The Mistletoe Boy

The Mistletoe Boy

A/N - This is my entry for xTheGirlNextDoor (Steph's) Christmas Short Story contest. This is my first shot at a short story, so I hope you guys like it! And Merry (Early) Christmas to all of my beautiful fans and friends! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! (:

Mistletoes were hung in certain crevices of the park, their fake red berry shapes and crisp green leaves sprouting from the center.

It was all I could remember, year after year, whenever I went to Pomona Park as a kid. It the was the chill in the air that nipped at my cheeks, causing a permanent blush on my skin. There was the deep scent of hot chocolate from the stands surrounding the massive, gray fountain in the center. The fountain was off this time of year, and was wrapped in a gold and silver tinsel. Families with young ones bundled up in strollers sat atop the cement benches lining the fountain. Couples were kissing under my favorite mistletoes, embracing each other for what seemed like the first time every year.

All of these memories were the recurring events of Christmas Eve, the night where my family and I went when the sun fell and the wind had picked up just a bit. We would all bundle up in our furry coats and plush scarves, all wearing a smile no one could wipe off of our faces for the night. It became a tradition that started even before I was born. My parents had met at the festivities that occurred in Pomona Park, and were inseparable since.

My fondest memory of Christmas Eve at the park was meeting Miles Pollomer.

We were only about five and six when we'd first laid eyes on each other. Miles was a cheeky little one, seeming to excel at the player's game from his young age. My older sister Lily had left me for a few minutes by the fountain to talk to some boy she'd had a crush on for months, much to my parents dismay. I remember searching for her for what felt like hours, scared that my parents would leave the park without me and I would never find my way home. While I was searching, I bumped into a little boy who was walking with his mother, and she was pushing a stroller with a bundled up little one inside.

“Oh, are you lost sweetie?” his mother asked, her auburn hair blowing against her wind swept cheeks.

I nodded my head, nervously sucking on my thumb. She eyed me with a look of guilt, looking around for a possible parent who seemed to be looking for their lost child. While she looked around, I finally laid eyes on the boy I'd bumped into just a few moments before. He was a short thing, only a few inches taller than me. His dark brown hair was curled just a bit at his forehead, almost reaching beneath his eyebrows, and he had the chubbiest cheeks I'd ever seen.

“Mistletoe!” he piped up quickly, after looking above us. Before I knew what was happening, he planted his lips on mine, scaring the nerves right out of me. He pulled back just before his mother looked down at us with a small smile.

“We'll find them sweetie...let me just,” she went to say, but was cut off with the shrieking call of Lily, who ran over to us and wrapped me in her arms firmly.

“I'm sorry, Ivy! I didn't mean to lose you like that,” she said, close to my ear. In my puffy, purple coat, I tried my best to wrap my arms around her, not really thinking twice about what just happened with that boy with the curly locks who was now attached to his mother's stroller.

Afterward, Lily apologized for the hassle and repeated her 'thank you,' more times than I could count on my little, chubby fingers and we made our way back to my parents. I looked back at the boy and he was pulling at his mother's long coat, begging for a toy car that was on display at a table lined up around them. Then my own attention was focused on a toy doll that was in front of my parents, and my attention was no longer related to the boy who did that weird thing with his lips under what he called a mistletoe.