After a Thousand Years
Siblings

"Is Mindy with you?" Bernard asked, which was met with silence, or at least at first his question was met with silence, and then another voice spoke up.

"What do you mean, is Mindy here?" a relatively young voice said. Bernard's frown deepened, mentally guessing the one who just spoke was his younger sister as he couldn't see her. "I'm right here."

Bernard cleared his throat, his fingers tightening around the sheets of the bed, his mind knowing they were likely white even though he couldn't see them simply because he was in the hospital. He sighed deeply, stiffening and turning his head slightly before seeing. "I can't see you."

There came a muffled sound resulting in him turning his head back to hear Mindy. "…can't see me. I know that you can't see me. That's rather obvious, Bernie! I'm not stupid!"

Bernard let out a deep sigh, turning his head back. "I never said you were, Mins."

"Don't Mins me," Mindy snapped. "And you didn't have to say that. You," she said, then her breath sucking in. "You're the stupid one, not knowing I'm here!"

"Again, how was I supposed to know?"

"Bernard, dear," his aunt said, his voice indicating frustration, but he'd heard that same tone when he said he should explain what happened to him. "Didn't you hear me when I told you I brought Mindy?"

"Of course, he heard you," Mindy muttered. "He's not deaf."

"Actually," Bernard said, pointing to his left year. "Apparently, lost hearing in this ear, Mins. Sorry for upsetting you like that."

He heard a deep breath and then another before, "You're sorry you upset me?" Mindy said. "You're still upsetting me! You can't see, and you—how is this not upsetting?"

"I'm really sorry," he said. He didn't hear the chair next to the bed move until he heard it moving around to the other side. He turned his head, following the noise to the best of his ability, curious—which wasn't surprising given the natural tendency for Christmas Elves to be curious about all sorts of things, him being one of the biggest culprits when he didn't hold himself in proper check.

He felt a gentle hand take his own while another touched his chin and turned his head so his good ear was to them right before they said, "Shush now. It's alright. You're going to be alright because you're under Elder Windthrope's care, right?"

"I guess," Bernard said. "I still owe you that explanation?"

"Yes, dear. What happened?"

"Explosion of one of the magical boilers." Bernard could hear absolutely nothing, although he wasn't sure if this was because the room fell silent or he couldn't listen to what was happening.

"Mindy, dear. You don't need to yell at your brother," his aunt said, squeezing his hand. "And anyway, I don't think…."

Bernard felt another person press their hands onto the edge of the bed he was on as they leaned in to yell in his good ear. "A magical boiler exploded?"

He winced. "Mindy, I can hear perfectly well in that ear. So you don't need to yell into it."

"You definitely shouldn't be yelling at your older brother, although I do find it upsetting hearing you were in a boiler explosion."

"Sorry," Bernard muttered, not looking at anything in particular simply because he couldn't. He swallowed, disliking how the explosion robbed him of seeing the world as it was, something he enjoyed, particularly when looking at Christmas decorations. "Humans get more and more creative every year."

"What?" Mindy said, obviously exasperated. "What does that have to do with the magical boiler exploding or why—oh, I know why."

"I was thinking about the fact I can't see anything, including Christmas decorations. And they get increasingly creative with them every year," Bernard said. He felt the corner of his mouth twist up, finding amusement at being able to discuss Christmas related. "And why what? You didn't finish the sentence."

"You're a janitor, aren't you," Mindy said. "That's why you were around the boiler when it exploded, right?"

Bernard's smirk of amusement quickly twisted into a frown. "What?"

"Well, you're not a toy maker, elf," Mindy said.

Bernard sighed, already imagining her look of disappointment and disdain. "I'm not a janitor either."

"Then what are you?" Mindy asked. "What is your job at the North Pole that keeps you so busy you can't come home every year? Or is it because you're ashamed of what you do?"

"I'm not," Bernard said, taking a deep breath. "I'm not ashamed. I'm," he started saying, only for the words to freeze up. "I'm, the, uh…." His fingers tightened around the bed sheets as his fingers twisted around the sheets, realizing the words weren't coming out. "Why? Why aren't they?"

"See. You can't say it," Mindy said. "You can't say what your job is."

"It's not that," Bernard muttered, the cogs in his mind turning. "My job is nothing to be ashamed of." To which he felt his cheeks heat up slightly, having known the entire time being Head Elf, even Head Elf in training when he first started, was nothing to be ashamed of. He took a deep breath and then let it out. "It's not that."

"Of course it is," Mindy said. "Why else wouldn't you just say what it is?"

"Because I don't know how I'd feel, being praised for being Head Elf after all the flack I got for not being a toy maker elf like my parents. Like our parents," Bernard thought to himself, his head tilting slightly as his frustration grew. "And, would they even believe me? Christmas Elves are honest and truthful for all intents and purposes, although they may tell a little white lie when the needs arise. There are exceptions, and other types of elves aren't like that." He took a deep breath. "It's complicated."

"Complicated?" Mindy asked.

"Yes, well," Bernard frowned. "After everyone's disappointment in me not being a toymaker elf, like father and mother, like the other Elfbright elves, I'm not sure how I feel about everyone finding out."

"What?" Mindy startled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Bernard let out a sigh. "I don't know how to explain that any better, Mins."

"Don't call me that," Mindy said. "And what? You're worried about further disappointing me?"

"No. Disbelief maybe. But if I were to get praised for what I do after all the flack I got," Bernard shook his head.

"You think you'd get praised for what you do? That there's something better than being a toymaker elf?" Mindy said.

Bernard's mouth pushed together, words slipping from his mouth, for as Head Elf, he knew each department's importance. "Why is it, Mindy, that you think all the other jobs at the North Pole are inferior?"

"What?" Mindy said before blurting out. "Because they are."

Bernard heard a sigh from his aunt, and a hand reached up to pinch his nose. "Mindy."

"You're just," Mindy said. "You're just miffed that you didn't get picked as a toymaker elf! You know what! I'm going home!"

"Mindy!" their aunt said.