3 days to christmas – ladies dancing

Written by: Lim Sher Min (23-E1)

Designed by: Tan Shi Ying Marissa (23-O1)

“It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, toys in every store …”— Michael Bublé - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Nestled amongst the bustling stores lining Oxford street, sat a toy store, Nutcracker Nook. True to its name, two life-sized Nutcracker statues stood proud and tall beside the front door, guarding the entrance from the harsh winds that blew against the frosted glass, decorating the windows with snowy drapes. 

But that was all Lyra could see from her spot at the cashier, the facade of Nutcracker Nook, and all that existed beyond its immediate surroundings would forever remain unknown to her. Bell elves never got to leave Nutcracker Nook, for their life’s work was here. They wore tiny bells on their heads, a scanner attached on top, and were responsible for scanning the many toys that the humans have bought. 

Lyra laid back in her little armchair, which she had borrowed from a doll house years ago, and glanced around her work station. It was a tiny space, no bigger than the first floor of the Barbie Dreamhouse Playset, a very popular item during the Christmas season. Directly above the armchair, Lyra had her own skylight, through which she could scan the toys that slid across it. Over the years, she had decorated it to be as homely as possible, with leftover Christmas postcards and anything her human colleagues left behind. She would be spending the foreseeable future within this space after all. 

But sometimes, when she saw even the oldest models of stuffed bears slide across her window, finally bought by a human, she felt envious of all the other toys in the store. She would never have the chance to step foot into the Real World. Bell elves could never leave, and weren’t for sale, not like the humans would be interested in buying one anyway. She chuckled bitterly as she was enveloped in darkness, as another stuffed animal, a giraffe this time, was placed over her glass skylight. She glanced up.

“Beep”, a bright red light emitted from the scanner attached to her hat.

And light began to fill her home again, as the stuffed giraffe was packed neatly into a gift bag by the human, ready to enter the Real World. 

Lyra reclined her seat further and laid back, scanning another two dozen toys who would be given as Christmas presents to human children in the Real World. As she worked, her mind wandered to life outside Nutcracker Nook and focused on the Christmas music playing. The warm, nostalgic melody heralding the arrival of Christmas, made Lyra yearn to enjoy the Christmas festivities happening out in the real world. 

She could hear her human coworkers bidding each other farewell, before the store lights flickered off. Lyra quickly dragged a few rolls of thermal paper over, and stacked them to form a makeshift staircase, allowing her to climb up to the skylight. Gently, she lifted up the glass and peered out. All was dark and silent, the only source of light being the soft glow from the street lamps outside, and the twinkling of the silver stars and baubles that were strung across the streets. 

Sure that there were no lingering humans, Lyra pushed the glass higher up and crawled out nimbly, as other bell elves emerged from their work stations. 

Lyra scampered over to the storefront windows and pressed her tiny hands flat against the cool glass, trying to see past the condensation forming on the other side of the glass panel. 

She could make out blurry spots of yellow and white, and the figures of humans bustling about. But these moving blobs of black and grey were the norm, and were her less interesting observations of the Real World. Lyra’s favourite thing to watch were the little white figures prancing about in the dance studio right opposite Nutcracker Nook. The studio had a large window that allowed pedestrians, and curious bell elves from across the street, to watch the light-footed humans dance about with dainty steps and graceful arms. 

Today however, one of the little dancers seemed to be dressed as a Nutcracker, very much like the two giant ones in front of Nutcracker Nook. His red suit stood out amongst the white of the rest, and Lyra watched them with great interest, wishing that she could watch their performance up close. 

Despite her wishful thinking, Lyra knew deep down that the glass walls of Nutcracker Nook would not allow her to do so, and was hit again by a pang of sadness. Why weren’t they able to share in the Christmas spirit, to enjoy the festive lights and joyous music? Why were they doomed to spend eternity being so close to so much Christmas magic, but never close enough to truly experience it? 

“I just wish that we could experience the magic of Christmas for ourselves,” Lyra whispered, gazing longingly at the twirling dancers across the street.

One of the silver stars hanging nearby twinkled imperceptibly brighter. 

🩰

A loud rustle from the back of the store caught the attention of the elves, and Lyra whirled around at the sudden noise. She quickly darted behind a miniature Christmas tree on the window sill, worried that a human might have discovered them. She held her breath and waited for a few tense moments, staying completely still. 

All that followed was eerie silence, and it wasn’t long before a few curious elves peeked out of their hiding spots, moving cautiously towards the source of the noise. Lyra followed closely behind them, curious about what had caused the rustling. Bell elves were light and flitted around silently, barely making any noise. An elf couldn't have possibly made such a startling sound. 

A circle of elves had formed around a stack of boxes, each about the size of a piggy bank. Lyra counted nine of them, stacked neatly on top of each other in a pyramid. Almost like a cardboard Christmas tree, Lyra thought amusedly. Judging from the shipping labels plastered on the boxes, she suspected that these were new toys recently brought in. 

When nobody made a move to investigate, Lyra stepped forward and attempted to lift open one of the boxes, eliciting shocked cries from the watching elves, warning her to be careful. Carefully lifting the flap, Lyra gasped in awe as a pink ornate box came into view. 

It looked almost like a cake, with ribbons and roses piped on in bright shades of pink, framing the perimeter of the circular box. At the very centre was a ballerina figurine, poised on her tiptoes, with her arms positioned gracefully. Lyra gazed at the figurine, starstruck as she traced her fingers along the ridges of the ballerina’s white skirt, admiring the detailing on the costume. Finally, she was able to see the dresses up close, and not just through a frosted glass. 

With the same gentle fingers she used to lift the glass in her skylight, she pried open the lid of the box, and was greeted by the smiling face of a ballerina figurine inside.

She was petite, a little shorter than the bell elves themselves. Her skin was a pale porcelain, and her hair jet black, tied back in a tight bun. Her features seemed to have been painted on with the thinnest brushes, each strand of hair meticulously drawn. Her dress was layers of iridescent fabric, and appeared to glow on her skin in shades of blue, purple and white. 

As Lyra admired the craftsmanship of the figurine, marvelling at its lifelikeness, the ballerina tilted her head towards Lyra and blinked, making eye contact. Lyra let out a startled gasp and fell back, a reaction mirrored by the rest of the elves. The toys that came into Nutcracker Nook have never been living entities, and the elves could only watch in simultaneous amazement and disbelief as the ballerina stepped off the little pedestal in her music box, and gestured towards the other boxes, silently asking the elves to help open them. 

Still spellbound, the elves quickly got to work, chattering excitedly amongst themselves about the nine new ladies.

“They move! They’re alive! How is this even possible?” 

“It must have been Christmas magic! There is no other explanation!”

Maybe my wish did come true, Lyra thought to herself, giddy with excitement. 

🩰

That night, for the first time in a long while, Lyra and the other elves got to experience the magic of Christmas for themselves. The nine ladies danced happily to the tinkling Christmas songs playing from their music boxes. As they twirled and leapt in unison, their shiny dresses catching the light of the street lamps outside, Lyra’s heart filled with warmth and contentment. Thanks to the nine ladies dancing, or perhaps by sheer Christmas magic, she no longer had to pine after what lay beyond the glass windows, for the Christmas spirit was brought into Nutcracker Nook.