Pen had seen Alice’s Christmas village grow every year. What once fit neatly on a side table now occupied nearly her entire dining room, and now took a whole day to pack up.

“And you got second place in the competition?” Pen asked, wrapping a porcelain building in crinkly newspaper, astonished.

“Only because Ms. Landeau cheats.” Alice said, her frustration coming through.

“She cheats?” Pen wasn’t sure the purpose of cheating in the ‘Best Christmas Village’ award.

“She uses magic and makes her little villagers come to life somehow.”

Pen nodded slowly, “Uh huh.”

“I’ve seen it! She snaps her fingers, and everyone begins to walk, you can hear their chatter and laughter. Little choirs sing. It’s incredible. I need to figure out how she does it.”

“It sounds like you just need to hide a speaker somewhere.” Pen said, picking up the large Christmas tree in the town square. Well, large for a Christmas village.

"Be careful with that one. I got it from a weird shop. The owner said it would help me bring magic to my village, and I can’t replace it.”

It was Alice speaking that startled Pen, as she dropped the porcelain centerpiece. It shattered with the sound of tiny bells, releasing an unexpected torrent of glittering magic. Unbelievably, Pen stood inside the village, a towering figure over the figurines, but smaller than the buildings.  More unbelievable, she was trapped in a Christmas tree costume, her feet planted in a green stand.

"See? I told you to be careful." Alice admonished, now a giant towering over the woman stuck as a tree. “But at least you can help make my village more magical.”

"Alice, what happened? How do we fix this?"

"Relax, it's Christmas magic. Everyone knows that kind of magic breaks at the end of Christmas day."

"But Christmas was last week!"

Alice shrugged and picked Pen up carefully, setting her in the box meant for the tree. "Well, then I guess I'll see you next year!"