Posts with the category “advent-2025”

The golden pink glow of the morning sun made the freshly fallen snow sparkle as the carriage rumbled down the road. The clatter of the horse's hooves was distant inside the plush velvet-lined interior. Edwin gaped once more as he looked around.Harriet had spent an hour the night before thanking Edwin before he was granted the reprieve of them being invited to dinner. They had slept in the guest qu...  Read More

Edwin followed Mr. Morris back into the grand foyer. His eyes weren't looking up at the majesty hidden in darkness this time, but instead down at his own worn shoes that shuffled across the marble. He rubbed his hands against the cold fabric of his pant legs as a dozen thoughts flitted across his mind like the snowflakes in the blizzard outside.This was it. All his mistakes—his failure to charge t...  Read More

Edwin stared into the dark abyss of the ravine. Beside him, Jo lifted the lantern, though it made no difference as the light did not reach more than a dozen feet out in the blizzard. It was like staring into a cauldron of molasses.Each snowflake that fluttered past made Edwin's heart leap for a moment, thinking the letter had returned, but then it fell back again. He refused to blink as he scanned...  Read More

Harriet's throat was tight as she waded through the thick snow. It was above her knee and fresh flakes were falling fast. Her fingers itched to grab the lantern from Jo and control the light herself, but she restrained herself. Instead, she held onto her hat, which threatened to blow off with each gust of wind."We should have found him by now." Her throat was dry and tight, and it hurt to shout ag...  Read More

It took Edwin several minutes to realize why everything seemed so much darker. At first he had thought it was just the growing snowstorm blocking out the moonlight, but then he noticed that Jo had abandoned him. That golden light which had been encouraging him from behind had turned around to leave him alone in the woods.Well, if he gives up that easily, Jo is obviously not a true friend, he thoug...  Read More

Jo stared at his friend, the orange light from the fallen lantern lighting him from below in a ghoulish, unnatural way. Edwin's mouth hung open and his eyes opened wide. He was frozen as the flakes fell past him. They both stared into the dark woods into which Harriet had run."She... She..." Edwin's mouth opened and shut, but the words were not coming to him.Jo could hear his own heart beating lik...  Read More

"No!" Edwin slammed his fists against the metal gate, the pain reverberating through him. "Come back!"His shout was lost in the wind. The tiny, dark shape shuffled up the drive, nearly lost in the distance amongst the ever-increasing snowflakes. After just a moment, it turned a corner and was lost amongst the trees."No! Please!" The metal rang out as he hit it again."Edwin, I..." Harriet placed a ...  Read More

Edwin stared down at the small golden circle of light that spread out from him. The light from his lantern reached about ten feet out before fading quickly into darkness. His whole world was those ten feet around him, with curves in the road slowly fading in from gray before disappearing behind him.Jo walked next to him. His footsteps were slightly slower than Edwin's, due to his long legs. Occasi...  Read More

Jo stumbled as his foot caught on a ridge of now-frozen mud that was hidden in the darkness. He flung out his arms, wheeling them around frantically before finding his balance. With a sigh, he stood upright."Are you okay?" A few steps ahead, Edwin stopped.Jo nodded. "Just tripped."The light from the lantern was enough to see the edges of the road, but the smaller ridges we lost in the dim light th...  Read More

A hazy, milky orange spread across the sky above the snow-tipped pines. Harriet's skin prickled and she could feel a bead of sweat run down her forehead despite the falling temperatures. She kept replaying all the lies in her head, each time burning hot and sick in her stomach.Her ankles burned from her quick pace. She had to stay ahead of Edwin and Jo. If she looked at them, she wouldn't be able ...  Read More

Edwin kept glancing up at the sky. Thin clouds drifted above like ice chunks in a river and the sun was almost directly overhead already. Midday, and he had no idea how far they had walked or how far they had left to go.Harriet had ignored him when he asked and had moved further ahead, obviously still mad at them for making a snowman. Jo had guesses, but those changed every minute from a mile to f...  Read More

The sun warmed the road just enough that dirt and slush combined into a syrupy mud that tugged at Harriet's shoes like an overzealous cobbler. Each step she wrenched the shoe from the viscous brown sludge just to press it down again with a wet sucking sound. Globules splattered up onto her coat.Behind her, the other two had fallen nearly thirty yards behind. She could hear them breathing heavily a...  Read More

Edwin grasped at the nearest table, but his legs were jelly and he slid down onto the worn wooden floor. The edges of his vision darkened and everything spun around him. His breaths came quick, but it still felt like he was drowning."Wrong post office?" His voice was high and tight.The large man knelt down slowly. A large, meaty hand rested on Edwin's shoulder. "Sorry lad.""No... no, I got a train...  Read More

