Christmas Lights by Yolanda Sfetsos

There was an ambience that radiated off that one single blinking light and it made him feel oddly calm. Before Noel realized what he was doing, his right hand captured the small globe in his palm.

He heard a small sigh and looked over his shoulder. He kept his hand around the small light. There was no one there; he was still alone. When he turned his attention back to the small globe, it was blinking faster.

What I wouldn’t give for some company right now, he thought to himself. Someone to see the bizarre thing he held in his hand so he could confirm his sanity.

The light’s flicker slowed down. He moved closer and noticed a small face inside it.

“What the hell?” Noel dropped the bulb and lurched backwards. The lights, the loneliness and endless thoughts were playing tricks with his eyes.

Instinct made him duck just in time. The one small light exploded into a thousand tiny pieces that fell around him, but disappeared in a flash of white particles before they reached the floor.

He fought hard to control the nervous tension flooding his body. The sense of a presence hovered around him. When he lifted his face to look in front of him, there was a pair of small bare feet on the floor only a few steps in front of him. He slowly followed the feet up towards the small ankles and up the slim short legs that became equally slim thighs.

“Where am I?” a small female voice asked.

He couldn’t answer yet, not while his eyes slowly crept higher along her petite body. He paused at the small swell of her hips. She was wearing a white outfit, unlike any he’d ever seen before. Noel wasn’t much for fashion but knew that what this female was wearing wasn’t exactly this summer’s style. It looked more like a piece of material thrown over her body enough to hide the bits that needed to be concealed.

Her breasts were small and perky. Noel couldn’t help but notice the outline of her tight nipples pressed against the top that modestly covered her chest, but not her small sculptured arms.

“Do you mind, human?” She put her hands on her hips, glaring at him with the darkest, most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. “Get up, and stop staring at me as if I’m to be your next meal!”

Noel swallowed the nervous lump in his throat before he managed to stand up and focus on her fragile face. She was shorter than him, barely reaching his shoulder. Her face was a milky white with small pouty pink lips and a button nose. A handful of small freckles were scattered over the bridge of her nose and her black eyebrows arched under his scrutiny.

Her black hair was cut short, in a choppy uneven way, and the few white strands on top stood out in sharp contrast to all that black. She couldn’t be older than mid-twenties, he decided. So the sudden fascination didn’t seem so obscene. He’d become a widower too young and was still months away from his thirtieth birthday.

“Stop staring at me like you’ve never seen a woman before and announce who you are,” she said with an impatient tap of her foot.

“Um…” His voice trailed off as he looked curiously at the Christmas tree to his left. The other lights were out, but when he turned back toward the small woman, he thought he noticed something fly off the top of the tree. When he turned back quickly, there was nothing there. His eyes were playing tricks on him today. “My name’s Noel and this is my home.”

Close Window