Submission (#6471) Approved

     A cool breeze had been sweeping through the golden leaf-covered walkways heralding the arrival of miasma season; the time when all elnin focus on indoor activities and their studies. Nol herself had taken the time to start up a class or two in the village outside of Bellmoril for the local kittoms to teach them the words of the bardic elnin, Croithspeir. They were now planning on putting on their own production in the local town hall and wanted to give presents to all the folk who came to watch as a surprise. Of course, wrapping those presents ended up falling onto teacher Nol's lap and one pair of paws was not going to be able to complete the whole batch before opening night!

     "Look, I need all of your help in here. I am not wrapping everything by myself!" Nolatari called upstairs  to her bushel of kids as she set up the table with wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, and the like. The navy blue elnin added scissors and tape to the pile before hearing the rush of paws on stairs as the quintet barreled down almost on top of each other. 

"Muuuuum! Donaar pushed me!" 

"I did nothing of the sort! You were the one trying to push ahead!" 

"Hey! That is my favorite colour! I'm calling dibs on the blue shiny paper!"

"But I had almost finished the chapter, can we do this later?"

"If Lark isn't going to wrap anything can I have their present?"

     Nol turned around with her paws on her hips. "No pushing, or shoving, no calling dibs, we are going to share all the papers, your chapter will still be there when we are done, and No, Lark gets their present, just like you will get yours."  She gestured to the table and then the smaller table that had bags precariously balanced on top. "Pick something and then bring it to the table to wrap. Most are already in boxes to make it easier but some may need a bit more work to cover properly. Please let me know if you need any help..." She paused for dramatic effect, "Aaaand GO!" 

     A second mad rush followed as, like a bunch of piranha, the quintet descended onto the table of present, managing to knock half of the carefully stacked boxes onto the floor, and then formed a noisy rabble around three quarters of the large mahogany table. Nol had smartly left one roll at each place with the other rolls of paper in the center which meant, at least for the first few presents, each kittom would not be fighting over who got what. She hoped that transition should go smoothly as long as she orchestrated things correctly. 

     The din settled down to a murmur as concentrating faces bent down to the task at hand. Paws folding corners, some neat, some needing a little help, the kittoms focused as a group; intent on finishing swiftly so they could go back to the fun activities they had just left.  Nolatari used that moment to sip her warm cider and gaze out the window at the golden trees in the small garden she was sharing temporarily with Aryn. Her sibling had asked for some help with the festivities around the harvest and, because it wasn't safe to travel during the miasma season, especially with five little ones in tow, she decided to make it a longer trip and enjoy Bellmoril without needing to be rushed back home. This meant finding something to pass the time so she had decided to start the theater class. She was proud of the kittoms who chose to start this little production, they were not just acting, they were also directing, doing lighting cues and the whole thing. Currently she knew they were in the large barn a brisk walk away building the sets, which is why she had decided to enlist the help of her brood for wrapping duties. 

     Her thoughts were pulled away from the birch and maple trees in the window by a tug at her sleeve. "I need some help with this one." Saoirse held up the partially wrapped package. It was neatly folded on one side but the other side was still open, the oddly shaped top of the tin making things a bit more complicated. 

     Nolatari smiled and ushered Saoirse back to her chair. "How would you like it to look? Covered and folded over like the other side, or bunched up together like that one?" She pointed towards a package that was now sitting in the middle of the table bunched up on both sides; looking like a giant sweet with ribbon bows on each side. 

"Covered and folded over please." the blue kittom nodded decisively and nudged the box towards her mother. 

     Taking the present that had been pushed in her direction, Nolatari straightened both open edges of the wrapping and then closed them up, deftly folding in the sides and then rolling it up neatly. She then took both corners and folded them into the center of the roll to keep the shape closed, gesturing towards the tape with her chin, "Can you tear of a piece of tape and pop it right here?"  

     Saoirse reached over, pulling off a piece of tape and then placing it between the spots Nol was holding down. "There we go! I am going to put a bow on this to make it look pretty!" She smiled and gathered up some ribbon to make a large, many looped bow. "This might be one of the last ones too, we're almost done with the pile."

     With a chuckle, Nolatari nodded and started to gather up the finished present to store carefully until opening night. "I think you all did a fine job; thank you very much. These will be a great surprise for everyone; and yours will be hidden amongst them too." Carrying the presents over to the bright, gold-filled window she smiled as she thought to herself. It was no Silvel with the twilight aura and glowing foliage, but Bellmoril had a charm of it's own. As quaint and picturesque as a painting but still, a nice place to be during the miasma months when everything seemed a little more dreary. 

     I guess trees of gold really do make the heart feel warmer.