Four Wishes and an Elf

Author's note: What follows is a work of fiction based on real-life events. None of the characters depicted are real and any similarity to real people living or dead is purely coincidental.

This story is unlike any that I have written before, and I was not sure what category it should be submitted under. Despite one of the protagonists being an elf, I decided that she was not sufficiently non-human, and although there is some erotic coupling described, and I hope some humour, whilst this story is a fantasy involving a virgin, it is ultimately a romance.

All the characters depicted in this story are adults over the age of eighteen years.

This story has been entered for the 2023 Holidays Contest , and this is the first occasion I have submitted a story to any competition. I do not expect to win. There are far too many excellent authors writing on this site, for this to ever happen. My purpose in submitting an entry is to increase exposure to my work.

Please score and comment. Constructive comments are valuable and help authors to both write better and incentivises them to write more.

Any editing errors are mine and mine alone.

Four Wishes and an Elf

I am not a perfect person and like all of us, I have my flaws. This story starts with three of these, impatience, intolerance, and impulsiveness. Thankfully, I also displayed a little generosity.

It was Christmas Eve when I arrived back at Heathrow. I had been on a business trip to Turkey and was frustrated, tired, and dirty. Things had not gone as planned, and a trip meant to last over Christmas had been cut short. Now I was returning to a cold empty flat with nothing in the fridge and only a few cans of beans and tinned meat on the shelves. That Christmas I was unattached, and I was destined to spend it alone in front of the television. My parents were in Singapore where they lived, and my sister and her husband had gone on a cruise somewhere warm. Christmas is a time for family, not friends, and what friends I had were spending it with their loved ones.

I would just have to make the best of it.

I retrieved my baggage from the carousel, headed for the taxi rank, and took a cab home to Guildford. It was early evening when I arrived home. I fired up the central heating, threw my dirties in the washing machine, showered, and then, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, I headed for the supermarket.

It was a big shop, so I took a trolley. I'm not an organised shopper and I did not have a list, so it took me at least forty-five minutes to find what I wanted. When I had finished, the trolley was almost full. Most importantly I found four well-cured Aberdeen Angus fillet steaks, some smoked salmon, stilton cheese, and half a dozen bottles of my favourite burgundy.

The store was heaving and the queue at the checkouts was longer than ever. Predictably enough, not all the checkouts were manned. Mr Supermarket obviously didn't want to pay enough to entice his staff to work that day, and I was unimpressed.

I reached the belt and started to place my purchases on it. Ahead of me was a shabbily dressed old lady. behind me, a smartly dressed young man in a designer suit and expensive shoes stood with a basket containing six bottles of expensive champagne. I remember being saddened by the unfairness of life as the old lady started to place her purchases in her tattered shopping bag. It was obvious she was counting the pennies as she slowly picked up her holiday feast. She had bought a small pack of bacon, a can of beans, a loaf of bread, a can of sardines, a jar of jam, half a dozen eggs, and a single, onion, banana, and apple. Wherever possible she had purchased shop-brand economy items. I imagined that some of this was to be her Christmas dinner.

I watched her take her purse from her handbag and slowly start to count out coins to pay, and as she did, Mr Champagne, who had been becoming increasingly fidgety because of her feebleness, started to talk to himself under his breath.

"Hurry up, you old bag, I heard him say softly."

As I watched the old lady, I saw her start to panic. First, she shook out her purse, and then she started to rummage around in her handbag. It was apparent that she did not have enough money to pay.

I saw her embarrassedly speak to the shop assistant, explain that she was eighty-three pence short, and ask her what she could return to make up the shortfall.

Behind me, I heard somebody speak. This time his voice was louder.

"Now fucking what?"

As the old dear fumbled in her basket to find something worth giving back. I decided to act.

I turned to her and spoke.

"That's happened to me before," I said. "Please allow me to help."

I placed my card in the scanner and was about to key in my number before I stopped.

"Please add these to the lady's shopping," I said to the assistant, before giving her my steaks, a bag of frozen chips, some dates, nuts, a bottle of sherry, and a small Christmas cake.

"You do drink? "I asked.

