CHAPTER 1 — THE WORST CHRISTMAS PRELUDE
1227 Words
Snowflakes were supposed to fall softly.
Pretty, magical, peaceful.
Not like the chunky blocks of frozen misery currently sliding off the roofs of Pinebrook like they were purposefully targeting her.
Arielle North didn’t even have time to blink before a piece of ice smacked the back of her head.
Crack!
“Ow—what in Kris Kringle’s name—?”
She stumbled forward and landed in a pile of shattered Christmas ornaments she’d left by the steps to throw out later. The glass crunched beneath her palms. A shard glittered mockingly on the cuff of her coat.
Perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
Her holiday curse was right on schedule.
Every December, without fail, the universe seemed to treat her like the punchline of a cosmic joke. Burnt dinners. Exploding light strings. Getting fired on Christmas Eve. A breakup under mistletoe—because apparently even mistletoe rejected her.
Some people were born with good holiday luck.
Arielle was born with a festive disaster package.
And today… today was just getting started.
Shivering, she stood and brushed snow off her jeans. The wind slapped her face with another burst of icy air.
“Merry freaking Christmas,” she muttered.
She reached for her front door—ready to crawl back inside, hide under blankets, and pretend the season didn’t exist—when something caught her attention.
A single envelope sat on the doormat.
Bright red.
Edges dusted with glitter.
Her name written in gold ink that shimmered like warm candlelight.
Arielle North.
No return address.
No postmark.
As if it simply… appeared.
Her brows knitted. “Okay. Weird.”
She looked left and right. The street was quiet, buried in snow, with only a few early risers scraping frost from car windshields. No mail truck. No footsteps leading up to her door.
Nothing.
Still half-suspicious, half-curious, she picked up the envelope. It felt warm against her fingers. A soft warmth. Comforting.
Like someone had been holding it only seconds before.
Her heartbeat sped up, tapping against her ribs. This—whatever this was—felt different. Unusual. Almost magical. Ridiculous thought, of course. She had no magic. She had bad luck. And lots of it.
She tore the flap open.
A single card slid out. Crimson, edged with gold. A symbol she didn’t recognize—an ancient swirl, almost like a snowflake wrapped inside a star.
And then, written in the same gold ink:
“Your luck changes when your heart does.
Find the one who unlocks the magic.”
— Santa
A small puff of steam left her mouth as she reread the message.
Santa?
Santa Claus?
Father Christmas?
Jolly red suit, belly like jelly, ho-ho-ho?
Someone was playing a prank on her. A cute, slightly creepy one.
She laughed to herself. “My heart? Unlock magic? Sure. Why not? Maybe the universe will throw me a boyfriend for Christmas before my house burns down.”
She folded the card, shaking her head, and shoved it in her coat pocket. She needed coffee—hot, strong, and preferably with enough sugar to make her forget she was the poster child for holiday disaster.
She stepped onto the sidewalk—
And slipped on invisible black ice.
“Ah—!”
She braced for impact—face-first into snow, dignity lost—
But strong hands grabbed her waist.
Warm hands. Steady.
“Whoa there. Got you.”
Arielle froze.
The man holding her steady was tall, wrapped in a charcoal coat dusted with snow. His hair was dark brown, slightly tousled like he’d just run fingers through it. And his eyes—
His eyes were blue like winter skies right before sunrise.
Warm. Bright. Soft.
The kind of eyes you fall into without thinking.
She blinked. Once. Twice.
He kept a firm hold on her waist, steadying her until she found her balance.
“You okay?” he asked, voice low and gentle.
“Y-Yes—sorry—black ice—my bad—my feet have a personal vendetta against me—”
He smiled. A slow, amused, heart-stopping smile that simultaneously annoyed her and melted something in her chest.
“I saw,” he said, voice warm. “That was a very… graceful wipeout.”
She groaned. “Please don’t tell me it looked as bad as it felt.”
“It was spectacular. Ten out of ten.”
Her cheeks flushed. Great. A handsome stranger witnessed her morning humiliation.
He tilted his head, still smiling. “I’m Noah.”
A simple introduction, but his name felt like velvet in the cold air.
“I—I’m Arielle.”
“Arielle,” he repeated, like he was tasting the name. “Nice to meet you. Even if our introduction involved near frostbite.”
She huffed a soft laugh. “Welcome to my holiday season. Disaster is kind of my tradition.”
“Oh?” Noah raised an eyebrow. “You’re cursed?”
“Pretty much.”
And as if the universe wanted to emphasize the point, Christmas lights on the house behind them flickered violently—
pop!
A bulb burst.
Noah blinked. “Wow. That’s… impressive timing.”
“See?” Arielle sighed. “Bad luck magnet.”
“Or maybe you just need coffee.” He nodded toward the street. “I just opened a bookstore café down the road—Frost & Fiction. Come by. First drink’s on me.”
Her chest tightened.
A free drink?
From a cute stranger?
After being knocked down by literal ice?
She wasn’t sure if it was kindness… or pity.
Still, his voice had a warmth that made her want to trust him. Just a little.
“I—maybe,” she said, tucking hair behind her ear. “I have to drop something off first.”
He stepped aside but kept watching her in a way that made her pulse flutter.
“Well, Arielle… try not to slip again.” He winked. “I might not always be around to catch you.”
Heat shot straight to her cheeks.
She opened her mouth to respond—say something witty, something charming, anything—
But he was already walking away, hands in pockets, his breath forming soft clouds in the air.
She watched him until he disappeared around the corner.
Her heart thudded painfully.
She pulled the red envelope from her pocket.
“You’re luck changes when your heart does.”
Her fingers trembled.
No.
No way.
Coincidence. Pure coincidence.
Magic didn’t exist.
Santa didn’t send letters.
And strangers with sunrise eyes didn’t just appear out of nowhere.
But as she walked down the street, she realized something odd.
The streetlamp beside her didn’t flicker—when it usually did.
Her boots didn’t slip again—despite the ice.
Her phone, which normally died at random, stayed fully charged.
And for the first time in a very long time…
the air around her felt lighter.
Warmer.
Almost lucky.
She swallowed hard, staring at the snow-covered path ahead.
“Okay,” she whispered. “This is weird.”
Her pulse fluttered.
Her fingers brushed against the card again.
Your luck changes when your heart does.
Arielle scoffed and kept walking—but her heart, traitorous thing, beat a bit too fast.
Because as much as she wanted to deny it…
something had shifted.
A small miracle.
Or the beginning of everything.
- Writer
