Someone Is Stealing Christmas Wishes, Charlie Boone! - 6. Chapter 6

Mayor Snorkum had been looking amazed, but now his features held a certain joy that was mirrored in Cawra's face as well. "I can scarcely believe it!" He smiled at Charlie and Kip. "Once again, you have given us a wonderful gift!"

"An amazing gift!" Cawra agreed, smiling at the squirrels.

They had secured a small card table from Miss Mili and set it up in the room, so that the squirrels could be more at an eye-level with the humans as they sat around in the chairs Mili has also provided. Except for Charlie and Kip, who sat on the edge of the bed, leaned happily together, enjoying the moment.

Zelladora Zumbold, who had been asked to join them at the lodge, also looked more than a little happy. "I won't know how to act now!"

"Same!" Pixel said, bobbing his tail cheerfully. "Goodies!"

"Goodies!" Hex repeated, patting his hands together.

Everyone laughed at that, but Mrs. Zumbold shook her head then. "Why did you not speak to me before now?"

"New," Pixel said quickly. "Talk new."

"Castor," Hex explained, pointing a tiny hand at Charlie.

Charlie sat up straighter at that. "Are you saying you learned the magic of speech from Castor?"

"Yes, learn," Pixel explained. "Castor."

Charlie placed a hand over the dragon medallion. Why didn't you tell us that?

A vision came to him then, of the moment that Charlie had first communed with Castor in the room after their arrival. Castor's vision of the Alaskan woods was just what Charlie saw, but now he saw how the power of Castor's thoughts had carried well beyond the walls of their room. Well beyond the town, even. But in such a way that none of the elves or other humans were aware of it, because it simply wasn't something they were equipped to sense.

But in doing so, Castor had discovered the secret of the wildlife that lived around Twombly. That they were people.

"Spill-over," Rick said then, sounding amazed.

"You're seeing what I am?" Charlie asked, surprised.

"We all are, I suspect," Horace said softly.

The view changed then, and Charlie saw the island of Mnidoo Mnis, far to the south of them, at the end of the world, Tierra del Fuego. The Land of Fire.

On the island from which Castor had come, his kind lived in the wood of the trees and the pipeline of logs built beneath the town there to allow them access to every part of it. Once, long ago, they had communed with the elves that had lived there. But not just them. Castor's kind also spoke with the birds that called the island home, the petrels, the albatross, and the condors. And with the sea lions that frequented the island's shores, and even with the humpback whales that passed by daily. Castor's kind knew them all, and called them friends.

But this sort of communication was at a level that humans could not easily experience, because the skwish involved was one that they could not normally recognize. And so, in that long ago period, a magic had been developed by Castor's kind that would allow the animals to include the elves in the circle, so that they, too, could know the birds and the sea life that shared their home. That magic had never allowed animals to speak to the elves, because none of the animals were developed enough for the process. But it had allowed elves and animals to share experiences, and so to know one another.

And when the elves left that island, that magic had gone with them. But Castor and his kind remembered it. And now, Castor had placed that knowledge into the minds of all the animals that lived around Twombly, some of which were now developed enough to use it for speech.

"We came to see," Hex explained.

"Who had given the gift," Pixel clarified.

Charlie gently squeezed the medallion between his fingers. But why?

But he knew the answer, even as Castor showed them visions of the the elves of Twombly and the animals around them, now sharing their lives more closely. Because the animals of the exclusion zone were not strictly animals any longer. The elves, by their own actions, by their own association with skwish, had changed them. The animals of the exclusion zone had become people, and as such, were deserving of inclusion in the affairs of Twombly.

Or, so Castor had figured, anyway.

"It's only fair," Mayor Snorkum said quietly, smiling at the squirrels. "It's only the neighborly thing to do!"

"Can any of the other...the others use this magic for speech?" Zelladora asked. "Emma, or Jacob, for instance?"

"First," Hex said, patting his own chest. "Us first kind. Others will come."

"Other squirrels talk, already," Pixel added. "Soon, other kinds, too. We help them."

