Wink and Serena in NPK-Part 3

I know, I know! I can’t seem to write a story without it turning into a full-length novel. I’m really hoping to finish this story by Valentine’s day. Because, if you’ve read The Miracle of Wink you know Serena wants to get married on Valentine’s Day. If you haven’t read part 1, click here to take you there.

So Without further delay, here’s part 3:

Wink’s little sister settled in for her long, winter’s nap before she finished her first yawn.  

Serena’s insides fluttered with excitement at the prospect of getting a personalized tour from her most favorite elf in the entire world! And he was all hers. “Where are we going to start first? 

Wink grinned. “Do you want to start with the best or end with it?” 

She couldn’t imagine one place being better than another. As they stepped onto the cobblestone pavement, Wink gestured down the street. “That way is the North Pole Café. Or we can go visit Santa’s workshop in the other direction.” 

“Where do you work?” She guessed she ought to start where Wink spent most of his time. 

Wink scowled. “That’s a place I’d like to forget.” 

Oh, right. He probably thought she meant the coalmine. “We shouldn’t visit that place if you don’t want to.” 

Shaking his head, he took Serena’s hand. “Let’s start with the Christmas tree in the grand square. That’s the most central part of North Pole Kingdom.” 

The walk was longer than she imagined. Because she picture a tiny village, she thought everything would be small. Once they reached the center of the elf village, a stately tree dominated the entire square, leaving little room to walk around it. Breathtaking lights shimmered on the branches, only to be outdone by the ornaments festooned on every single branch. Not a single inch of the tree was left bare. Serena sucked in a breath of amazement. “This makes our Christmas tree at home look positively primitive.” 

Wink chuckled. “If you think this one is big, you should see the one in front of Santa’s home.” 

“I can’t wait!” This was better than pressing her nose against Maggie’s store when she was a little girl. “Did you help with the lighting of the tree this year?” 

Wink’s head barely moved back and forth. “Sadly, I was in the hospital.” 

“The mine…” she whispered the words.  

Squeezing his hand, Serena snuggled against his shoulder. One of the things she noticed about North Pole Kingdom was the lack of snow. She would have thought it was habitually winter. “How do you keep the wind and weather out?” 

As if she was the dumbest person ever, he shook his head. “There’s a magic dome over the whole thing. Venture out beyond that and you’ll freeze your ears off. Twiddles tried it once. Now he gets to disguise himself every year as a human child and watch over the kids.” 

Serena finished for him. “Reporting who’s naughty or nice.” 

“That would be him.” 

“Can we meet him?” 

“Probably not.” 

Serena laughed. “His long winter’s nap.” Did the guy who wrote that famous children’s poem know about NPK? Is that how he was able to write the poem. 

“Right.” He led her around the tree and they had to duck when they entered the North Pole Café. “Nobody’s here, right now, but I can whip you up the best hot chocolate you’ve ever tasted. 

“I’d love that.” She remembered him saying something about taking culinary classes from Mrs. Claus and that’s what gave him his amazing cooking skills. She wished they had more time to sample the food in the café. 

After Wink set the cocoa machine whirring frothily, Wink showed her several pictures hung on the wall. A young man—well, in elf terms he was probably ancient—hung on one wall. “Who’s that?” 

“That is Chef Kinders. The first elf to set up a restaurant here.” He pointed to several more photos of elves in chef hats. “Each one of them are his sons.” 

“Keeping it in the business, huh?” 

The timer on the chocolate machine went off. And true to Wink’s words, the richest, creamiest chocolate poured out. He topped it with a dollop of extra thick whipping cream and handed it to her.  

She took a sip. “If I could sell this at the diner, I’d make a killing.” 

“That’s not the canned cream you use in the United States.” 

Serena huffed. “If you must know, we milk our own cows and skim off the cream.”  

“Not everyone has that luxury.”  

When she finished, Wink took her mug and rinsed it out. He snuggled her in close, rubbing his thumbs along her cheeks. She never stopped loving the sensation of his touch. “I didn’t know you had cows up here.” 

“We don’t.” 

“Then where do you get your whipped cream.” Surely, they don’t import it. 

“Reindeer, of course.”  

CLICK HERE FOR PART 4