Christmas, aren't I?" Georgia mumbled pitifully. She couldn't keep the shaking out of her voice.

"You don't know that," Sue said, reaching over and patting her arm. "You still have one more day, and they may still clear it in time."

"But what if they don't? What if I can't make it to my sisters?" Georgia choked, the emotion in her voice rising. She was debating if she should just crawl home to the city, defeated.

"Then you're more than welcome to spend Christmas here, with us," Sue said.

Georgia finally lifted her head a bit, just enough so her reddening eyes could peer over the edge of her arm. "I am?"

"Of course!" Sue said with one of her glowing smiles. "I'll even prepare a gift for you to open on Christmas morning."

"You don't have to do that," Georgia said, sitting up a little straighter.

"Try and stop me," Sue said, narrowing her eyes, but her mischievous smile betrayed her. "You'll be getting a gift one way or another."

"But I don't have anything to give you or Felix in return," Georgia protested.

"You've already helped us enough! You got us that lovely tree and you've been a huge help running the gift shop!"

"That was supposed to make up for you allowing me to stay here for a few more days!" Georgia shot back with a laugh. Sue's presence had already begun to cheer her up. "And it's been so slow that I don't think it counts. I've hardly done anything..."

Sue waved her hand at her, her signature move to dismiss the topic. "Don't worry about it. If you really want to make it up to me, you can help my dear son clear out that back room. He said he'd start on it yesterday, but I don't think he's gotten anything done." Sue shot a glare towards the living room, where Felix was still on the phone, deep in conversation. "He's been on that phone ever since last night."

Georgia wondered what he was up to. Yesterday, he'd never come back to the storage room. And when Georgia went out in search of him, she found him typing frantically on his computer with his phone cradled under his chin.

"Well, I'm sure I can do it on my own," Georgia said. She wished she had a better Christmas gift for Sue, but if cleaning out her back room was what Sue needed, then she was happy to do it. "How hard can it be?"

🎄

Every time Georgia came back to the storage room, it seemed like more boxes had been added to the pile. Had Sue been adding to it? Or maybe it had been elves. This was the world's most picturesque Christmas tree farm, after all, so it sounded almost plausible.

Either way, there was a lot of work to be done.

Looking for a place to start, Georgia glanced around. Everywhere her gaze paused, the boxes were piled high. She decided she might as well start with the one box that was already open—the one with the flyers. She grabbed it and pulled it over, digging into it. On top was a small stack of the green flyers she knew, but there was more beneath them. It looked like the box was used to store any sort of leftover advertising from the farm's past. There were posters, too, business cards, and even menus for the old diner. Georgia pulled one out and found many mentions of pie and Christmas-y specials.

Georgia didn't know what to do with them. There was lots of important history here, or at least good memories. She didn't want to just throw them out, at least not until Sue got a chance to look through them. That was the difficult part. How did Georgia know what should stay and what should go? But maybe she didn't have to clear the place out, maybe she could just organize everything, so when Sue did get a chance to look through everything, it wouldn't be such a daunting task. Georgia smiled to herself. Yes, that could work.

She grabbed the marker she'd stuck into her pocket on the way in and wrote on the side of the box, "OLD FARM ADVERTISING."

Closing the advertisement box and pushing it aside, she reached for another. This one was full of Christmas cards. Most of the cards were to the Nissen family, but Georgia pulled one up featuring a picture of two little kids standing in front of a Christmas tree in the snow. A girl and a boy, both dressed like little elves. Upon closer inspection, she realized they were standing in front of the Nissen farmhouse and that the little boy was wearing very thick glasses...

"I see you got saddled with my job. Sorry about that."

Georgia looked up. Felix was there, leaning against the door frame. He looked particularly... something today. His forest green henley shirt complemented his auburn hair very well. And when he smiled like that, Georgia noticed a little dimple on his cheek. Yes, he was very something indeed...

"Speak of the elf!" Georgia said, holding up the card for him to see. "Look what I found! Is that you?"

Felix took it and started laughing. "Yep, that's me and my sister alright. I told you I had thick glasses." He handed it back to Georgia.

"You sure did," Georgia said, smiling. She opened the card and read aloud. "We wish you a Merry Christmas—From Gareth, Sue, Felix and Astrid Nissen of Nissen Christmas Tree Farm, 1999."

