Gutterick's Christmas

The library didn’t look at all like itself. Tinsel sparkled from everywhere, reflecting artificial light. The dreary afternoon was turning into evening.

Gutterick the Guardian could see in the dark like all his kind. Short, silent, and secretive, he squatted anxiously by a chair, longing for closing time. There was so much to do. And where was Jasper? The boy was talented, that much was clear. Unfortunately, his talent was hiding, avoiding work, or doing it wrong. Guarding books could be learned, but Jasper was not a quick study. Gutterick certainly had his work cut out trying to educate this new apprentice of his.

Hours ago, when Gutterick had last seen his apprentice, the boy had been heading to the philosophy section to try and find a lethal paradox in which to dispose of a jar of particularly nasty bookworms. When Jasper hadn’t come back, Gutterick had gone to search for him, and now he saw to his horror why Jasper might have been having difficulties.

The library was all changed. All the shelves were moved around, and a display of tiny plastic trees and ugly gnomes on white cotton wool covered a table where students usually sat reading. Where the philosophy section used to be now stood a display of books which Gutterick had last seen at the back of the storage room. Christmas books. Christmas through the ages, Christmas Recipes, The Christmas Secret, A Christmas Carol.

This would have made Gutterick sigh with joy, but instead he held his breath and tried not to panic. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Even the humans in the library were avoiding the Christmas section, and Gutterick was beginning to work out why.

“Jasper!” He hissed when no humans were paying attention. “Where are you?”

The Guardian crept to the display, all the while listening intently and avoiding human eyes, something he found easy enough by now, having had centuries of practice.

“Over here, Sir!” squeaked the shadows behind the books.

“What is going on, Jasper? This is not the philosophy section!””

“I realise that, Sir,” cried the apprentice. “Only I didn’t, before… you see, I didn’t realise until after I… eh…”

“No!” Gutterick shot his eyes and started pulling at his hair. “I knew this sort of thing would happen! You, boy, are a menace! We need to stop them immediately or all will be lost. If they eat... ehm, there will be no celebration this year if the bookworms devour… eh, what’s it called? The, ehm, winter….”

“Christmas?”

“Yes!” Shock spread on Gutterick’s face, as he met his apprentice’s eyes. “It’s too late.”

Jasper covered his mouth with his hand. Disbelief in his eyes as he surveyed the Christmas books. They were looking less and less relevant. “You mean to say that the bookworms have eaten, eh, Christ…, eh, Christmas?”

Gutterick nodded. “These are just ordinary books now. Through the ages, Recipes, The Secret, A Carol. I don’t even know why they’re displayed here.”

“We have to do something, Gutterick! We have to save Christmas!”

“There is nothing to save. Christmas doesn’t exist anymore. It never did.”

“Can’t we just find the worms that did this and clean up the stories?”

“That’s how it works in fiction books. These are not stories; these books are history.”

“Well, Gutterick, there has got to be something we can do!” An unusual passion was burning in Jasper’s eyes. “I will not let, erm, whatever-it’s-called be forever gone!”

Gutterick pierced Jasper with a stare he usually saved for particularly thought-provoking books. He took his glasses of and deliberately polished them in his tunic. “There is a chance,” he whispered slowly, “that, since Christmas has been erased from history, we can try to… reintroduce it.”

“Yes!” Exclaimed Jasper. “Where do we start?”

“A history book, of course!”

The pages of an open book became a portal, edges shimmering invitingly.

They entered side by side. Stepping out of the portal and unto the pages of the book, they were met by a scene of utter carnage.

Santa’s sleigh was pulled by bookworms, Christmas trees were upside down, families were eating salad in different ends of the sofa, while scrolling through their phones with the television on.

Gutterick retrieved the bookworms and stored them in a jar. He rubbed his eyes and tried to think.

“We need to go back much further. The threads are all too tangled here.”

Jasper nodded his agreement and followed Gutterick right back to the beginning of the book.

Before long, they were strolling among long tables in a huge low-ceilinged hall. Seated on long benches were large, bearded men with horns in their hats. Horns were also in their hands, and a sweet-smelling liquid was pouring out of the horns into the mouths and beards of the Vikings.

A celebration seemed to have taken place but was seemingly ending as most of the Vikings were asleep with their heads on the tables.

A drowsy-looking Viking sat hiccoughing near the back wall. Gutterick bravely walked up to him.

“Excuse me, young sir. What were you celebrating here?”

“Celebrating!? Nah, we’re drinking Yule. Hiccough. Keeping the misery away. Hiccough. Not much light in the day, not much light in our lives. That’s why we’re drinking. No celebrating, young sir!” He raised his drinking horn and drank deep.