Mayor Snorkum clasped a hand to his forehead. "We will need more people to assist with this." His gaze found Mrs. Zumbold. "Zelladora, I hope you will continue in your capacity as conservationist."

The woman laughed. "I wouldn't miss this for anything, Brin! You know you can count on me!"

"Yes, and thank you. I'm afraid this will be bigger than one person can handle, though. We will need others to assist you." The mayor relaxed some, and smiled at his children. "The two of you are already involved."

"I don't know what we can do," Kiri said, looking suddenly anxious.

"We're not experts at all!" Kiley added, equally unnerved.

"I know. But no one here is an expert in this area. It will be something that must be learned from the ground up." The mayor sighed, and looked at the ceiling, feigning indifference. "I just thought the two of you might be interested."

"We are!" Kiley and Kiri said as one, looking alarmed now that they might not be considered.

Everyone in the room laughed, and the Mayor smiled at his children. "I knew you would be."

Kiri and Kiley exchanged grins.

"There's still one important question that hasn't been asked," Kiri said then, looking at the two squirrels.

"That's right," Kiley agreed. "The wish lights!"

Charlie sat forward on the edge of the bed, and both squirrels turned to gaze at him. "The lights above the streets of Twombly," Charlie said nodding. "And that outline the buildings and the trees, and give the town some of its Christmas cheer?"

Pixel and Hex exchanged glances.

"Wishes," Charlie said then, nodding again. "Some have gone missing."

To his surprise, both squirrels laughed at that. "Not missing!" Hex said.

"Not taken!" Pixel agreed. "Given!"

"What does that mean?" Kippy asked, leaning forward with Charlie.

The two squirrels again put their heads together.

"Wishes ask for help," Hex finally said. "Help given."

Kippy gasped at that. "Are you saying that...you are granting the wishes that have disappeared?"

Mayor Snorkum looked shocked. "That would do it, though. Make them vanish, I mean."

"Given," Pixel agreed. "Not all. Not many. Most too big, too much. Small wishes, can give."

The room was silent a moment. And then Mayor Snorkum leaned towards the two newest members of the citizenry of Twombly, his eyes plainly full of questions. "How?"

* * * * * * *

The hill overlooked the town. From its treed heights they could see the cheerful glow of the wish lights strung above Main Street, and outlining the buildings on both sides of that main thoroughfare, shedding their pleasant glow upon the people as they moved up and down the sidewalks. There were small groups of elves clustered here and there, talking and laughing, while others were clearly tending to business, yet still greeting others heartily, and just enjoying the holiday feel. Their voices carried easily on the gentle breeze as snowflakes drifted down all around them; lazy, in no hurry to reach the ground, more intent, it seemed, on filling the air with winter cheer. From somewhere among all that contentment, they could hear someone playing Silver Bells on an organ.

Cawra Snorkum, standing beside Kip, sighed happily. "That's Miss Mili at the lodge, playing. She only does that when no one is in their rooms."

Charlie remembered the organ in the great room, and marveled that its sounds could carry so far. He sighed and tightened his arm around Kippy, feeling the holiday deeply now, the scene below them just beautiful in its power to charm. Twombly was a place that kept Christmas all the year-round, but seemed to excel at illuminating the best aspects of that holiday the closer it came each December.

"We need to come here every Christmas," Kippy said quietly, snuggling against Charlie. "Even if just for an afternoon before the holiday. To recharge our batteries, if you know what I mean."

"I do," Charlie agreed. He looked the other way, saw Rick and Adrian in a similar pose to their own, and Horace and Amy plainly feeling the spirit as well. Bob Travers gazed silently at the town, Browbeat upon his shoulder, but the expressions upon both their faces said it all.

Mayor Snorkum was nearing the head of the path up the hill, moving slowly with Kiley and Kiri as the two younger elves helped Mrs. Zumbold pull a small wagon loaded with squirrels, all peering happily over the side. They didn't get rides like this often, and seemed to be enjoying it immensely!

Charlie grinned at the sight, and turned Kip so that he could see, too.

Kippy sighed happily. "They're so cute. I liked squirrels even before they could talk!"