"Sherry, at Easter and Christmas. But I can't possibly accept all of this."

"Why not, I asked. Merry Xmas."

"God bless you," she replied, as I paid for everything.

I thought I saw tears in her eyes as she slowly shuffled away.

The shop assistant had been watching the proceeding, and as the old lady moved away, she turned to me and smiled. When she did, I saw the face of an angel. She had long honey-brown hair, soft red cupid lips, and deep blue eyes which seemed to see inside of me. Just for a moment, I was transfixed, and a spark of something seemed to pass from her to me.

"That was very good of you," she said. "An act of true kindness."

I heard Mr Champagne speak.

"More like fucking stupidity. And now I suppose I'm going to have to wait whilst somebody brings you everything you just gave away?"

I'd finally had enough and turned and addressed him. I took care not to raise my voice, chose my words carefully, and did not use bad language. It was Christmas, after all.

"I'm not going to make you wait. Not because I care whether you do or not, but because I'm tired of your rude whining. Please take your Champagne and your bad manners and leave us in peace."

I stood back and let him pass me, and then the cashier removed the magnetic tags from the bottles and scanned them, and he pulled a wad of cash from his wallet and paid. It was then that he made his fateful comment.

"Fucking do-gooder," he said and turned to walk away.

Now I was angry.

"I wish that one day soon you could be poor like that old lady," I shouted after him.

"Oh, dear," I heard the shop assistant say.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I shouldn't have said that, but he wasn't a very nice person."

"No, he wasn't.... Oh, dear!"

As she scanned my shopping, I watched her closely. She was no longer smiling and seemed slightly distracted. She seemed to be thinking about something, and I hoped my outburst hadn't offended her. This did not stop me from thinking that she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. There seemed to be an otherworldly aura about her, and I was intrigued. I wished that I could spend Christmas with her and get to know her better. What better Christmas present could there be?

Just then I saw her eyes widen slightly, and just for a moment, she looked up at me enquiringly, before returning to work.

A few minutes later I paid. We bade each other Merry Christmas, and I left the store. I did not expect to ever see her again.

***

When I returned to my flat it was warm. The heating had done its job. I put my shopping away and poured myself a glass of red wine.

About half an hour later, I was planning to make myself an omelette, when the doorbell rang. I glanced up at the wall clock. It was almost a quarter to nine and I wondered who could be visiting at this hour.

I went to the door and looked through the peephole before I opened it,

I was astonished to see that it was the girl from the supermarket. I opened the door and she stood on the doormat looking at me. She was wearing a long green coat with a hood and white fur trimmings. The coat extended almost to the floor, and I could see she was wearing black-leather silver-buckled shoes. She was carrying a supermarket bag in one hand and a small leather suitcase in the other.

I looked at her in complete bemusement.

"You wished to spend the Christmas Holiday with me, and wanted to get to know me better," she said. "So here I am. A wish is binding, Peter."

"I don't understand "

"If I can come in and sit down, I'll try to explain."

I had recovered some of my wits.

"Where are my manners? Can I take your coat? Please come in."

As I hung her coat, she kicked off her shoes.

"That's faux polar bear fur," she remarked. "It's manufactured in Santa's workshop. He'd never countenance real fur anymore, but tradition is tradition."

I wondered if this was a strange dream or if one of us was mad.

***

She sat opposite me in the lounge sipping a glass of red wine.

"Now, let me explain. I'll try to make it brief. When I've finished, I can answer any questions you have. Oh, yes, I must ask you not to repeat anything I say."

She paused.

Oh, dear. I've mucked it up again, haven't I? I already mentioned Santa, didn't I?"

"Yes, but don't worry. I won't repeat a word."

Nobody will believe me anyway I thought.

"Before you start what's your name," I asked.

"How rude of me. I'm Alvina* , and I'm one of Santa's elves. This is my first Christmas on the job and I'm not doing well. My job was supposed to be a simple one. I've been working at the supermarket watching for really good or really bad children and then reporting back to the North Pole.

Today, I did something I was not authorised to do. I don't even know how I did it. When I saw you being so generous to that old lady, I was so impressed that I got carried away and gave you three wishes, and even worse I didn't tell you of my gift..... or at least not in time. The wishes are designed to have a high threshold and not be granted on a whim, but you were so angry with that young man and admiring of me, that both your wishes have been granted."

