p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"A.N. Originally published December 24th 2015 on Tumblr./p
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p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Small snowflakes were slowly falling from the skies, gently covering the cold earth and sticking around every window frame. The air was trilling cold forming every breath you made into a cloud of warmth. Thick clouds hanging in the sky made it hard to tell apart if it was midday or early night and the waters in the fjord reflected the hillsides clear and cold and dark. The whole world seamed to consist only out of shades of grey, black and blurred blue./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"This is exactly the view that opened itself in front of Elsa's window as she sat in her study above some papers she had to read and respond. Winter came as usual in these parts, making in necessary to always have a warm fire in the fireplace. She gave a quick gaze to the fireplace where a happy fire crackled, spreading a cozy warmth in the small study. As she found herself lost in watching the small and quick flames dance, she tried to push herself to finish the work that had to be done. But it was had to concentrate on business affairs when Christmas was so close, and not just Christmas, but the first one in years that would be a happy one for everyone. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Resting her head on her right hand she looked around the little study she sat in. The furniture was made of dark polished wood, with high bookshelves on the walls and a warm mantel place opposite one of the windows. The other window was opposite the door and her desk right in-between the two windows, allowing her to have a perfect overview of the room. Where there were no shelves or pictures on the walls, you could hint the green murals with gingerly drawn leafs on them. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Her mind was all peaceful and quiet, even with all the work that had to be done. She even felt a bit exited over the small ball that would be given on the second day of Christmas, with the first day beeing only for her small family. A smile appeared on her dark rosy lips as she thought how happy Anna would be./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"emKnock, knock, knock./em/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"It was late midday when somebody knocked on Elsa's closed door. At this moment she was sitting on the floor, building a castle with her playing bricks. Surprised she looked at the door. emWho could it be?/em When she excused herself after lunch, she had hopped to spend the rest of the day quiet playing in her room and without many people around her. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Princess Elsa, your parents are waiting for you to come and decorate the tree with them." Gerdas familiar voice said from the other side of the door. emRight/em. It was Christmas Eve and the family always decorated a small tree by them self in the queens drawing room. It's a tradition they have done since she could remember. But that also meant to spend the whole evening with her family. And with Anna. Last year her parents gave her the excuse of being sick, but this year she could not use that excuse again and she knew that her parents wanted to at least sometimes have them all together on one spot. She clung her hands around herself./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Do I really have to go Gerda?" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""It would be very nice of you and… you don´t have to stay very long, only until you drink up the hot chocolate I made. Does this sound nice?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""I… I think it does. Okay, I will come in a minute"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Of course it sounded nice, it always had been. Maybe she could try, nobody said she needed to stand right beside of emher/em. She put on her small white glows and went down. Gerda had been right, it was nice decorating the tree. Not even Anna seemed to be a problem, she did put on her biggest smile when Elsa enter the room, but so busy with all the decorating she seemed not to play bigger attention on her big sister. There was laughing and singing, but only by Anna. Their parents tried their best, Elsa could see that. In the end she sat in a corner a bit away from the tree, drinking the delicious hot chocolate Gerda had made./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Elsa, Elsa. Come, lets dance around the tree" it was Anna who said that./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Elsa raised her eyes from her cup and looked right into her little sister, dressed in a sweet red dress with a bow. Elsa was silent; she just looked at Anna and was silent. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Anna, my little one. Let your sister drink her chocolate while its still warm, you can help me find a place for this bow on the tree"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Elsa watched her sister slowly turn away to their mother, and looked back in her cup. It was not warm anymore./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Sliding down the steps and running down the hall, Anna put quickly her coat on and continued her way to the stables. It was one day before Christmas Eve and Kristoff had just returned from his harvesting for the holyday. The sky was grey and cloudy and the snow lied already thick on the ground. While she happily walked to the stables, Anna thought what a wonderful time they would have this year all together. She had to let out a small laugh remembering how Olaf made a remark some days ago how he would hold the baby in the cradle that was put up in the chapel, warm with his hugs so it wouldn´t get cold. He did not know that it was going to be only a doll made of wood to be placed there. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Yes, it would be a great time for them and Elsa would finally have the opportunity to enjoy it. And she, Anna, would take care that everything would be just perfect./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Why do I have to go to the mess today, its always so boring!"