Charlie laughed at that. "These little guys are going to keep our elf friends pretty busy, I suspect. They want to know about everything. Learning to speak to us was quite a gift to them, I think."

Kippy nodded, and used his free hand to pat the chest of Charlie's coat, and Castor beneath. "You did good, Castor, you old sweetheart."

Charlie smiled at the warmth that flowed from the medallion, and the sense of satisfaction he received from Castor. "I think he agrees with you."

Mrs. Zumbold seemed to be enjoying the excursion up the path to the hilltop as much as the squirrels, and Kiley and Kiri were all grins as their passengers bumped and romped playfully against each other in the wagon, clearly having a grand old time.

Rick and Adrian moved closer, also smiling at the sight. "I have a feeling Mrs. Zumbold may regret this wagon ride someday," Adrian said, his eyes alight with laughter. "I can see more requests in the future for wagon rides around the town."

"Squirrel Uber," Rick said, grinning. "May be a future in it!"

"This was an easy walk for us," Cawra offered then, looking back at the path they'd climbed. "Less than five minutes. But quite a trek for squirrels. I find the idea that they walked up here several times each day to survey the wishes quite remarkable."

"It's well within the exclusion zone," Rick pointed out. "So, it was at least a safe journey for them."

"I think squirrels are a little more intrepid than you give them credit for," Uncle Bob added, smiling. "Probably took them ten minutes or so to get here, with Pixel and Hex leading the charge. They're faster than you think."

Cawra smiled at that. "Shh! Don't spoil my illusion of them toiling away up that hill to grant wishes!"

Browbeat tittered at that. "Probably took them all day to get here!"

The mayor's wife gave a satisfied nod then. "That's better."

The mayor arrived into the clear space atop the hill, and Kiri and Kiley, Mrs. Zumbold, and the wagon full of squirrels with him. Kiley turned the wagon parallel to the path and stuck a chunk of rock behind one back wheel to keep it from rolling. "Everybody out!"

The squirrels hopped out, nine of them all told, though more had wanted to make the journey. Pixel and Hex seemed to be the acknowledged leaders of the little band that lived around Mrs. Zumbold's house, and Hex had told the disappointed ones that had to stay back that they would be able to come next time. The local squirrels were surprisingly disciplined for creatures that argued over little piles of pecans in another life, back at the house Charlie shared with the others. Apparently, some patience had come to the squirrel-folk here, in the years of becoming people.

The squirrels filtered through the legs of the humans standing there, and congregated along the little ridge at the front side of the hill, there to look down upon the town below.

Several of the squirrels clasped their small hands before them, and Charlie heard whispers then.

"Beeyootiful," one small voice said.

"My eyes sing," said another.

"Home," said yet one more small voice.

Kippy leaned up against Charlie and sniffed quietly. "They seem to love the town."

Mrs. Zumbold dabbed at her eyes. "I never realized they thought of Twombly as their home."

"We must understand this now," Mayor Snorkum said quietly. "Our new citizens must be made to feel welcome here."

Cawra sighed, and placed an arm around her husband, and hugged him close.

Hex turned and looked up at Charlie. "Wishes."

Charlie nodded. "Whenever you're ready."

The nine squirrels grasped hands in a line, and turned as one to look down at the town. Charlie felt an unusual pulse then, something that taunted his skwish senses at a level almost too low to feel.

"It's that strange skwish again," Adrian said softly. "Like I sensed in your room!"

Charlie felt a quick burst of warmth at his chest, and knew then that Castor had taken an interest in the proceedings. But the skwish entity remained quiescent, as if just watching.

"Wow, that's some strange stuff," Rick whispered. "It's really out there!"

Mayor Snorkum took his top hat off. "I feel something, but I don't know what it is."

"I do, too," Mrs. Zumbold said. "But if I wasn't looking for it, I may not have even noticed it!"

"Something is happening," Kiley said. "My sense of the town is changing."

"Oh, look!" Kiri breathed, pointing.

