The Vanishing Mailbox
After thoroughly washing the blood off Shine and myself, Amy returned to our room with an assortment of vitamins she had received from Rabin. The vitamins, packed tightly inside a pure white envelope, were all delightfully sweet and sour. Shine and I licked our lips, popping the vitamins Amy handed us into our mouths.
"Shine. You're going to sleep properly tonight, right?" Shine nodded at Amy's worried words. My eyebrows twitched as the sharp, sour tang of the vitamin burst across my tongue.
"Are we writing the letters on this?" Shine asked, pointing at the stationery. The writing set Amy had brought was incredibly beautiful. The background evoked a soft, gentle night sky, with faint flurries of snow drifting in the distance. Even the tiny words 'Merry Christmas' printed at the very bottom made it feel real. Only then did it truly sink in that Christmas was just around the corner.
"Yes. You write down the gifts you want to get for Christmas."
"And then Santa gives them to us?"
"Of course he does." At Amy's reply, Shine's pen began to fly across the paper. Watching her write so diligently, I put my own pen to paper. A magic wand would definitely be the best.
"Do I just write down the gifts I want?" A letter. It was something I had never written once in my entire life, so I had absolutely no idea how to start.
"You should greet him first." It was hard. I groaned, gripping my pen. What on earth was I supposed to write? I sneaked a glance at Shine's letter. Her hand never wavered. Her handwriting, flowing at an effortless pace, was remarkably elegant.
"Shine, what do you want to get?"
"Here." At my question, Shine held out her paper. The rows of words tightly packed her stationery. The sheer length of her wish list made my jaw drop.
"All of this?"
"Yes."
"Aren't we only allowed to get one gift?"
"Is that so?" Shine put down her letter, falling into deep thought. Amy watched the two of us and smiled warmly.
"Then I'll have to write a new one." Shine reached out and pulled a fresh sheet of paper. Looking over her first draft, she began to filter out the things she truly wanted. Watching her, I carefully began to write my own. First was a greeting to Santa. I also made sure to emphasize how good of a girl I had been. Anxious that I might not get a gift otherwise, I exaggerated every little good deed I had done. At the very end, I wrote down the gift I wanted: Lucy's magic wand. It was a highly satisfying letter. I nodded to myself and folded the paper neatly.
"Amy, I'm all done."
"Would you like to show me?"
I quickly hid the letter behind my back. This was a letter to Santa. Since it contained a lot of highly embarrassing exaggerations, there was no way I could show it to Amy. The tips of my ears burned hot.
"Ah... No, you can't."
"Why not?"
"Because it's a letter to Santa." I carefully toyed with the paper hidden behind my back, making it rustle softly.
"I see." Amy nodded. I nervously peeked at her expression, worried she might be disappointed that I wouldn't show her. But Amy was just as she always was, a gentle smile playing on her lips.
"Then shall we put it in an envelope and seal it with a sticker?" Amy asked, holding out an elegant-looking envelope and a sheet of shiny stickers. The gold star stickers looked incredibly beautiful.
"Wow..." I pulled the letter from behind my back and carefully slid it into the envelope. Then, I sealed it shut with one of the gold star stickers Amy gave me.
"I'm done too." Shine had also finished her letter, folding her paper neatly. She sealed her envelope with a sticker just like I had.
"Alright. Shall I go send these to Santa now?"
"Me too! I want to go with you!" I scrambled to my feet at Amy's words. This was my letter to Santa. I wanted to send it myself.
Amy looked troubled as she stood up. After a brief moment of hesitation, she pulled out her phone and tapped the screen a few times. Then, as if the problem had been resolved, a small smile returned to her face.
"Shall we go together then?"
"Yes!" With Amy's permission granted, I immediately jumped down from my chair and ran over to Baek-si. I took my hat back from Baek-si, who had been keeping it safe for me. Pressing the large witch hat firmly onto my head, I walked over to the full-length mirror, checking carefully to make sure there weren't any weird creases.
"Let's go, Amy." After confirming my hat was perfectly fine, I ran to Amy, who was waiting at the entrance. Shine was already putting on her shoes. Stepping out of our room, I noticed small wreaths hanging on the doors of the other rooms. I felt quite envious of everyone getting so thoroughly into the Christmas spirit.
"Amy! Let's hang one of those too!"
"Should we?"
"Yes!"
"Then we'll have to grab what we need on our way back from sending the letters."
My eyes sparkled with anticipation. We walked down the hallway and arrived at the staircase flanked by towering pillars. I looked up at the steps with an anxious face. Surely we don't have to climb all of this?
