Excerpt from Celebration of Light, copyright 2012

“Yes, and although I have been told about it a couple of times, I will still get Haylo to explain it because she knows more about it and can answer your questions better.” C’Liandra replied as she stepped back and sat amongst the other ladies.

“I am not going to suggest that we mirror the reasons for this celebration. We are Elves. We are not Humans. What I am about to suggest is a celebration of the renewal of life in nature. A special day we can look forward to with anticipation each year. I know we have days like this, but I have not seen anything like what I am thinking of during the winter season here. What I am suggesting is a day we set aside to be with family and friends. There would be special music leading to the day, special or favorite food prepared for the celebration, decorations to make our homes more colorful and festive. There are so many things we can do. We all have children; this could be a day we set aside to celebrate their creation.”

There wasn’t a pair of eyes that didn’t drift towards Eden. She quit munching on a slice of cheese for a moment and tossed them all a frown.

“What? It isn’t my fault you were all busy with your partners when those spells hit. I was busy somewhere else.”

C’Liandra gave a slight chuckle and replied. “You certainly were.”

It was a comment that caused everyone to laugh and their attentions turned back to Haylo. Everyone seemed to know the story of Eden and her triplets, even if the actual event had never been revealed. It did not take much imagination to put words to the action. Gabriel had followed Eden to act as a form of reserve power, the spell she had cast to heal the trees had gone out of control during their time alone. They had emerged from beneath the trees bonded, and Eden announced her pregnancy soon after. The facts were there for any Elf to interpret. The second time she had released that spell, the results had not been as pronounced.

“I think it would shorten the winter for us all if we were to have a big celebration to mark the height of the season. What do you think?” Haylo asked.

“Sounds like fun to me,” one of the women spoke up and others followed.

“So what do we do?” Another eventually asked.

“We prepare, make things festive. Decorate our homes and the forest around us. Make good things to eat on that day, and share the bounty and beauty of our efforts.”

“Decorations?” Another asked.

“Things to bright up our surroundings and lift our spirits. Fairy lights can be used to guide us through the darkness and bring pleasure to the eyes, be inventive. It can be fun to work up to that special day.”

“What did you do when you used to celebrate that day? To work up to that day?”

“We used to go from house to house and sing songs of the season, bake special cookies and cakes. We used to make small presents for each other to give as tokens of our love.” Haylo answered. “We used to take time to visit the homes of special friends, sometimes we would take them a special treat that we would make. There would be dancing and little parties in different homes. That special day, however, was for family. We would set up trees in our homes and decorate them so they were beautiful.”

“We can decorate them outside and admire them from inside just as easily.” Eden spoke softly, but her words carried a lot of meaning. No one who cut down one of her trees for a decoration was going to get off lightly.

As curious as the Elven ladies in attendance at the meeting were about the practice, they had to agree with Eden. It did not make much sense to destroy a piece of the very nature that they were celebrating. They would make a point of decorating the trees outdoors.

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