Below them, they could see a line of tiny lights forming as colored sparkles flew together from all over the town, seeming to detach themselves from the lines of lights strung over the street and outlining the buildings. That line immediately started up the hill towards them, growing in length as more lights were added to the tail end. Yet there seemed to be no holes in the glow left behind, nothing to suggest any diminishing of the wish lights in town. The people of the town seemed not to notice the change, and went on as if nothing were happening.

"We see it because we're immersed in their skwish," Rick suggested, indicating the line of squirrels. "But it must not be visible to the people in Twombly!"

The line of tiny lights continued up the hill, the lead end slowing as it neared them, and then stopped as the first sparkles arrived in the air no more than ten feet before the nine squirrels. Those sparkles behind continued up the hill, forming a cloud before them that must have included 500 wish lights.

"So many!"Kiri said, holding her hands to her cheeks in amazement.

"No wonder we saw them diminish so much each day!" Kiley added.

"Not do all," Pixel explained. "Some too hard. Many not important."

"Come," Hex said, waving a tiny hand at the cloud before them.

Almost hesitantly, sparkling wish lights began to detach from the cloud and come to swirl about them overhead. The number increased, slowly at first, and then dramatically, until, all in a rush, the entire cloud simply engulfed them there upon the hilltop. The air seemed to grow still. The sounds from the town fell into a deep silence, and Charlie imagined he could hear the snowflakes as they drifted downwards through the cold air and landed upon his hat.

An then he heard voices. Whispered, born upon the wind, all speaking at one time, mounting in numbers, until he could only understand bits and snatches as they sailed past. The voices were young and old, and every age in between. Many were children's wishes -- simple wishes of the sort one would expect at Christmas, asking for something new, something dreamed of, something different. These ranged from the practical to the incredible, each one wished for in the utmost tone of innocence. Charlie found himself smiling at what he heard, as his imagination was pushed and tugged by the imaginations of others.

These wishes were dutifully heard and then waved to one side by Hex, and congregated in a new and growing cloud, while other wishes circled in to be heard, other voices to be listened to with the same intensity that the squirrels had listened to all of them thus far.

Slowly, the wishes were sorted out. Among those asking for things were those asking for help, both for the wisher and for others. These were set to the other side above them, until all the wishes in the summoned group had been sorted. The group of wish lights asking for toys and cell phones and expensive shoes and game consoles -- by far the larger of the two groups -- quivered when Hex waved a hand at them, and then formed a line and headed back to Twombly in a rush, there to resettle among the wish lights illuminating the town, and disappear. Yet the people on the sidewalks and crossing the street seemed not to notice this action at all, and Charlie had to wonder about that, whether the lights had actually been summoned to the hilltop at all, or that what they were seeing was some mental metaphor for another action, part of a far less-understood skwish in use by the squirrels.

"I can't believe this has been going on, and no one has noticed," Mayor Snorkum said quietly, perhaps echoing Charlie's own thoughts. "I have to believe that what we see and sense here, as part of this process, is not what the people down in the street see or sense."

"No see," Pixel agreed, looking up at them.

"Not your magic," Hex agreed. "Just as we no see many things you do. We have magic, you have magic. But not same magic."

"Yours better, in many ways," Pixel said solemnly. "Strong!"

Hex bobbed his tail in a curious manner. "Ours better for some other things." He pointed up at the remaining wish lights, perhaps sixty in all, the last of the 500 or so that had been brought to the hill in the first place.

"Some of these, might help. See now."

Once again, Charlie heard voices. Once again whispered, but these lacking the hopeful enthusiasm of the first group. The playful wishing that was part of Christmas. These voices were quietly desperate, each carrying a note of pain and hopelessness that could not be missed. One asked for help for a brother, another for a mother, another for a friend, and one more for a co-worker. A few asked for help for themselves, but in ways that clearly showed that their concern was for others if their own problems were not solved. Mothers and fathers worried about children, should they no longer be there to care for them. Children worried about siblings who were ill; husbands worried about wives who were ill, and wives worried about husbands who were ill. Friends, concerned about friends. The overriding characteristic of each request was that they were wishes by people worried about other people, about their health, their welfare, their very lives.