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Little princess! It´s not on you to say things like that"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Anna was angry and stamped with her foot on the floor as she looked at her maid Matilde who tried to put on a green jacket on her. Why did she have to go? She already read the book about saints they had at home and she knew the Christmas story. And she also knew that once again her perfect 14 year old sister would be perfect and graceful all the day round while she herself would have a hard time to even sit ten minutes still. At that moment everything seemed so unfair to her. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"At the moment she sat on the bench in the chapel she felt sorry for what she said and thought earlier. There were worse things than to go to mass (eating lutefisk was one of this things) and Elsa had to be perfect; she was the heir after all. All the grownups acted that way; it was only unfair that her sister too grow up so early. Or was she, little Anna, the one who acted too childish? Is it wrong to be a child at this age? She looked pas her parents beside her down to Elsa at the other side of the row. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Elsa looked exactly like the little ballet dancer on the music box she got last Christmas. Anna got that year a book about the life of Joan´d´Arc. At that day the whole family had sat by the Christmas tree, well all beside of Elsa who sat on a small chair a bit further away. There were so many small presents under the tree, for mama, for papa, for Anna, for Elsa. Suddenly their mother got up with a box and went to sit beside Elsa. Very carefully Elsa took the present in her hands, slowly and carefully opening it. A wonderful music box was inside, with an elegant little ballet dancer on top of it. She was made out of the best china you could imagine, her skin white as snow, her cheeks and dress soft pink and a blue bow around her waist. Slowly Elsa winded up the box and a soft melody began to play. Anna will always remember how her sister's face got brighter as she looked at her present. She also remember how at that instant Elsa got up from her seat, but not to go to her room, but to sit down at the piano in the small music room which opened it self as a addition to the drawing room. The same sweet melody could now be heard from the piano, first slowly and than clear and sure. Anna wanted at first to go there too, dance to the music, but she remained still like their parents, enjoying the simple sound of it. Opening her new book she noticed a note inside on the cover. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"emMarry Christmas Anna, /em/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"emElsa/em/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"It was already late when Kristoff wished good-night and gave Anna a kiss, it was late when Olaf said good-night and went to keep Sven company outside, it was late when two sisters fell asleep on the couch in the drawing room, the warm fire illuminating soft the glittering Christmas tree. It was late and quiet, perfectly peacefully silent. What did they do on this day? Did they have a nice meal or did they have a sled race? Did they sing carols or did they open presents? Nobody could now tell what they did the whole day, but the bright smile on their lips said enough./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Small snowflakes were slowly falling from the skies, gently covering the cold earth and sticking around every window frame. The air was trilling cold forming every breath you made into a cloud of warmth. Thick clouds hanging in the sky made it hard to tell apart if it was midday or early night and the waters in the fjord reflected the hillsides clear and cold and dark. The whole world seamed to consist only out of shades of grey, black and blurred blue./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"This is exactly the view that opened itself in front of Elsa's window as she sat in her study above some papers she had to read and respond. Winter came as usual in these parts, making in necessary to always have a warm fire in the fireplace. She gave a quick gaze to the fireplace where a happy fire crackled, spreading a cozy warmth in the small study. As she found herself lost in watching the small and quick flames dance, she tried to push herself to finish the work that had to be done. But it was had to concentrate on business affairs when Christmas was so close, and not just Christmas, but the first one in years that would be a happy one for everyone. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Resting her head on her right hand she looked around the little study she sat in. The furniture was made of dark polished wood, with high bookshelves on the walls and a warm mantel place opposite one of the windows. The other window was opposite the door and her desk right in-between the two windows, allowing her to have a perfect overview of the room. Where there were no shelves or pictures on the walls, you could hint the green murals with gingerly drawn leafs on them. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Her mind was all peaceful and quiet, even with all the work that had to be done. She even felt a bit exited over the small ball that would be given on the second day of Christmas, with the first day beeing only for her small family. A smile appeared on her dark rosy lips as she thought how happy Anna would be./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"emKnock, knock, knock./em/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"It was late midday when somebody knocked on Elsa's closed door. At this moment she was sitting on the floor, building a castle with her playing bricks. Surprised she looked at the door. emWho could it be?/em When she excused herself after lunch, she had hopped to spend the rest of the day quiet playing in her room and without many people around her. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Princess Elsa, your parents are waiting for you to come and decorate the tree with them." Gerdas familiar voice said from the other side of the door. emRight/em. It was Christmas Eve and the family always decorated a small tree by them self in the queens drawing room. It's a tradition they have done since she could remember. But that also meant to spend the whole evening with her family. And with Anna. Last year her parents gave her the excuse of being sick, but this year she could not use that excuse again and she knew that her parents wanted to at least sometimes have them all together on one spot. She clung her hands around herself./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Do I really have to go Gerda?" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""It would be very nice of you and… you don´t have to stay very long, only until you drink up the hot chocolate I made. Does this sound nice?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""I… I think it does. Okay, I will come in a minute"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Of course it sounded nice, it always had been. Maybe she could try, nobody said she needed to stand right beside of emher/em. She put on her small white glows and went down. Gerda had been right, it was nice decorating the tree. Not even Anna seemed to be a problem, she did put on her biggest smile when Elsa enter the room, but so busy with all the decorating she seemed not to play bigger attention on her big sister. There was laughing and singing, but only by Anna. Their parents tried their best, Elsa could see that. In the end she sat in a corner a bit away from the tree, drinking the delicious hot chocolate Gerda had made./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Elsa, Elsa. Come, lets dance around the tree" it was Anna who said that./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Elsa raised her eyes from her cup and looked right into her little sister, dressed in a sweet red dress with a bow. Elsa was silent; she just looked at Anna and was silent. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Anna, my little one. Let your sister drink her chocolate while its still warm, you can help me find a place for this bow on the tree"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Elsa watched her sister slowly turn away to their mother, and looked back in her cup. It was not warm anymore./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Sliding down the steps and running down the hall, Anna put quickly her coat on and continued her way to the stables. It was one day before Christmas Eve and Kristoff had just returned from his harvesting for the holyday. The sky was grey and cloudy and the snow lied already thick on the ground. While she happily walked to the stables, Anna thought what a wonderful time they would have this year all together. She had to let out a small laugh remembering how Olaf made a remark some days ago how he would hold the baby in the cradle that was put up in the chapel, warm with his hugs so it wouldn´t get cold. He did not know that it was going to be only a doll made of wood to be placed there. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Yes, it would be a great time for them and Elsa would finally have the opportunity to enjoy it. And she, Anna, would take care that everything would be just perfect./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Why do I have to go to the mess today, its always so boring!"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;""Little princess! It´s not on you to say things like that"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Anna was angry and stamped with her foot on the floor as she looked at her maid Matilde who tried to put on a green jacket on her. Why did she have to go? She already read the book about saints they had at home and she knew the Christmas story. And she also knew that once again her perfect 14 year old sister would be perfect and graceful all the day round while she herself would have a hard time to even sit ten minutes still. At that moment everything seemed so unfair to her. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"At the moment she sat on the bench in the chapel she felt sorry for what she said and thought earlier. There were worse things than to go to mass (eating lutefisk was one of this things) and Elsa had to be perfect; she was the heir after all. All the grownups acted that way; it was only unfair that her sister too grow up so early. Or was she, little Anna, the one who acted too childish? Is it wrong to be a child at this age? She looked pas her parents beside her down to Elsa at the other side of the row. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"Elsa looked exactly like the little ballet dancer on the music box she got last Christmas. Anna got that year a book about the life of Joan´d´Arc. At that day the whole family had sat by the Christmas tree, well all beside of Elsa who sat on a small chair a bit further away. There were so many small presents under the tree, for mama, for papa, for Anna, for Elsa. Suddenly their mother got up with a box and went to sit beside Elsa. Very carefully Elsa took the present in her hands, slowly and carefully opening it. A wonderful music box was inside, with an elegant little ballet dancer on top of it. She was made out of the best china you could imagine, her skin white as snow, her cheeks and dress soft pink and a blue bow around her waist. Slowly Elsa winded up the box and a soft melody began to play. Anna will always remember how her sister's face got brighter as she looked at her present. She also remember how at that instant Elsa got up from her seat, but not to go to her room, but to sit down at the piano in the small music room which opened it self as a addition to the drawing room. The same sweet melody could now be heard from the piano, first slowly and than clear and sure. Anna wanted at first to go there too, dance to the music, but she remained still like their parents, enjoying the simple sound of it. Opening her new book she noticed a note inside on the cover. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"emMarry Christmas Anna, /em/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"emElsa/em/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"-/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"It was already late when Kristoff wished good-night and gave Anna a kiss, it was late when Olaf said good-night and went to keep Sven company outside, it was late when two sisters fell asleep on the couch in the drawing room, the warm fire illuminating soft the glittering Christmas tree. It was late and quiet, perfectly peacefully silent. What did they do on this day? Did they have a nice meal or did they have a sled race? Did they sing carols or did they open presents? Nobody could now tell what they did the whole day, but the bright smile on their lips said enough./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;" /p