“Drinking Yule?” Gutterick raised his eyebrows. “What is Yule, exactly?”

“It’s this time of year, innit?”

Jasper hissed. “So, Christmas is gone, but the yuletide is not!”

“The book worms are still on the loose," Gutterick sighed. "What you mean is, the yule tide is not gone… yet.”

“Watch out!”

Jasper’s shout was half drowned by the snap of a gigantic jaw appearing from the wall.

Gutterick and Jasper both darted out of the way, but the Viking was too drunk to react in time, and the worm jumped at him.

In his long life, Gutterick had never seen a worm that big. Shock was paralyzing him. It seemed less likely than ever that they should get out of this mess alive, much less that they should succeed in saving that festival, the name of which was getting harder to recall.

Jasper’s voice cut through the commotion. “Turn the page, Gutterick!”

It seemed like a wise idea.

***

On the next page they found themselves in a snow-covered world. Pine trees in white coats were growing thick on hills, and the sky was hidden under clouds, the puffy kind that promised more snow.

Nearby, an overturned sleigh lay in the snow, runners and stanchions just visible under a more recent dusting of snowflakes.

“Help! Help me!”

Gutterick and Jasper rushed to the sleigh. Under some blankets a figure crouched, shivering and covered in some sort of slimy substance.

“Erm… Hello,” said Jasper.

Gutterick gave him a reproachful look and stepped in front of him. “You poor young lady! Whatever happened here?”

“It, it tried to eat me,” the stranger stammered.

“What tried to eat you?” Asked Jasper, a little insensitively.

“It was slimy and long and it had the most awful fangs.”

“Bookworms!” Said Gutterick and Jasper together.

“Was it one of these?” Jasper held up a jar containing a fat blob of slime, squeezed into a place seemingly too little to contain it.

Gutterick stared at him in amazement, recognizing the worm they had escaped on the previous page.

“What?” Growled Jasper. “I wasn’t gonna leave this guy to devour yuletide as well, was I?” He turned to the girl in the sleigh. “There are more of them on the loose! But don’t worry! We will recapture the monsters!”

The stranger smiled at the apprentice. “That’s good to know. Who are you, who would come to my rescue?”

Jasper was about to answer, but his master cut across him. “Gutterick the Guardian is my name,” he said and bowed. “The young man is Jasper, my apprentice.”

“Nice to meet you,” said the slime-covered girl.

“And what is your name?” Inquired Jasper.

“My name is…” her brows furrowed. “I’m called, er, … odd!”

“What’s odd? Your name is not ‘Odd’, is it?”

“No, it’s odd that… I don’t think I remember my name.”

“Oh,” Gutterick scratched his chin. “So, what is the last thing you do remember?”

The girl squinted and then looked hopelessly up at Gutterick. “I don’t remember anything from before the bookworm spat me out.”

“Hmm, since they didn’t eat you, I’m guessing you are not a word.”

“That’s helpful,” laughed Jasper drily. “You’re not a word?! This is a book, Gutterick! If she is not a word, then what is she doing here?”

“Calm now, Jasper. I’m trying to help the young lady.” He started pacing back and forth, mumbling silently to himself. “Until we can ascertain who you are, we will need something to call you.”

“What about slime-girl?” Said Jasper, then flinched at Gutterick’s glare. “Or Snow Girl? Sleigh Girl? Sleigh Bells?”

“Sleigh Bells!” Piped up the girl. "I like that! It’s cheerful.”

“That is decided then,” stated Gutterick. “We will need to continue our search for…” He stopped and beheld the deserted winter land. “What was it we were looking for?”

Jasper and Sleigh Bells glanced at each other, then back at Gutterick.

“There is a barn over there,” said Sleigh Bells, pulling her blanket tighter around herself. “We could get out of the cold for now.”

Peeking through the window of the barn, they saw two people and a mule. In a crib lay… a bookworm!

Gutterick produced a glass jar from a pocket, exchanged a knowing look with his apprentice and proceeded to knock on the door.

“Who would bless us with a visit in these dark times,” came a man’s voice from inside the cabin.

“Pardon the intrusion,” said Gutterick solemnly. “May we perhaps shelter her? It is cold and we are looking for, er, something.”

“Sure, come in!” Said the man, whose name was Joseph. His wife Mary, who was not pregnant and had no children, waved from a hay bale. “These are dark times,” Joseph went on. “We don’t have much, but what we have, we are happy to share.”

“How kind…” Sleigh Bells sounded chocked. Emotion was spilling out of her. “Sharing,” she whispered. “Isn’t that beautiful?”

