The festive forest spirit

Hello everyone!

I'm once again quite late, but here was the second challenge for the month of November in the SF Collectors Community forums:

Challenge #22: Christmas Wish List

Is November too early to begin thinking of Christmas? Not in Sylvania! Throughout the village, Sylvanians are already beginning to prepare for the festivities. There are trees to decorate, parties to plan, menus to organize, and shopping lists to make!

Postman Pete has been quite busy delivery holiday catalogues into each postbox. Shops and craftspeople have begun stocking special items for holiday shopping. Soon, store windows will be filled with beautiful holiday displays.

Young Sylvanians (and some that are not so young!) are taking part in the time honored tradition of making a Christmas wish list to give to their parents and Santa Claus!

Make an item or items, photograph a scene, write a story, or do whatever inspires you to do something creative around the Christmas Wish List theme or Christmas in general!


And my contribution to it. Hope you enjoy it!

--

Not far from the village of Arcfield there's a dense forest believed to be full of magic. The huge tree stump that the citizens use for many of their celebrations is just one of the many strange things that can be found in there. The elders and adults of the village, particularly those who have been living there for many years, tell many curious stories about the things that have happened to them or their acquaintances in those woods. There are also numerous stories of the many forest spirits that inhabit this mystical place.

The inhabitants of Arcfield have co-existed with these forest spirits (considered mostly friendly and helpful, though they can also be a tad mischievous) ever since the village was first founded, and thus, they follow many traditions that involve them. One of these traditions involve the children of the village taking a short stroll in the woods when Winter approaches in order to leave offerings for a particular spirit, known as Holyster. The offerings are to be deposited in a mysterious wooden trunk hidden in one of the forest's clearings; according to the stories, on the night of the Winter's solstice Holyster will empty the trunk and, if he likes the offerings, will bring the children gifts in return. This is why nowadays the children leave a wishlist along with their offering. However, if Holyster finds the gift lacking, the gift might not be what the child expected!

The day of the Winter solstice is fast approaching this year, so some of the children of Arcfield are going through the woods in search of the mysterious trunk where they must leave their offerings to Holyster. Each of them is carrying something with them; 

Frances Robinson drew a beautiful picture, Annabelle McFarlane wrote a short story...



Silvio and Livia Spinelli made delicious baked goods with the help of their mother (I think Silvio kind of wants to eat the bread himself, haha!), and Freya Chocolate... Well, Freya's going to improvise. She'll probably end up giving the spirit forest berries or a curiously-shaped leaf!

The children finally find Holyster's trunk in the woods, and leave their offerings and wishlists in it.
"Wow, it sure is bigger than I expected!"
"Did you know it appears on a different place of the forest every year?"

As they are about to leave, and after turning their backs to the trunk, they hear a mysterious voice speaking in a curious way behind them; it sounds very young, yet very old at the same time.

"I am v'ry fain thee cameth"

Although the voice and words are quite peculiar, the one who spoke looks just like an adorable baby koala. The children are startled at this sudden appearance, but Annabelle and Livia quickly approach him.

"Are you lost, little one? Do you need us to take you home?" 

"Nay! f'r i am the f'rest spirit, Holyster!" 

"Do you understand anything he's saying?" asks Silvio, scratching his head.

"Ah, I can talk like you do, if that's easier for you" the little koala smiles, suddenly speaking normally. "I said I am the forest spirit, Holyster. See? I'm wearing my colours, red and green. Surely you've been taught that! I'm glad you came to bring me your offerings this year as well".

The children look at each other, dumbfounded, the ones born in the village and that have been performing this tradition for years as stunned as the others. Never before has the spirit appeared before any of them! Annoyed at their silence, the one calling himself Holyster sighs.

"I see you don't believe me. Very well, let's see if this convinces you".

 There was a sudden flash of light, and when it went away...

 "Ta-dah! I am Holyster, the shape-shifting spirit of the forest!"

"Crème?!" asks Freya, her eyes wide open. The one now before them looked just like Freya's baby sister!

"Who's Crème?" asks the tiny rabbit. "I said I'm Holyster! This is just my luck, I show myself for the first time in centuries and I get the rudest children in town.

"I can't believe this" says Freya. The one calling herself Holyster looked at her coldly.

"I don't like you very much, little lady. You might not get any presents at all this year".
 
"Ah, we... we just, you see, we're surprised... We didn't mean to be rude, Mr... Mrs..." mumbles Frances Robison, quite shyly.

"Just Holyster is fine. Ahh, I understand, you're awed by my powerful presence, it's understandable. Here, I'll perform one last trick for you all!".

And, after another flash of light...

"Wow!" Livia exclaimed. "What are you now?!"

"As I mentioned, I am the forest spirit, Holyster". The strange being before the children smiled calmly. She seemed quite satisfied with their expressions. "I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you coming to find my trunk every year. I'll make sure that you get excellent presents this year!"

And with that, the spirit winked at the children and simply vanished, like she had never been there. They were too stunned for words. Had they really witnessed a true forest spirit? It sure seemed like it... But would anyone believe them if they told the story? Still, they walked back home in good spirits, feeling like they had experienced something truly extraordinary.

That said, the spirit's ominous words would for sure be haunting Freya Chocolate's mind until the night of the Winter solstice!

"You might not get any presents at all this year"!

--

The End! Hope you enjoyed this little story. It's a bit different from what I usually write, but I wanted to start weaving some of Arcfield's unique mythology, and creating a "Christmas" spirit for this challenge seemed like a good way to start. :)

Now I'm inspired to keep thinking of other forests spirits, haha!

The adorable baby koala elf you saw in this story (the first form Holyster took) was a lovely gift from my collector friend Amaia. I absolutely adore him, and wanted to use him in one of my stories for sure! She also generously sent me two of the blind bag babies I was missing and a lovely card. Thank you so much, Amaia!

Before ending this post, here's an extra picture of the forest spirit, Holyster! She says hello!

 
I hope you get a lot of presents this year! :)

Have a wonderful week-end!