Holly Berry
Legacy Name: Holly Berry

It is 11:59 pm on November 30th and Holly is camped outside Melody's door as if her little candy cane tent sprang up from the snow. She holds her breath in anticipation as she counts down the seconds on her Jolly Elf watch. 5...4...3...2…1.

The door opens and Melody is there, her arms brimming with this year's first set of gifts. Holly receives her items with a cheer of joy as Melody smiles. Holly is first to receive the new items for the seventh year running and she packs them with great care in her Santa bag. If the Rotten Rogue decides to make an appearance, she would do well not to try messing with this festive anyu's holiday spirit.

There is not a single Melody item missing from Holly's vast collection. The Runaway Hot Chocolate, Festive Cupcake with Sprinkles, and Seasonal Gingerbread Kit are her particular favorites which are kept in a very special display case at the top of the red and green shelves that house her collection. On the lowest, least noticeable shelf are the Used Candy Cane and Santa Sugar Cookie, the only two items she secretly wishes she could exclude. The cane is just plain gross and the cookie is a horrible rendition of a mythical man who deserves great respect, not an undersized hat and blobby beard.

Her Lumineve Tree Alarm Clock goes off, warning her that it is time to board the shuttle and go to work. Staying up until midnight is no challenge for someone who works the early morning shift at Yun Enterprises.

She likes to think there are worse jobs, though some days it is hard to convince herself. Sorting scraps of metal is incredibly boring and sometimes dangerous. She keeps a box of snowman band-aids at her workstation to combat daily paper cuts. The stink of hot metal is enough to make one gag though the coffee in the staff room is always hot and fresh. She needs about six cups to survive her shift and sneaks a few drops of peppermint extract in when no one is looking.

Someday she will have the skills to go and work for Melody at her dream job. She visits the Training Center and picks up new reads at Book Nook every chance she gets.

The steamwork kanis on her right is a dour fellow but nothing can dampen her holiday spirit. Though she knows better, she decides to start up a conversation.

"Good morning, Gear! How are you today?"

Gear has a creaky voice that tends to crack at odd times. "Oh, I could be worse I guess. Half the sprockets on my left side are rusty and I can't afford to replace them. There's also this horrible little iron terrier my neighbor keeps that yaps at all hours of the night. It tried to bite me once, you know."

"Perhaps you could get it a nice box of gear candies for Luminaire. You might just make a new friend."

Gear shoots her a withering look. "Why would I want to befriend that hunk of scrap metal? He'd chew off my finger joints and give me rust fleas as soon as look at me. Honestly, you mainlanders have such odd ideas."

Holly returns to picking scraps with a sigh. She plans to leave Gear a new can of oil on the night before Luminaire despite his crabby nature. Everybody deserves at least one good gift on Luminaire.

There is a smile on her face when the shift whistle finally rings. She hums popular Luminaire songs under her breath, earning a dirty look from a popoko whose pack of children promptly picks up the tune of "Ludwig the Red-Nosed Legeica" at the tops of their voices. Nothing can take away Holly's smile as she departs at the Arctic Frost station.

As the sun rises, the sound of bodies on the ice and loud cheering draws her to the Cybill Sledding arena. She never could understand what cybills see in the sport. She tried it once, her noble bulk allowing her to slide about a foot on the ice before she came to a dead stop. She is no less a fan of the joy those happy Subetans bring, despite her confusion. She watches until her eyelids begin to droop and a great yawn shakes her frame. Time to go home and take a good nap.

She falls asleep after having one more look around her lovely cave of holiday wonders. The evergreen and tinsel-coated decorations stay up all year regardless of the season but it in during the month of Luminaire that they really shine. The last thing she does before shutting her eyes is to set her cheery clock. She certainly wouldn't want to be late for the giveaway on December 2nd!

Overlay by MoondustDreams
Profile by Frenchi
Story by Pureflower