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Nighttime in Boston. All was peaceful. All was quiet. But it was not to last. Luzcretia and Silas were sleeping peacefully in their bed when they heard someone whisper something in their ears. It was too quiet to really make out.
“Huh…?” Luzcretia groaned, really only half-awake.
“IT’S JOLLY MONTH!” shouted Luzcretia and Silas’s twin daughters, Lucy and Gabriela, startling their parents awake. The two parents blinked blearily at their children as they performed the Jolly Dance on their bed. Luzcretia and Silas loved their daughters and their enthusiasm for their favorite holiday, but there were times that they wished that they would take it down a notch.
After informing their parents that it was, indeed, the jolliest time of the year, the two girls headed outside, ready to officially begin a night of Jolly Month fun. Gabriela was the first to come up with an idea: “Let’s get hot chocolate!” So the jolly sisters headed to a hot chocolate stand, telling the person running it, “Hi, can we have hot chocolate, please?” The person running the stand poured a cup for each girl (with marshmallows, of course). The girls happily sipped them until Lucy came up with another idea.
“Let’s go have a laugh!” The two girls then downed the rest of their hot chocolate, their bodies draining away as they did so until they disappeared. The person running the hot chocolate stand then realized something.
“Wait, did they not pay?”
Lucy and Gabriela popped back into existence next to a homeless man warming himself and cooking his meager dinner by a fire.
“Hi, Mr. Homeless Man!” Lucy greeted.
“Hey there, girls,” the man greeted. “What brings you here?”
“Well, sir, it’s the Jolly Month!” was Lucy’s cheerful response.
“Can you tell us a Jolly Month joke?” Gabriela asked.
“Hmm, alright,” the man said. “What did the third wise man say after his friends already presented gold and frankincense? ‘But wait! There’s myrrh!’” Lucy and Gabriela giggled.
“That was hilarious!” Lucy said.
“Thank you, Mr. Homeless Man!” Gabriela said as she and Lucy ran off. The man waved as they left before turning back to his fire.
As Lucy and Gabriela ran down the street, they suddenly stopped and frowned. The reason for this was because they found themselves in front of three older girls known as the Gemstones. The first girl, Ruby, had curly red hair that went to the middle of her back and wore mainly red. The second girl, Sapphire, had straight, black hair that went to her hips and wore mainly blue. The third girl, Emerald, had wavy brown hair that went to her shoulders and wore mainly green. These three girls thought the world of themselves and, as a result, made it a point to look down on everyone else– especially the weird, Christmas-obsessed immigrant girls.
“Hey there, freaks,” Ruby sneered. Sapphire and Emerald then proceeded to push Lucy and Gabriela to the ground, followed by them each shoving a handful of snow down their backs, causing the two younger girls to shriek and hop around from the freezing sensation. Ruby then grabbed them by the hair and knocked their heads together, leaving them dizzy and knocking their headgear askew. “What do you two think you’re doing out here?” Ruby snarked, as if she found it appalling that Lucy and Gabriela would have the nerve to show their faces in public.
“Because it’s the Jolly Month!” Gabriela answered cheerfully as she and Lucy readjusted their headband and hat, respectively.
“Seriously?” Ruby scoffed as Sapphire and Emerald barely held back chuckles. “Then why don’t you go into that house over there?” The red-headed teen pointed toward an abandoned-looking house a few blocks away. “Maybe you’ll meet Santa Claus.” Despite the fact that Ruby was clearly mocking them, Lucy and Gabriela didn’t seem to get that, as the two girls gasped and squealed in excitement at the idea of meeting the jolly old elf himself before making a mad dash to the house. The Gemstones looked on in confusion for a brief moment before looking at each other as Ruby grinned as a cruel idea came to her mind, with Sapphire and Emerald mirroring her expression.
With Lucy and Gabriela, they plowed into the house excitedly, screaming “SANTA!!!” at the top of their little lungs–only to realize that there was no one there. Lucy and Gabriela looked around the house, calling out “Santa?” as they poked their heads into various rooms. After some time of this, the jolly duo pushed open a rather creaky door that seemed to lead to a basement.
“Santa?” Lucy called again.
“Oh, I’m sure he’s down there somewhere,” came Ruby’s voice from behind them, positively dripping with malice. “In fact, why don’t you take a closer look?” Lucy and Gabriela didn’t even have time to react before they were shoved from behind, sending them tumbling down the basement stairs. The Gemstones then quickly shut the basement door, making sure to yank on the knob a few times to make sure it sticks, before leaving the house, laughing like the mean girls they were all the while.
Fortunately, Lucy and Gabriela weren’t too badly injured by their tumble down the stairs. They were, however, very disappointed that they didn’t get to meet Santa after all, the promise of him being here just being another of Ruby’s cruel tricks. As they sat at the bottom of the stairs, feeling sorry for themselves, the basement door creaked open once more, with a rather tall and bulky figure standing in silhouette at the top of the stairs.
“Ho ho ho! Are you girls alright?” the figure asked in a booming, jolly voice. Lucy and Gabriela’s eyes widened in surprise. Could it be? The figure stepped into the light, revealing himself to be sporting a familiar long, white beard, red suit with white fur trim, rosy cheeks, and twinkling eyes. There was no doubt about it, this man was none other than…
“SANTA!!!” Lucy and Gabriela screamed, dashing up to their idol excitedly.
“Ho ho ho!” Santa laughed. “Good to see you kiddos are okay!”
“Santa!” Lucy exclaimed. “It’s really you!”
“Are you here for the Jolly Month?” Gabriela asked, practically vibrating with excitement.
“Of course!” Santa answered. Then, the jolly old man seemed to get an idea. “Say, would you girls like to take a ride in my sleigh?” Lucy and Gabriela felt as if they were about to explode with joy.
“YES!!!” both girls exclaimed.
“Ho ho ho!” Santa laughed. “Let’s go then!”
Meanwhile, the Gemstones were walking down the street, still laughing about their “prank”. They stopped when they suddenly heard the sound of jingle bells… coming from above them? They looked up and… was that a flying sleigh?! Before the three teens could fully comprehend what they were seeing, two small, blue-haired heads peered over the side of the sleigh and dropped three small bags directly onto the trio. The bags contained coal.
Lucy and Gabriela were on cloud nine as they rode in Santa’s sleigh with the man himself. They flew all around the neighborhood, delivering presents to various houses. They even stopped to pay the hot chocolate vendor they visited earlier (the money being in a colorful giftbox, of course). After what felt like no time at all, the girls were dropped off in front of their house.
“See you later, Santa!” Lucy said.
“Thanks for letting us ride in your sleigh!” Gabriela added.
“No problem, girls!” Santa replied. “See you next year!” And with that, he flew off into the night sky again as Lucy and Gabriela waved goodbye. Then they turned around and went inside, where they found their mother brewing herself a cup of coffee.
“Girls?” Luzcretia asked as she spotted her daughters. “Where have you been?”
“We made a new friend!” Lucy informed her mother happily.
“You did?” Luzcretia asked, smiling.
“Yeah! And he likes the Jolly Month, too!” Gabriela exclaimed.
“We even showed him the Jolly Dance!” Lucy added, followed by her and Gabriela launching into said dance. After a moment, Luzcretia joined in. Meanwhile, a certain jolly old elf flew through the sky on his magical sleigh pulled by his nine flying reindeer.
“Ho ho ho!” he exclaimed as he flew over the horizon. “Happy Jolly Month!”