"These, can do," Hex said, his own voice hardly a whisper.

The squirrels looked up at the wish lights, and those small sparkles came together into a tiny spiral galaxy that slowly turned above their heads.

Charlie felt a surge in the power of the amazing and unfamiliar skwish then, one strong enough to make him flinch.

"Ho, boy!" Rick said, squinting down at Twombly. "Here we go!"

Charlie stared at the town, but nothing there had changed. The elves still went about their business, their cheer still very evident; but none seemed aware at all of the events happening around their town. But from their perspective upon the hill, immersed in the odd skwish wielded by their new friends, Charlie and the others had, literally, a bird's eye view of what happened next.

All around Twombly, in every direction and for two miles outward from the center of town, the blue aura that they had first spied in Kiley's mental image of the town, in his taba, intensified and grew. It seemed to rise from the forest in a circle around the town...and then extend their way.

A cone formed at the end the arm now moving towards their position, the mouth of which was pointed right at them as it neared. No, it was pointed at the tiny galaxy of sparkles in the air above them.

"It's all of them," Rick said then, sounding amazed. "Not just the squirrels, but every animal of every kind in the woods around Twombly. All the animals of the exclusion zone, working together, each giving what they can."

The cone of blue light continued to come closer, until finally stopping just beyond the swirling wish lights.

Pixel raised a hand towards them. "Go."

The tiny galaxy of wish stars suddenly filled with great energy, spinning even faster as it moved towards the open end of the cone of blue light. And then within the cone. There, it seemed to bloom, to triple, quadruple, and even decuple in size, each wish light now the size of a basketball.

"The blue aura is filling the wish lights with skwish energy!" Rick called to them. "Tremendous amounts!"

"Look!" Kiley and Kiri breathed together, their wonder washing over Charlie like a wave, but still leaving room for his own.

The blue aura faded even as the galaxy of giant wish lights exploded outward into its individual components, each newly-born star racing away in a different direction, until they disappeared over the four horizons and were gone, leaving the blue aura to settle back around the town, and slowly fade back into quiescence.

"What just happened?" Mayor Snorkum asked, shaking his head. He seemed to realize his hair was getting wet then, and placed his top hat back upon his head. "What did we just witness?"

"Wishes given," Hex said, as simply as if they were discussing acorns or walnuts or sunflower seeds. "Wishes sent back to wisher."

"And then to one wished for," Pixel further explained.

"I get it," Adrian said slowly. "These were all, um, medical wishes, for people ill or disabled or unsettled in their minds."

"That's right," Rick agreed. "The animals of the exclusion zone supplied a hell of a lot of that strange skwish, and each one of those wish lights was pumped full of it, right to the gills. And then--"

"--the wishes were sent back where they came from," Amy finished. "To the people that wished them. And from there, to the people they wished for."

"But why?" Uncle Bob asked. "What's it for?"

Browbeat tittered happily at that. "Boy, you guys can be thick sometimes!"

Kippy smiled at that. "Maybe you can tell us what happened?" But something in Kip's eyes told Charlie that his boyfriend had guessed the same thing that Charlie had. About what the squirrels had just used their unique skwish powers to do, backed by all the other animals of the exclusion zone. What they meant by, wishes given.

"Sure." The little flyer buzzed into the air and settled before Hex and Pixel and the line of squirrels. "These guys got it going on." He smiled at the squirrels. "You guys are cool."

Mayor Snorkum sighed, and smiled at Browbeat. But Charlie saw then that the mayor of Twombly had also worked it out.

"These guys got some pretty amazing skwish," Browbeat said. "What's so great about it is what they have been using it for."

"Ah," Horace said. "I think I see now."

Browbeat tittered happily. "I knew you guys would catch up."

Uncle Bob frowned. "Are you saying the wish lights that our furry friends just sent on their way are for--" He stopped, his eyes widening at the thought.

Browbeat tittered again. "Uh huh. These guys are healers. I'd say that every one of the people those wishes were for are going to get a gift this Christmas they'll never forget."