"Up we go." But my worries were entirely in vain as Amy scooped both of us up at once. Dangling from her arms, we ascended the stairs. After climbing for quite some time, Amy passed the floor with the model park and set us down on the next level. It was a strange, unfamiliar place, though the layout of the hallway was similar to the others. Crossing the new corridor, we arrived at a large mailbox. It looked incredibly out of place.
"Do we send them here?"
"Yes." Amy naturally approached the mailbox. I looked around, checking the reactions of the people nearby. Everyone seemed to be staring at the mailbox with a bizarre look on their faces.
"Don't other people send letters to Santa?" When I looked around and asked Amy, she let out a flustered cough and spoke slowly.
"W-Well! That's right! It's because they're all adults, so they can't get gifts!"
"Adults can't get gifts?"
"Yes!" I slumped to the floor in shock at Amy's words. Adults couldn't get gifts. That meant I couldn't get one either.
"Jeff?" At that moment, Shine approached me with a puzzled expression.
"Shine... I can't get one..." As I muttered in a weak, defeated voice, Shine reached out her hand to me.
"It's okay. Jeff can get one." I shook my head. They said Santa only gave gifts to good children. Since I was already an adult inside, it was obvious I wouldn't be able to get a gift from Santa.
"No, Jeff. You can."
"Really...?" At Shine's persistent voice, I slowly raised my head. Shine's small hand, extended toward me, moved. She pulled me up from the floor and gently took the letter from my hand.
"Jeff can get one." Shine spoke, looking into my eyes with absolute certainty. She continued.
"Jeff is not an adult." Shine's voice was incredibly soft. At her gentle tone, I nodded without realizing it. The more I listened to her, the more it felt like she was right.
"Yeah..." Shine turned and approached the mailbox. But because she was so short, she couldn't reach the slot to put the letter in. It was the same for me. No matter how much I stretched on my short legs, my hand wouldn't reach.
"Amy!" When I looked at Amy with pleading eyes, she lifted Shine and me up once again. Our view instantly soared. With Amy's help, Shine and I were finally able to drop our letters inside.
"Shall we head back then?" Having sent the letters, we turned and walked. But I couldn't take my eyes off it. I kept glancing back at the mailbox. What if something goes wrong and the letters disappear?
Stopping in the middle of the hallway, I looked back at the mailbox one last time. Soon we would have to turn the corner toward the stairs. My feet refused to budge. But at Shine's urging as she pulled my hand, I turned and walked.
After walking like that for a while, I suddenly spun around and ran back toward the hallway with the mailbox.
"Jeff?" Shine's voice called out from behind. Amy followed me as well. The pitter-patter of my small footsteps echoed through the hallway. Passing the long corridor and turning the corner, I froze in absolute shock.
The red mailbox at the end of the hallway—the mailbox that had clearly been there just moments ago—had completely vanished.
"It's gone!" My anxiety had become reality. The mailbox was gone! If so, that meant the letters we put inside had vanished too.
"Amy!" My vision blurred as tears welled up in my eyes. Biting my lip hard to hold them back, I urgently called out to Amy. Amy, who was following close behind, stopped when she saw me.
"Jeff? What's wrong?"
"The mailbox is gone!" I reached out and pointed to where the mailbox had been. Following my hand, Amy's gaze shifted to the empty hallway. She approached me with an awkward smile.
"It's okay, Jeff. It went to Santa."
"To Santa?"
"Yes. So don't worry." Amy smiled gently and stroked my head. I rubbed my eyes and wiped away my tears, my sleeves becoming damp.
"Now, let's go back and decorate the room." Amy said, holding out her hand. I nodded and took her hand. Shine and I held Amy's hands as we walked down the hallway and down the stairs. We arrived at a large storage room. The smell of dust rose from the various junk filling the room. Entering the storage room, Amy pulled out a large box. A thin layer of dust lay on top of the box, which was a mix of red and green.
"Tada!" Amy wiped the dust off the box and opened it to show us the contents.
"Wow..." Shine and I stared blankly with our mouths open, looking inside the box. It was full of shiny things.
"We're going to decorate the room with this." I reached out and picked up a large bell. *Jingle—* A small, cute sound rang out. Shine also reached out and picked up a large star from the box. The glitter shifted depending on the angle you looked at it. Shine seemed to like the star, hugging it tightly to her chest.
Returning to our room, we began to decorate. The wreath hanging outside our door was decorated more extravagantly than anyone else's. It was quite heavy due to the excessive decorations, but we were satisfied. The eye-catching, excessive lights made the hallway look festive and loud.