The Christmas Workshop Part 1
A young woman finds herself working at what seems like a Christmas paradise.
This is the first part of a Christmas short story I’ve been working on recently. I’ve decided to post the first part in the days before Christmas and to work on the second part shortly after. I wish everyone that celebrates a happy Christmas, and hope that everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday season.
You rarely saw anyone out on Thanksgiving. This was supposed to be a day in which everyone was supposed to stay home, watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade followed by some football, and then eat a large feast with family members they usually didn’t even like anymore.
That is, everyone except Adela Lopez. Rather than remaining in bed in her pajamas while watching the parade, she was instead seated in a bench two blocks away from her apartment, waiting for one of the only buses available on that day to arrive. She wore a leather jacket she bought recently along with some old blue jeans, figuring this was something decent to wear on a reasonably cool day when no one else was out.
Why exactly was Adela out? It was mainly because she didn’t have many relatives whom she still interacted with. Her mother had died six years ago, and her father was a rather cold person who hadn’t wanted anything to do with her or her sister once they’d both grown up. Her sister Julia, who was three years younger than her, was a shallow woman prone to strong jealousy who only wanted to date or be friends with people who had a lot of money or influence, and since Adela had neither, she just wasn’t interested in her that much anymore. When Adela had tried calling Julia yesterday, she’d gotten a message from her saying she’d be staying at the Ritz Carlton in Chicago with a real estate attorney she’d met just two weeks before. So much for Thanksgiving being a holiday for families.
And so, Adela sat alone in the bench beside the bus stop on Thanksgiving morning, willing to go anywhere the bus would take her.
The bus arrived in eight minutes. As soon as Adela stepped on board, the bus driver, a tall, middle-aged man, stared at her curiously. “No plans to stay home today?” he asked.
“No. I don’t have any family members willing to celebrate with me, and I just didn’t feel like being at home,” Adela said.
“That’s too bad. What will you be doing today? Going to watch a movie or visit some of the only stores open today?”
“No idea. I guess anywhere is fine, even if it just to walk around alone downtown.”
“Suit yourself,” the bus driver said before he began to drive away.
Adela spent the whole bus drive looking out the window, looking for any signs of activity. There were only about three cars out on the road, and the few people she saw walking outside were either taking out the mail or walking their dogs. All the convenience stores had signs around them reading “Closed”, and the only supermarket that was close to home, which was usually always surrounded by parked vehicles, was now left completely vacant. Seeing such places that were usually full of activity left empty sometimes left Adela feeling uneasy, making her think of something that’s been abandoned, just as she tended to feel these days.
The bus eventually made it to the downtown area of the small city. It was almost as empty as every other place Adela had seen, but she still pulled on to the cord that hung around the top of the bus to indicate that she wanted to be left off.
“Good luck,” the bus driver told her.
Of course, Adela was greeted by nothing but more vacant signs reading everything from “Closed Today” to “Closed for Thanksgiving. See you on Friday!” The movie theater was going to be open, but not until 1:00 PM. Adela sighed and just walked around the area by herself, preparing to take a stroll through the park which was close to the library.
But just as she was preparing to cross the empty street, a young woman with blonde hair and a white coat appeared out of what felt like nowhere and said cheerfully, “Hi there! Happy Thanksgiving! Do you have anywhere to go today?”
“No, unfortunately,” Adela said. “I can’t really see my family today, and as you can probably tell, everything’s closed right now.”
The woman gave her a sympathetic look. “I understand how that must feel. I was exactly in your place last year. However, there’s a place here where those left behind during the holidays can find purpose and belonging. If you come with me right now, I could let you have a look. I’m sure you’ll love it.”
Adela stared at her uncertainly. “Is this supposed to be some weird self-help group? Because if that’s the case, that isn’t really my thing.”
The woman laughed. “Oh, no! It’s nothing like that. In this place, you’ll be doing work that really matters to people during this time of year, and getting to know people you can form a true connection with. Now follow me. I promise you won’t regret this.”
Adela shrugged and decided to go along with what this woman wanted. She had nowhere to go, so she figured she could check out whatever this woman wanted her to see, even if it did turn out weird. “What’s your name, by the way?” she asked.
“It’s Haley,” the woman responded with a bright smile. “What’s yours?”
“Adela.”
“Pleased to meet you. Adela.” She then led Adela into a small brown building that Adela had never noticed before. It included no signs and only two small windows. She wondered what could possibly be inside of it.
A small bell hanging at the top of the door rang as Haley and Adela went inside, and the moment Adela set foot into the building, she was left speechless by what she saw. The place was much bigger from the inside, with Christmas lights and decorations hanging from every corner and the walls painted a light blue. Several people were seated in large tables and placing everything from dolls to tablets in large colorful boxes, and all while Brenda Lee’s “Walkin’ Around the Christmas Tree” played through speakers from the ceiling. And in one of the furthest corners there was large Christmas tree adorned with dozens of red, white, and blue balls and with a large golden star at the top.
“What is this?” Adela asked, incapable of hiding her astonishment.
“It’s a Christmas workshop,” Haley responded. “The rest of the world thinks such places can only be found in the North Pole, if anywhere at all. But the truth is, they can be found in many places throughout the world, including most major cities. This is where all the letters to Santa Claus go, and where all the presents children request for the holiday season get packed up before being sent over to their houses. They’re basically some of the most magical places on Earth.”