"Do you mean Mr Champagne will become poor?"

"In time, yes, but not until later next year. I spoke to Santa on my mobile a little earlier. He was not pleased with me, and I have been relieved of duty. Your wish for you to spend Christmas with me must be granted and he ordered me to stay with you until the day after Boxing Day.

He told me that the problem of your first wish can be addressed after Christmas if you want to. For the time being, please don't waste your third wish on any frivolity."

"How did you know that I admired you? I didn't make my second wish out loud."

"I read your mind."

"You can do that?"

"Only if the emotion is very strong, and I can switch the ability off if I want."

"Is it on or off, right now?"

"Off."

"Thank goodness," I said. "I don't fancy you being able to know what I'm thinking."

"A girl doesn't need to be able to read a man's mind to know what he wants, does she? I guess this is a good time to say it. Staying with you doesn't mean sleeping with you. I hope you have a guest room for me to stay in, otherwise, you'll be sleeping on the couch."

I nodded.

"Since you appear to have invited yourself to stay, I have a spare bedroom you can use. It has an ensuite toilet and shower."

"You invited me, Peter. You made a valid wish and I have no choice but to grant it. I'm sure you'll find my company better than being all alone."

I smiled to myself. She was right.

"One last question, Alvina. How did you know my name and address? "

"Your credit card. Santa has elves everywhere."

***

Alvina looked stunning in the ankle-length red skirt and white floral embroidered blouse she was wearing, but I said nothing. We were strangers brought together by a series of random events. I was planning to be the perfect gentleman.

"Do you mind putting these in the kitchen," she asked, as she handed me the plastic supermarket bag.

"I took some stuff from my parent's house and brought some things from the supermarket. I hope you like caviar."

"Beluga," I joked.

"What else," she replied.

Alvina wasn't joking. As she went to her room to shower and change out of her "work clothes," I emptied the bag she had brought. I found a variety of expensive cheeses, biscuits, grapes, black truffles, cream, new potatoes, asparagus, a cooked ham, and a couple of bottles of champagne. Then, right at the bottom of the bag, I found a one-hundred-gram tin of Iranian Beluga Caviar.

I sat in the lounge with a glass of wine and thought about what I had learned, until twenty minutes later, Alvina appeared in the lounge. She was wearing blue jeans and a white tee shirt, both of which hugged her tall curvy body.

"Have you eaten? "I asked.

"Not since lunchtime, and I'm starving."

"I was going to prepare an omelette just before you came."

"How about we share scrambled eggs with diced smoked salmon? It's Xmas Eve. Can I use your kitchen? I'm happy to make it. It will only take fifteen minutes or so."

Whilst I toasted some bread and laid the table, Alvina prepared the eggs, and fifteen minutes later, as promised, we sat to eat.

"My family always eats this the night before Christmas," she said. "It's a tradition."

"And for Christmas lunch?" I asked.

"Roast turkey with the trimmings. I think I'd prefer fillet steak with champagne and black truffle sauce served with new potatoes and asparagus. I think we have the ingredients."

She looked at me.

"Elves have a far more discerning palate than you humans have. It's rare for humans to shop for the quality items you did."

"Maybe that's because I can afford them. A lot of people are feeling the pinch right now. That little old lady certainly was."

"Are you rich then?"

"Are all elves as direct and inquisitive as you?"

"Eives are naturally inquisitive. Not all elves are as straight in their language as I am. What you see is what you get."

I wish, I thought. Then, as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I wondered whether she'd caught it, but she didn't react and just kept talking. I'd have to be more careful.

"You haven't answered my question. Are you rich?"

"Potentially, very," I said. "My father is an industrialist with his fingers in many pies. I run his import-export business in the UK. When I was twenty-two years old after I graduated from university, he bought me this flat and gave me a lump sum of cash. My sister and I are his heirs, the business is going well, and I'm well paid."

I paused.

"Why am I telling you all this?"

"Because I asked," said Alvina.

"What about you?"