"Magnificent," Mayor Snorkum said softly.

Kippy snuggled against Charlie, and sighed. "I love you, Charlie Boone. Only in your world can magical squirrels heal the sick and injured."

Charlie smiled at that. "It's your world, too, Kip."

"I know. But you're what makes it so special." Kip sighed again. "You're what make the wishes happen. And you're what makes them all come true."

* * * * * * *

They walked slowly down the street, taking in the sights. The elves going by smiled and greeted them, and Charlie smiled and greeted them in return. He walked between his parents, an arm around each of them, as they took in the sights and sounds of Twombly for the first time.

"What do you think?" Charlie asked finally, as they reached the end of main street and crossed over to start back.

His mom sighed. "It's a beautiful little town, Charlie. And the people are so friendly!"

"Elves are like that," Charlie reminded, smiling. "Once they like you, it lasts forever."

"That was an amazing story you told us," his dad said. "It's hard to process the idea of animals speaking, and having the power to heal."

Charlie chuckled at that. "Any harder to grasp than the idea that an old science fiction novel depicted real aliens bent on taking over the galaxy?"

His dad nodded. "You've got a point there. But it's still amazing. It just makes me feel so...so--"

Charlie nodded when his father didn't finish the thought. "I know. It was like that for Kip and me and the others for a few years, after we first met Max. You get used to it a little, but never fully. The world is an exciting and mysterious place, once you understand that everything we see and hear is not all that is there. And the universe beyond our world is very much the same way."

His mom gave him a gentle squeeze. "What made you want to bring us here now? Christmas is still a couple of days away."

Charlie smiled at that. "Well...Twombly is sort of special, I guess. I think coming here the first time made me aware of Christmas in a way I'd never quite thought about before." He smiled at her. "Christmas has always been wonderful at home. I mean, it's always been a holiday about us, and the people we know. Family and friends. All of us. No one was left out."

His dad nodded. "It's the way your mom and I were both brought up. Christmas isn't about the gifts." He laughed. "Not that they aren't fun. They are." He gave Charlie a gentle squeeze. "But...Christmas is about people, not things. I think it's the one time of the year we actually slow down a little, relax, and just enjoy the fact that we share our lives with others. The gift part is an enhancement, a kind of appreciation. We give as a way of letting those people know we love them and care about them." His eyes twinkled in the wish lights from above. "Giving makes others happy, and that makes us happy."

"Uh huh." Charlie nodded, and then looked around the town once more. "But I never quite understood that there is even more to Christmas than that. Not until I came here."

They walked in silence a moment, and then his mom looked up at him. "Will you tell us?"

"Yes. I could do that. But...I think there's a better way. We're going there now."

Ahead of them, standing on the sidewalk before the town hall with Mayor Snorkum and his family, Charlie spied Kip standing between his parents, and Rick with his parents, and his brother, Robert, and his sister, Rowe. Adrian was there with his mom, and, amazingly, Uncle Bob was there with his wife, Susan. He and his wife had their heads together, and Bob was whispering into her ear, and she had the biggest smile on her face that Charlie had ever seen. Horace and Amy stood arm-in-arm nearby, drinking in the cheer, and smiling at everyone that came near. Browbeat was perched upon Horace's shoulder, where he watched and listened with the boundless curiosity that Charlie had come to expect of the little flyer. Friends and loved-ones, all.

"This is the town hall," Charlie explained to his parents, as they arrived before the building.

"It looks like everyone in town is coming here," his dad observed.

Charlie smiled. "Everyone in town is coming here. There's going to be some Christmas music shortly. Some songs sung."

His mom made a happy sound. "Oh, I love carols."

Charlie nodded. "I know."

Mayor Snorkum saw them as they walked up, and gave his wife's hand a squeeze before stepping forward and sweeping off his top hat, and smiling at Charlie, and then at his parents. "Welcome. I am Mayor Snorkum, and we are pleased to have you here this evening."

Charlie introduced his mother and father, and the mayor shook his dad's hand warmly, and kissed his mom's gently. Charlie thought his mother looked rather enchanted by that, and grinned.