The rosy twinges of sunrise were just barely coloring the clouds above the houses as Edwin slipped across the square. The lights were dark, the shops shuttered, and the sidewalks empty. Pulling his threadbare coat up around his neck, both for the warmth and the secrecy, he hurried down the main road towards the post office.Jo and Harriet were still back at the inn, hopefully asleep. He was used to...  Read More

A warm, satisfied sluggishness settled over Jo. He sighed deeply and sunk into the wooden chair. Not even the wobble from the uneven floor bothered him. The dinner at the tavern had been the most delicious meal he had ever eaten. Even the salad had been amazing, and not just a leafy mess with blobs of overpowering dressing.The clock above the kitchen door chimed. Somehow, over two hours had passed...  Read More

When Harriet finally joined them outside the tavern in the square, Edwin was both relieved–because it meant that Jo would stop his incessant yammering–and guilty. They were both hungry, but she was the one brave enough to go and find work.He looked at the bag of baked goods she had clutched to her chest and for a brief moment considered grabbing it away. He held back his shaking hand. She had work...  Read More

Harriet followed behind Edwin, feeling very much like a duckling following its mother. Her hands were stuffed in her coat pockets, both because they were cold and because she was unsure what else to do with them. Here she was, far from home, all due to her own mistake. A mistake that might cost her her dream job before she even started it.Lost in thought, she ran into Edwin when he stopped. "Sorry...  Read More

Jo bounced down the street, beckoning his new friends on. His shoes splashed up slush from the sidewalk. He was breathless. Even as the clouds lost the orange tint of sunset for the deep purple of twilight, it seemed brighter out."Wait until you see the village square!" His voice leapt and echoed off the houses around them."It sounds lovely." Harriet shook her head slightly, as though he were an o...  Read More

"Are you sure this will work?" Edwin asked as they tromped through the snow. "I mean, will the letter get delivered?""I don't see why the post office wouldn't be open tomorrow. It's not a holiday," Harriet said."Yes, but I need a guarantee that the letter will be delivered by tomorrow night." He turned to Jo. "It has to be, or I don't get my wishes."Jo shrugged. "Probably."Edwin stopped and looked...  Read More

Edwin tugged frantically at the post office doors. The sign said the building closed at 4:30, but it was only 4:50. He shook his head, ignoring the dryness in his mouth. Someone was still in there. They had to be.Next to him, Harriet leaned against the simple stone column that framed the door. She was breathing heavily from the half-mile run from the train station. Her eyes were closed and her hai...  Read More

Jo Vielle leaned against the corner of the second class carriage as the passengers at lunch. Soft conversation was interrupted by the soft clink of silverware. The bowls of soup sloshed gently back and forth with the rocking of the train.While keeping an eye on the other passengers, his focus was mainly on the two teens in seats seven and eight. The pretentious Edwin, with his slicked back hair an...  Read More

Edwin entered the next carriage and closed the door behind him. The cold, rushing air had stolen his breath from his lungs, and now he desperately refilled them. The passengers in this carriage ignored him, not knowing the priceless thing in his pocket.He reached in and rubbed the parchment again. All his wishes, everything he deserved, was still there. Cheap ink on the most expensive parchment in...  Read More

The young man next to Harriet Anessy was an enigma. Edwin acted like an aristocrat with his language and overinflated ego. He had made it obvious what he thought was the vast difference between his class and hers. His pointed nose was upturned at everyone.But his looks told a different story. His coat was worn and patched with disparate pieces of gray cloth. His hair was slicked back with yesterda...  Read More

Edwin anxiously pulled at his suspenders as the old woman in front of him haggled over luggage costs. The rumbling locomotive at Track 3 let out another hiss of steam. He flinched in surprise. Time was passing, much too quickly, and he needed to make that train."Hurry up," he muttered under his breath. "I need a ticket.""We both do," Harriet said. At his look, she added "I'm coming with you. To fi...  Read More

"I'm so sorry!" The apprentice letter carrier's eyes glistened as she ran beside Edwin. Her navy blue postal coat whipped out behind her, much too big for her thin frame. She looked to be about his age, if not a year or two younger.He turned his eyes back to the red postal carriage several blocks ahead. "Listen, miss, if thi–""Harriet," she said between heavy breaths.Was she serious? He was not go...  Read More

The glossy parchment laid out on the battered table was priceless. A tarnished brass nib of a fountain pen frantically skittered across the surface, leaving behind dark swirls and blots of ink. The staccato scritch scritch of the pen echoed in the dark apartment.Edwin Jameson bent over the table, the only flat surface in his tiny, bare living space, and scribbled frenetically. He needed to get thi...  Read More

When a mishap with an apprentice letter-carrier causes Edwin's letter to miss the last mail pick-up before Christmas, the two reluctantly team up with a train steward and journey across the snowy northlands to make sure it gets delivered to the Giftmaker by Christmas Eve.  Read More