During the cause of their stay in the barn, Gutterick noticed the ghost of something marvelous in Sleigh Bells' eyes. Something which wasn’t there before, and then it was gone. And then it was there again, flickering in and out of existence. Puzzling, very puzzling.

Gutterick had secured the bookworm and was getting ready to leave. “We thank you both for your hospitality.”

“In these dark times, we must all be kind to each other,” said Joseph.

“Indeed,” said Sleigh Bells, “And a merry Christmas to you, sir.”

“A merry what?” Wondered Jasper when they were back outside.

“Christmas!” Laughed Sleigh Bells.

“What is that?”

“I don’t know,” she went on, cheerful as ever. “It just seemed like the appropriate thing to say. “

“Aha!” Exclaimed Gutterick. “That’s it! Christmas. That’s what we are looking for!”

“I see,” continued Sleigh Bells. “Have you looked up there?”

She pointed to the skies, and the clouds seemed to part as if commanded.

“There’s a light up there,” said Jasper.

“It is a star,” nodded Gutterick.

“Exactly,” smiled Sleigh Bells, “A Christmas star!”

“How do you know that?” asked Gutterick, seriously. “Do you know anything about Christmas?”

“Not a thing,” she laughed. And her laugh felt like a choir of angles. “What this world needs, is a light in the dark, something to make all this misery bearable.”

“It’s only the winter,” frowned Jasper. “The light will return…”

“Possibly, but these people need something else, something stronger. They need hope!”

“Like the birth of a child. Baby Jesus, perhaps.” Gutterick did not know where in his memory this idea had come from.

Silence. As the star shone brighter up above.

“The return of the light. The birth of Hope, I mean, Jesus, whatever his name was.” Gutterick was staring at the Christmas star. “The same story. Told for a different people.”

“How so?” Jasper was looking somewhat confused now.

“A child.” Gutterick explained. “A festival for children. A festival of love and sharing and – “

“And hope and light,” interjected Sleigh Bells.

“And love,” mused Gutterick.

Jasper was still confused. “You already said love…”

Sleigh Bells gave him that irresistible cheerful grin. “The return of the light and the coming of the savior.” Her grin grew wider. “The light in the dark."

“What’s that got to do with love and children and – “

Sleih Bells’ laugh interrupted him. "Everything."

Jasper waited for further explanation, but the girl spoke no more.

“You’re transparent!” Jasper told her after a while.

“It is true, I’m afraid.” Said Gutterick. “I, too, can see right through you.”

“Why is this happening?” Jasper gasped.

“She’s fading!” Cried Gutterick. “We have failed. The spirit of Christmas will be gone forever.”

Her body became less and less substantial, until all they could see was a shadow where she had just stood, and soon even that was gone.

Jasper howled in despair for a few seconds, then abruptly stopped.

“The spirit of Christmas… Gutterick, that’s it! When Christmas was erased, every word gone from the history books, she remained, because she was never a word. She was the Christmas spirit!”

“And now she is gone….”

“But she can come back!”

“How?”

“All the words that the book worms have eaten. Everything that is now lost. The words were there because somebody wrote them!”

“But nobody wrote about our little spirit friend! So, what do you suggest we do?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Gutterick?! We write about her!”

“I’m not sure if that’s madness or genius. Let’s do it!”

He pulled his quill, which was the same size as himself, out from behind his back and began writing.

He wrote and wrote. Jasper adding distracting ideas, which turned out to be good. Eventually he dipped the quill for the last time. “… Christmas stars and sleigh Bells! The Spirit of Christmas, whose magic surpasses that of you and me! Done.”

“What now?” Asked Jasper.

“Now we wait.”

“Isn’t there something else we can do?” Desperation evident in his voice.

“Yes,” answered Gutterick, but did not elaborate.

“What?” hissed Jasper. “What else can we do Gutterick?”

“Hope.”

So they did. Side by side, looking up at the Christmas star, radiant above the barn, they waited and hoped. Until a voice spoke behind them.

“Hi guys!”

“Sleigh Bells!” Jasper threw his arms around her. “I thought you were gone.”

“Never quite gone,” she mused, with that easy smile on her lips.

“What about Christmas?” Asked Gutterick, also smiling.

She winked at him and raised her arms. “Leave it to me.”

Magic sailed out from her hands. Angles, stars, the smell of cookies and turkey, music, laughter, everything.

It filled the air and the pages, until every page of the book was glowing with Christmas cheer.

They stepped out through the portal later that night. The Library had gone quiet and dark. Finally closed. The display books sported titles like Chrismas this and Christmas that. And outside snow was falling.

Christmas was back.

And Gutterick started to think that perhaps his apprentice wasn’t so useless after all.

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