"We're very pleased to meet you, too," Charlie's dad said, sounding maybe a little enchanted, himself

"And my wife, Cawra," the mayor said next, turning and taking his wife's hand and gently drawing her forward. "The light of my life, in case it isn't obvious."

Cawra Snorkum smiled, and nodded at Charlie's parents. "You must be very proud of your son."

Charlie felt his face warm slightly, but only smiled as both of his parents gave him a reassuring squeeze. "We are," his mom said, nodding.

"Absolutely," his dad said, the note of pride in his voice causing Charlie's face to warm even more.

But he was saved from further embarrassment just then, as the flaps on the Mayor's large coat pockets popped up, and a small, whiskered nose appeared under each one, and then a pair of dark eyes..

"Charlie!" Hex said, sounding delighted.

"Happy you here!" Pixel said, from the other pocket.

Both squirrel's tails popped up behind them then and sort of settled atop their heads, giving them a sweetly comical look.

Charlie laughed. "I see you've made yourselves comfortable."

"Warm here," Hex said, his small hands coming up to finger the edge of his pocket.

"Goodies inside," Pixel told them, glancing back down into his pocket.

"Some pecans," the Mayor explained happily. "On the advice of Zelladora Zumbold."

"Is she here?" Charlie asked. "I want her to meet my folks."

"Everyone will be here," the mayor reassured him.

The squirrels were introduced to Charlie's parents, and he almost had to laugh at the charmed looks of amazement that his parents wore after that. But you don't get to meet talking, magical squirrels every day, do you? Charlie thought. It made him happy to see his parents looking so delighted with their visit to Twombly, and the people they were meeting here.

Kiley and Kiri appeared, and were also introduced. Kip and his parents came to stand with them, and Kip's dad leaned closer to Charlie's dad, and Charlie heard the exchanged whispers.

"Do you believe this, Tom?"

"I know. Isn't it amazing?"

Kip's father sighed happily. "I feel like I'm ten years old again!"

Perhaps the mayor heard the exchange, too, as he smiled broadly; and then he reached inside his coat, withdrew a large pocket watch on a chain, and consulted it briefly before replacing it and smiling at his guests. "We may as well go inside."

Kip bumped up against Charlie. "This was a great idea. Thanks!"

Charlie nodded, smiling at his boyfriend. "Share the joy, huh?"

Kippy laughed softly. "I think that's going to be an understatement!"

They entered the town hall, and again were shown to seats upon the stage. Charlie's parent's looked curiously at him, but he just smiled and indicated that the should sit. "You'll like this," he told his mom softly.

Mayor Snorkum stood at the fore of the stage, where a table had been placed, and gently helped Pixel and Hex out of his coat pockets and onto the top of it.

"What happen?" Pixel asked, looking around at the mass of the town's people seated before them.

"Not guilty!" Hex said, raising his hands and releasing a tiny, chirping laugh.

The people of Twombly smiled at that, and soft laughter filled the room.

The mayor sighed happily, and gently patted the squirrel's head. "We're here to sing. You know singing?"

Pixel and Hex exchanged glances, and then moved closer together. Their tails stood up straight and a hum arose between them, soft at first, but then rising in volume, and blending in perfect harmony. Charlie simply stared, mesmerized, as a lilting tune unfolded to his ears, a tune like one a forest might sing to itself on a pleasant summery day. There were no words, just sound, but what an amazing sound it was!

Charlie heard the soft sigh of a warm breeze, and the slow and contented rustling of leaves it caused as they waved under the sun. He heard the bubbly sounds of a stream moving among the rocks somewhere, the splash of frogs as they bathed in the sunlight, a hint of pleasant birdsong, and the lulling chirping of crickets in the underbrush. The sounds reached his ears, and it was like he was there, in the forest, but viewing it from eyes that saw things he had never witnessed before.

