Loveday Writing

The brief of the AWC Furious Fiction – December 2024 short story competition was as follows:

• Your story must take place on Christmas Eve/December 24.
• Your story must include a character who has an accident of some kind.
• Your story must include the words AGAINST, TOOTH, and ORANGE.

***

Evergreen

I have the same job every year, at the same time of year. Stand tall, hold the decorations, keep the presents at my feet, and look beautiful. The big event is of course on tomorrow, like always, but Molly usually has me start on December 1.

My first day is usually the hardest. Molly wakes me up from my dark, year-long slumber from the spare bedroom cupboard, where I’ve been hibernating comfortably in my Tupperware bed. She gets me out and puts me together in the corner of the lounge room, my usual “office,” piece-by-piece, before I’m fully together. She then carefully puts the baubles and tinsel on me, varying in colour, weight, beauty (I’m not sure if orange baubles are beautiful, but Molly loves them and it’s her favourite colour), and sentimental value. She accidentally broke a bauble this year, but that happens, although it hasn’t for a while. The star she puts on my head is beautiful, but heavy, and hurts a little.

Over the course of the month, she eventually puts presents at my feet. Some years she’s done it all at once on a random December weekend, sometimes she scatters presents throughout the month. Anything leftover or last minutes she’ll put at my feet on Christmas Eve. I have mixed feelings towards the larger presents – sometimes she puts them too close to my feet and squeezes them under the lowest hanging branches and it hurts, but I always look forward to seeing what they are, and my feet feel lonely once they’re gone. I’m not against large presents, but she needs to put them in better, less painful spots.

Even though the big event where everyone will admire my beauty is tomorrow, tonight, Christmas Eve, is showtime as well, as we have a new addition this year. Last year, I noticed Molly’s flat, yoga belly was replaced by a bump, apparently a baby bump. This year, I had to hold a new bauble, ‘baby’s first Christmas.’

I’ve been working for Molly for 10 years now, I worked for her alone for our first four years, on the fifth, Ian came along, on the sixth, both hers and his family admired me as she was hosting Christmas lunch, and for the last three, it’s just been Molly and Ian. This year, the baby and I would meet.

I was a little nervous when she crawled up to me, but when Molly picked her up and showed her to me, I fell in love. I fell in love with the bald, chubby, onesie-wearing, single-toothed smiling, little Billie, whose eyes lit up and grew large at my beauty when Molly flicked on the lights.

This year will be the best Christmas and work year ever.