Our First - Noel
My name is Noel, Noel Claus. You've met my older sister, Winter, I believe. She's the oldest in every way. Plan-driven, responsible, organized, smart, motherly, but also afraid to take chances. Some might call that cautiously smart. Other's might say it's a fear of failure or the unknown.
However, all of that changed when she met a Yeti. No, not just some really big guy that's abnormally hairy. A half-Yeti beast of a creature that landed on her doorstep like a wrecking ball. Ok, he is a really huge man with a lot of hair, but he is also his mother's son. A snow beast from the legends. Reynard, the biggest chance a girl could take.
Who would've thought the oldest daughter of Santa Claus would shack up with a Yeti? I mean the guy wants a million kids, like she does, and it wasn't like she was going to meet many people stuck at the North Pole. They mirror each other's movements almost obnoxiously, like they're stuck in a dance as old as time. They seem happy, smiling all the time and laughing at their little inside jokes.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. I guess I'm just a little jealous and mystified. I thought she'd be the last of us to settle down, if she ever did. Why? Well, she always wanted to stay close to home and have a big family. Like I said before, there's not a lot of prospects close by without a little traveling. She was so absorbed in learning the trade from mother and father that I guess I assumed she'd miss her chance.
I just never saw her as the spontaneous, take-a-risk kind of person. I mean, Reynard was a stranger. A half Yeti, ginormous, risk-taking, and rough around the edges stranger. Still, Winter took a chance on him. It was like he lit a fire in her that no one ever knew existed and the change in her was magical.
I know I'm jealous. How could I not be? Out of the twelve of us, none of us have ever left the North Pole besides Father. His reasoning is obvious. Well, my mother lived outside the North Pole before she met my dad, but that's a different story altogether.
Honestly, I had never thought of staying here my whole life, but then I grew up and it all just made sense. Maybe I gave up on my dreams. I had hoped, I guess, over time that I would meet someone. How could I do that here though? Winter's Yeti love was a great thing, but it just isn't in me to sit around and wait for fate to drop a man in my lap.
I can say that all I want, yet here I am. Sitting around waiting for the impossible. I mean, we welcome creatures, supernatural beings, into our community all of the time. Why couldn't I hope for a deity to fall in love with? Winter got her happily ever after, why not me?
Ok, that definitely sounds jealous and rude. I'm happy for my sister, truly. She works harder than all of us, right alongside our mother and father. If anyone deserves a partner to be able to lean on it's her. For sure.
Enough of the boohooing, no more pity party. My name is Noel, and my sister is Yukio. I'm the tallest and oldest, by an hour, of the two of us. We're twins. We're different in almost every way though. Yukio is charismatic, joyful, outgoing, and fun. I'm more of the quiet one, preferring to stay behind the scenes if possible.
We even each other out, two sides to the same coin. I guess if I could wish for one thing, I would wish for her happily ever after first, to be honest. I know, you'd think after all that jealousy and whining I'd be a bit more selfish. Maybe, in a way, this still makes me self-centered.
She's been by my side our whole lives. She's the one who got me to go to the community talent show and sing, which I would've regretted never doing. If I didn't have her my life would be dull, meaningless in a way. I want her to be happy because that makes me happy. I know that, if given the choice, I would do anything to keep her smiling. I also know that it would be better if she found love first.
The talent show is a memory I cherish now. We were kids at the time, but she had been bullheaded and confident in me when I wanted to run and hide. When she helped me practice, when her hand held mine as I trembled beside the stage, and even when she hollered my name as the song ended, I knew she would always be by my side. My blessing.
After that night I went on to study music, learning how to play the piano and violin as well as bettering my vocals. With my mother and Winter's help, I sold record after record of music around the world. I felt fulfilled. Truly, every CD sold felt like a win. That was the moment I stopped dreaming of running away because I had a purpose here.
Mother asked me once, when we were alone after a session, if I felt like I was missing out by not traveling. It would make sharing my passion easier, but I don't want that. The rules of the North Pole are strict in who can leave and who can return. No, singing in the studio is so much easier and better for my vocals.
I still wondered sometimes, daydreamed really, of the world outside the barrier of the North Pole. What would it be like to be able to travel freely with no worries? Maybe I'd regret it, leaving my family behind. My sister. Still, I couldn't stop the wandering of my mind.
"Noel! Momma's here!"
Right, I'm off to another day of toy organizing and song recording. If being the daughter of the Santa Claus gave me one thing, it was a full schedule. Not something I'll ever complain about, because a still mind is a dull one, but nonetheless.
"Coming!"