"Was that just sitting in one of these boxes?"

"Yep! And there's a lot more in here, too." Georgia tipped the box a little to show him the size of the pile.

"Wow, Dad really did keep everything," Felix said, scanning through the boxes. "What're you going to do with it all?"

"I can't throw any of it out. I don't know what's sentimental and what's not. So I think I'm just going to organize everything," she pointed to her label on the side of the other box, "and let you two go through it with a little bit more direction."

"Even that would help immensely. You know, you should probably put aside some of the more choice pieces," Felix said, pointing at the card featuring him and his sister, "to show my mom. I'm sure she'd love a little walk down memory lane before she sells this place... Which might be sooner rather than later." He grinned, the dimple showing again.

"D-Did you find a buyer?" Georgia asked. For some reason, the idea made her stomach sink.

"I might have," Felix said, puffing his chest out. He sure looked proud of himself. "That's where I went yesterday, by the way—to follow up on a lead. And good thing I did. They sound very eager. I'd love to get it over with and wrapped up before Christmas—I think that'd be a great gift for my mom."

As if on cue, his phone rang. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket.

"Is that them?" Georgia asked.

"It is indeed," Felix said, looking apologetic. "I've gotta take this. I came over hoping to help, but it looks like I gotta leave it to you for now. Sorry."

"It's okay," Georgia said. "This was supposed to be my gift to your mom." She sighed as she motioned to the fortress of boxes around her. Even if it was helpful, it seemed like such a lacklustre gift. She wished she had a way to find something better, something meaningful...

"She'll like it all the same," Felix said as he answered his phone. "This is Felix! Hi, yes, I was calling about—" He ducked out of the kitchen with a wave.

Georgia picked up Felix's childhood card again. It made her smile. He was so young it was hard to reconcile the Felix she knew with this dorky little kid in the photo. He was right, though—his mom would love to see this. She was sure it would bring back lots of good memories.

It dawned on her then.

Maybe this could be her gift to Sue! She could collect all the best bits from these boxes and combine them into a sort of memorabilia album of the farm. Something for her to thumb through when she wanted to remember the farm, even after she sold it. She wished she could be here to watch Sue open it. Suddenly spending Christmas at the Nissen farm didn't sound so bad.

Now she had a gift for Sue, but she still needed to find one for Felix...

But what?

She'd have to think about that one.

Maybe she'd think of something as she went through all of this. Even if he had conflicted feelings about the place, he deserved something of a keepsake, too. Something he could look back on, when the hard edges of his memories had dulled and didn't cut as deep.

Georgia began to dig through the other cards, looking for other good ones for Sue's gift. The box had cards for every year Felix's parents had run the farm. Many of them had photos of the family attached. As Georgia sorted through them, it was like watching a timelapse of the whole family—Gareth, Sue, Astrid, and Felix—aging.

Felix's father was a jovial-looking man whose pink, round face and white-blonde hair made him look a bit like the distant cousin of Santa, especially the older he got. Sue looked striking when she was young, with her ink-black hair and copper skin. Astrid was a cute child who transformed into a beautiful woman, inheriting her mother's dark, hooded eyes alongside her father's bright blonde hair. Felix was a good mix of his parents, too, though he started small and awkward, with thick glasses that hid his blue eyes. As he grew into his features, he became more handsome, but there was something on his face that only grew as he aged. Maybe Georgia was imagining it because she knew him and had heard about his struggles, but to her, his frustration was plain on his face, deepening with every year.

And then, one year, Felix was gone. Then Astrid. And then, after a few cards of Sue and Gareth as a couple, it just became pictures of the charming farmhouse.

One in particular, with a black and white picture of the farmhouse, caught her eye. She pulled it out of the pile. The picture on the front was beautifully framed, the farmhouse aglow behind the rows of trees, a starry sky behind it all. Simply silver text beneath read, Merry Christmas from Nissen Christmas Tree Farm.

Georgia opened it. Inside, there wasn't just a simple message of well wishes but a full letter that filled both sides of the card.

And it was addressed to Felix... from his dad.

Georgia gasped. Guess I just found Felix's gift, too.

🎄

Do you struggle to find the right gifts for people?