He tilted his head curiously. What in the world was it? He had never seen anything like it before. Toukan saw his reflection in the odd orb that seemed to dangle from a branch of a tree. His face looked very distorted, his head was wide but his body was squished beneath him. And he was completely red instead of his usual grey.

He moved his head around, watching his face morph in the reflection. As he looked at it, two other deer walked up. “Toukan’s making silly faces again.”, Aeis laughed. Cloud tilted his head, “Huh…look what he found there.”, the stag said. The two walked up and looked into the strange red orb themselves.

“There’s some weird little deer trapped in it!”, Cloud spoke. “No, I don’t think that’s correct.”, Aeis replied. “It’s gotta be some alternate universe, there are deer in another place who look just like us and are staring back at us thinking the exact same things we are.”, she concluded.

“It’s a decoration.”, Toukan told them. “A decoration? For what?”, Cloud questioned. “Not sure, actually. But I think it’s probably related to the festivities that the Twin Gods hold at the end of the year.”, the caribou explained.

Aeis stared at it for a moment, “There still might be some weird deer in another place staring back at us…”, she spoke. Toukan cracked a slight smile, “You think too hard, Aeis.”, he pointed out.

“So what do we do with it?”, Cloud questioned. “Hmm…”, Aeis thought, “Let’s open it up. Maybe there’s a surprise inside!”, she considered. “I don’t think it’s a present, though. Who knows, maybe we’re supposed to just leave it alone.”, Toukan said.

“Yes, don’t break it. We worked very hard to get it here.”, someone spoke. The three turned to see Auriea standing by the tree – she had appeared out of apparently thin air, and had heard the entire conversation. The deer bowed to the god deer, who bowed in return. “So what is it?”, Cloud questioned.

“It is a Christmas ornament, commonly hung on fir trees that have been placed in human homes.”, Auriea explained. “Placed in human homes? You mean they…?”, Toukan began, and Auriea sadly nodded. “Yes, they cut them down. It is quite sad, really, because they get discarded at the end of the year.”, she sighed, “But still, they make them the most beautiful trees, decorating them with things like this here and also lighting them up and making them shine wonderously. It is a truly spectacular sight!”

“So why did you bring it here, to the Forest?”, Aeis asked. “Well, we wanted to try decorating the trees ourselves. We do not have the powers over electricity that the humans have, but we have our own resources. Observe.”, Auriea spoke, and turning to the tree, she worked some of her own magic, having fireflies appear out of nowhere and land on the branches. Their lights made the characteristics of the tree glimmer beautifully. “Oh this is wonderful!”, Toukan said happily. Auriea nodded, “Now imagine this…but on all of the trees.”, she said.

The three deers’ eyes widened. They could not begin to comprehend the beauty Auriea was telling them about. “That…sounds outstanding!”, Cloud exclaimed. “I can’t wait to see it!”, Aeis agreed.

“So what will you do with this ornament then?”, Toukan asked. “Hmm…I wonder…”, Auriea began, using her magic once again. The ornament rose off of the tree and landed on one of the prongs of Toukan’s antlers. He smiled and moved his head a little, watching the ornament dangle.

“Oh, that is very pretty!”, Aeis said. “Mhmm! I think it looks wonderful on you, Toukan!”, Cloud said. “Thank you, Aur…”, Toukan began to say, but Auriea had disappeared. The fireflies stayed on the tree, and as they looked at it once again, they felt a deep warmth in their hearts. While what they learned about fir trees being used for decoration was startling to them, they soon understood that the spirit of the season was wonderful to experience.