"I graduated from uni last July with a maths degree. Nowadays young elves must do a year of voluntary work in Santa's workshop at the North Pole. I started in August and next August hope to start a PhD course. This was my first field assignment and I've messed up. This is the time of the year that all of Santa's elves work towards and now I'm out of action, with you. No offense."

"None taken."

"I was working in Accounts. I'll be cleaning the toilets after this. Heaven only knows what my parents will say if they ever find out."

"How will they find out?"

"If Santa decides to tell them. They live in Scotland and don't know I'm with you. I've been staying in an elf's lodge for the last month."

"An elf's lodge?"

"Well, it's a flat really. Santa owns hundreds of them dotted around the world and elves working in the field stay can stay in them. I share the Guildford lodge with two other young lady elves who are working at the same supermarket. The manager is an elf and arranged for us to work there."

"How many of you are there?"

"There are around half a million of us in the UK alone. Elves live everywhere and do the same jobs as anyone else. We tend to be cleverer than your average human and have smaller families. Apart from our supernatural powers, and our ears there's not much to tell us apart. My parents are doctors. My father is a chest physician, and my mother is a gynaecologist. They both treat elves and humans. We have the same anatomy and suffer from the same diseases, albeit in different incidences. I understand elves have a particularly high incidence of diabetes and heart disease. It's got something to do with our rich elvish diet I'm told."

She stopped talking.

"You can never repeat any of this."

"Nobody would ever believe me. Your secrets are safe," I replied.

A little later, Alvina excused herself and went to her room to sleep.

"I got up at six," she explained.

I sat and drank the remains of the red wine before doing the washup, and then, I too went to bed.

I lay in the dark and at first sleep evaded of me. Not far away lay the woman of my dreams whom I had met in the most extraordinary circumstances. I wondered how she could be so trusting of a man she had only just met. I'd never heard of an elf turning a human to stone with a look but? In any case, I would never force myself on any woman. Sometime later, I slept.

***

I woke before eight o'clock. When I entered the kitchen, Alvina was sitting drinking a mug of freshly percolated coffee. She crossed the room and poured a cup for me.

"Merry Xmas," she said. "Help yourself to cream and sugar."

"Merry Xmas," I replied.

For a few minutes, we sat quietly with our own thoughts and drank our coffee.

"Do you mind if I prepare breakfast," she asked. "Elves need five square meals a day: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, early supper, and late supper. I missed early supper yesterday and I'm starving."

"Be my guest."

"Do you have some old potatoes?"

Just a little later, we sat to eat ham and eggs with hashbrown potatoes and fried tomatoes. She had also squeezed some oranges. I prepared the toast and found some Seville-orange marmalade that had been languishing at the back of the cupboard. She was a far better cook than I was.

We chatted like old friends, and I realised that not only did I fancy Alvina, but I liked her too. She also appeared to enjoy my company.

"I need to go to church," she said.

Protestant or Catholic?

"I'm a Scottish Presbyterian, but any Protestant church will do."

"There's a service at ten o'clock at the cathedral if we leave the washing up until we come back."

We arrived at the cathedral with ten minutes to spare and took our places on a pew towards the back. A sizeable congregation had already gathered, and the cathedral was well-filled with worshippers. Once we had sat, Alvina immediately knelt on the wooden kneeling bench and began to pray, and once again she reminded me of an angel.

After the service, we walked in the cathedral grounds and Alvina took the opportunity to ring her parents and wish them a Happy Christmas. At first, she spoke in English, but halfway through the conversation, she switched to a strange language that I had never heard before.

Elvish, she later explained. Santa employs elves of every nationality. Not everybody speaks English and those who don't communicate in Elvish.

***

The next two days passed too quickly. We ate five square meals a day and drank a little too much alcohol. We went for long walks and went to the pub on Boxing Day lunchtime. In between time, Alvina beat me at both chess and backgammon, and I started to fall in love. Despite all of this, I avoided any physical contact. It just didn't seem right, and I feared what her reaction might be.

On Boxing Day evening, I summoned up the courage to ask Alvina whether I would be able to see her again.

"I know we've only known each other for two days but I think I want to spend my life with you."