“But who works here? And who’s the one that sends all the presents to kids?”
“Most of the people who work here are folks like yourself; people who are mostly on their own during the holidays and have nothing better to do. I already told you that I was basically in your shoes last year. My dad had died that summer and since he’d been divorced and I was an only child, I had to deal with that loss almost completely on my own. So, when Thanksgiving came around, I went for a drive in the downtown area, and that’s when a workshop helper saw me and invited me to help for the day. Me and three others began on that day, and we all decided to continue as helpers for the rest of the holiday season. I did such a great job that season that I was permitted to become a recruiter this year.
“And that’s how it is for everyone here. Everyone who comes in gets invited in by a recruiter and is given a day to try the work out. By the end of the day, they get to decide whether they want to remain here during the holidays. And due to how amazing the environment is here, almost everyone agrees to be a helper.”
Adela frowned. “I don’t know. I’m a retail worker, so this probably isn’t all that different from what I already do every day.”
Haley smiled at her. “Trust me, it’s so much better here than at a typical retail store. You’re allowed to work at your own pace, you’re given lunch and holiday snacks each day, only the highest quality Christmas music is played, helpers get to wear holiday sweaters or their favorite Christmas outfit, and everyone gets an hour of recreational time. Also, everyone here is very friendly and willing to give a warm welcome to anyone that’s new. Making new friends shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Okay. I’ll try out for today,” Adela said.
“Great! I’ll help you get started right away.” And she proceeded to lead Adela over to one of the large tables.
“Hey, you still didn’t tell me who delivers the presents,” Adela said just as Haley was about to give her a spot to sit in.
“That’s supposed to be a surprise for Christmas Eve, when whoever’s been assigned the role of Secret Santa revels themselves to the workshop helpers. It’s always the best part of Christmas Eve for all helpers.”
“Let’s hope it’s as good as you say it is.”
“It sure is, Adela. Now, let’s get down to business.”
To say that things at the Christmas workshop were fantastic would be an understatement. The moment Haley had finished giving Adela instructions on what to do, several helpers started saying hello to her and introducing themselves. It made Adela a little uneasy at first, but she soon become completely drawn to this friendly environment and was familiar with over half of the helpers’ names by the end of the day.
The work itself was not very remarkable. On Thanksgiving, they were simply unpacking newly arrived stock consisting of nearly every item a child might request for Christmas, including Barbies and American Girl dolls, teddy bears and Bluey plushies, Lego playsets and toy cars, bicycles and scooters, and even smartphones and tablets. Unpacking most of this was easy, but larger items were sometimes a challenge. Luckily for Adela, she’d had a man named Michael help her unload a bicycle the first time she’d had to take one out of a box. He’d then offered to give her a hot chocolate, but Adela had politely turned down this offer, insisting she could do this herself.
And no one ever complained if you were too slow. Instead, helpers would check in with you if you were taking longer than usual If everything was going well, they’d leave you alone, and if you needed help, they’d gladly offer it with no complaints.
Holiday music was played all day long, but it was never one of those annoyingly cheerful covers of “Last Christmas” or “All I Want for Christmas Is You” or the dozens of Justin Bieber holiday tunes that were always playing at the store where Adela worked. Instead, they usually tended to be instrumentals like “March of the Wooden Soldiers”, or renditions of traditional Christmas carols recited by some of the best choirs you’d ever heard, including “Silent Night” and “Little Drummer Boy”. And if any of the more modern Christmas songs were played, they were usually the original versions of the songs, and they were never played more than once a day. As a result, the music always felt very dreamlike and wonderful to Adela.
Lunch was great, and included everything you’d usually have during Thanksgiving, including turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Although Adela usually found typical Thanksgiving food to be rather bland, all this food was so well done that she had more seconds than she was typically willing to have.
It was around then that her sister Julia had sent her a text in which she was standing around a large punch bowl with her arm around the shoulder of a man twice her size dressed in a black suit. This was probably the attorney she was dating, although it wouldn’t surprise Adela if it was some other guy she’d met at the hotel whom she decided she liked a lot more instead. At the bottom of the picture was a brief message saying “Having a great time. Miss you, sis.” Adela had just sighed and put her phone away before getting a second slice of pumpkin pie. If anything, Julia had sent that message not because she missed Adela, but because of her need to boost about her adventures, and Adela was not going to give her the attention she craved.
And that hour of recreational time offered to all helpers? It was usually spent in a state-of-the-art lounge that included big screen 4K TV, a ping pong table, old arcade games like Pacman and Donkey Kong, shelves loaded with every game you could think of, and two red velvet sofas. Adela had to make sure to take time to check out as much as she could within one hour, about half of which was spent playing ping pong with two women, Ally and Megan, who were cousins. She was surprised at how good she was at the game despite it being years since the last time she played, winning two of the five rounds they played together.
As a result, when Haley came up to her with the contract she was required to sign at the end of the day, Adela signed it without a second thought, agreeing to come in twice a week during her days off from her regular job. She took maybe a few seconds to look over the terms and conditions, but mostly just nodded as she read and didn’t think too much about them. Everything here seemed perfect, so was there really anything that should worry her?
To be Continued