The squirrel song changed in pitch then, grew in speed, and Charlie could imagine he was darting along a branch high in the air, jumping from tree to tree, moving with a sureness and excitement and daring he could never have imagined before now. It was like flying without wings, skydiving without the parachute, mountain-climbing without the ropes. The freedom of the movement was exhilarating, the speed, the nimbleness absolutely breathtaking. The branches waved under his weight but he scampered along them without fear, and everywhere he looked there was movement, as others moved among the trees, a whole world above the ground that he had never really noticed before now.

The perspective was so different, so beyond anything he had ever experienced that it made him laugh at the sheer freedom of it all, the incredible absence of doubt and fear experienced by another kind as they traveled the pathways in the sky that linked the places they knew, but in a world almost unimaginably different than Charlie's own. He looked at his parents, at the joy on his mother's face, at the wonder upon his father's, and felt the satisfaction of having shared something with them that would change them forever. He had expected this gift to come from the elves, but now he understood that it could come from any direction, and at any time this special night.

He briefly closed his eyes, managed to disengage a little from the song, and leaned forward to look at Kip's parent's, at Rick's family, at Horace and Amy, and at Rick's Aunt Susan. All of them wore the same expressions of joy and wonder. All of them, for this moment, shared in the feelings that only a new take on the world could provide. He smiled at that, at the feeling of utter satisfaction it gave them. And they hadn't even been to Christmas dinner with Nicholaas and Ronja yet!

The squirrel song made one last, supremely satisfied exaltation to the blue sky, and then faded. It was if the lights had been down and came up again, and Charlie was suddenly more aware of the room and the people around him. For a moment there was silence; and then everyone began to clap. Elves clapped gently, for they believed that praise should be offered without raucous revelry. The sound was utterly positive, though, utterly supportive, and Pixel and Hex looked at each other before leaning together in a move that conveyed a sense of satisfaction at having offered something, and having it accepted and enjoyed without pause.

Mayor Snorkum sighed happily then. "I see you do know song, and well. I think we will enjoy knowing you, friends."

"Us, too!" Hex said, and Pixel nodded his small head solemnly.

The mayor smiled at them, and then at Charlie and the other guests. "Now, it is our turn."

Charlie felt a curious crawling sensation inside his head then, followed by what he knew without the slightest doubt was Kippy's voice. "I love you, Charlie."

"Kip?" Charlie thought.

"Uh huh. Don't ask me how. It just happened, while I was listening to the squirrel's song. Some new skwish just woke up."

"Not just you," Rick added then.

"Us, too," Adrian confirmed.

"And me!" came Browbeat's small voice.

Charlie was amazed. "Is this telepathy?"

He felt Rick chuckle. "If it isn't, it will do until the real thing comes along."

"Anyone else?" Charlie asked.

But apparently not - at least, not yet.

"What are we going to do with this?" Charlie asked, as much to himself as to the others. A new thought came to him then. "Man, I hope we can turn this off when we want to!"

Kippy laughed. "Just say no. That's all you need to do."

"Say no?" Charlie repeated. "That's all?"

Kippy sighed inside his mind. "Well, it amounts to that. You'll see."

Rick sighed happily then. "Did you see the look on my brother's face? And my sister?"

"It was everyone," Kip said.

"It was beautiful," Adrian added.

"The best Christmas ever!" Browbeat made clear.

Charlie had to smile at that. "It's far from over."

Mayor Snorkum smiled at them then, unaware of the internal exchange among his guests, but clearly sensing their unity. "Any requests?"

Kippy raised a hand. "You know the one. Snjórinn fellur frá stjörnunum." His boyfriend said the title slowly, but Charlie felt that he had it right.

"What does that mean?" Charlie's mom asked, sounding delighted.

"It means, The snow fell from the stars," Charlie said immediately. He nodded. "I think you'll understand, once you hear it."

Mayor Snorkum nodded, and turned back to the people of Twombly, seated before him. "Shall we?"

The people rose as one, smiles on their faces, and Charlie sighed, giving his parents a brief squeeze.

"I love you, Charlie," Kip said into his mind.

"I love you, too, Kip. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, my love."

Mayor Snorkum raised his hands, and then brought them slowly back down...

And then the elves began to sing.