Saint Emmma, the Christmas Miss *WIP*

The Legends of Lilienwelt: Kingdom of Nimue, 'Vanilla' edition *WIP* says:
"Once upon a time before the Fey *WIP* were as common as they are now, in the second winter of The War with the Giants *WIP*, close to what used to be known as ‘Christmas’, a little boy named Johnny lost one of his mittens at school. He walked very slowly home, as he was scared of being yelled at by his parents. His mother had knitted his mittens from the last ball of yarn she had and she couldn’t buy another. The war had made a lot of things scarce and precious, yarn and new mittens being some of them.
"As he walked home on his well worn path in the snow, Johnny absent-mindedly kicked at a snowball he had made. He kicked at it and it would roll a little bit ahead of him, then he'd catch up with it and kick it again. He did this over and over, trying to not think about what punishment might await him at home. His bare hand, now pink from making the snowball, he buried inside his sleeve and tucked into his coat pocket.
“He kicked and kicked the snowball as he got near the huge warehouse outside of town. Everyone had been told that it was forbidden to go near it, but it was on the path that Johnny took home from school. As he rounded the far corner of the warehouse, Johnny's house came into view form it's perch up on the hill. He sighed deeply at the sight of it and kicked the snowball extra hard. The snowball, more ice than snow, sailed off and thumped against the side of the warehouse.
"Having lost his plaything, Johnny stopped and scooped up more snow to make another snowball. As he stood there patting the snow into a sphere he hear a whisper coming from the high window on the side of the warehouse.
'Hello?' said the whisper, 'Is someone there?' Although it was a whisper, it sounded some how bigger than a normal whisper. It wasn't a small voice. Startled, Johnny dropped the half-formed snowball. Suddenly he remembered that it was forbidden to go anywhere near the warehouse, let alone kick something at it. He started to cry as he called up to the high window; 'Sorry! I didn't mean to kick the snowball so hard!' The tears froze on his remaining mitten as he wiped them away. 'Hey, hey,' the big whisper said soothingly, 'It's ok. You're not in trouble.' 'Yes I am!' Johnny wailed and cried harder. 'Shhh, shhh. It's ok, the wall's fine, no harm done.' 'Yes, but I still lost my mitten!' 'Shhh, please don't cry. It might just be on the ground.' 'No, I lost it at school!' 'Ohh,' the big whisper trailed off. Johnny sniffled in full misery as the silence grew. Then he heard sounds from the other side of the wall. Thuds and scraps and scuffles. Then from the high window, the big whisper, a little loader this time, said; 'How big is your hand? Hold it up high, please.' Johnny did as he was asked and held his bare hand up above his head. He had only held it up for a moment when the big whisper said; 'Thank you. Come back tomorrow after school, I should be done by then.' 'With what?' Johnny asked no longer upset and instead curious. 'JOHNNNNNNY?' The boy turned to the sound of his name and saw his mother at the top of the hill. 'You'll see tomorrow,' the big whisper said. 'What will I do about my lost mitten?' Johnny asked, turning back to the window. 'Say that you left the mitten at school.' 'JOHNNY!!!' his mother yelled form the hill. 'COMING, MOMMA' Johnny hollered over his shoulder. To the window he said; 'Thank you.' He started to turn and run up the hill, but then he remembered his manners and said to the window; 'Merry Christmas,...' 'Emma, my name is Emma' 'Merry Christmas, Miss Emma!' Then Johnny ran up the hill to his mother.
"She scolded him for dawdling and shooed him inside. In the commotion of taking off coats and hats and scarves, the missing mitten was forgotten. Johnny finished the day as normal.
"In the morning as he was getting ready to leave for school, his mother asked where his other mitten was. He told her that he had left it at school. She scolded him and told him to be more mindful and not to forget it this time. Then she kissed the top of his head and told him to hurry as he was going to be late. Seeing the time, Johnny ran out of the house. He was in such a hurry that as he ran passed the warehouse and the high window he had no time to stop and chat.
"The school day passed uneventful. The lost mitten was not found, but by the end of the school day Johnny was looking forwards to walking home. He was very curious to see what would happen.
"He rounded the far corner of the warehouse and, as if by magic, a mitten was laying on the ground. This wasn’t an ordinary mitten, though. It was dark red and twice or three times the size of the mitten he had left and was made with big, thick stitches the size of his little finger. He quickly put on the huge mitten and held both of them out to compare. The mitten his mother had knitted fit snuggly and the stitches were shaped like ‘v’s. The new mitten was bulky and a bit loose and it's stitches were shaped more like maybe half a star stacked onto it's neighbor in rows. It was not knitted, that he could tell.
‘Is this for me?’ he asked the high window. ‘Yes. How does it fit?’ asked the big whisper. ‘Fit’s nice! Thank you!’ ‘Good. This one should fit, too,’ and with a thump, a second mitten fell to the ground. ‘Oh, wow!’ Johnny picked up the second mitten and found it to be identical to the first one he found. He put the second one of on and admired his new mittens. They were thicker and warmer than the ones his mother had made. ‘Thank you so much! What kind of Christmas present can I get for you?’ ‘No, no! I made them just to be nice. You don’t need to get me anything.’ ‘But it’s Christmas, Miss! You need a present, too!’ ‘Christmas Miss? That’s very sweet, Johnny. Just be happy- and warm, that’ll be my present.’ ‘Gee, thank you, Miss Emma!’ ‘I like the sound of Christmas Miss’ the big whisper said with a little laugh. ‘Thank you, Christmas Miss and Merry Christmas!’ Johnny said running off up the hill to go home.
“Once inside, he could barely stuff the mittens in his pockets because they were so chunky. Then Johnny forgot all about them. Though he couldn’t stop thinking that Miss Emma, the Christmas Miss, and how she needed a present, too.
"The next day, Johnny wore his new mittens to school and again at recess. All the other kids loved them and wanted a pair for themselves. So Johnny told them all about the Christmas Miss and the huge mittens.
"On his way home, instead of a pair of mittens by the warehouse, Johnny found a hat. It was made of the same yarn as the mittens, same large stitches. Johnny tried it on. It was a little big, but it was warm and cozy. 'Is this for me, Ms. Christmas Miss?' he asked the high window.

'How do you spell your name?' 'J-o-h-n-n-y, John with an extra 'n' and a 'y' at the end? Why do you ask?' 'You'll see tomorrow. Merry Christmas, Johnny.' 'Merry Christmas, Miss Emma? Do you have an extra 'm' in your name, too?' 'Yes.' 'Ok. Merry Christmas, Miss Emmma!'


"When he got home, Johnny hung up the hat with his coat and forgot all about it.
"The next day, Johnny wore his new hat to school. At recess, all the other kids asked him were he got it from. Again, Johnny told them about the huge warehouse.
"On his way home, Johnny was excited to see what he would find today. This time, there was nothing laying on the ground wanting for him. Instead, there was a scarf hanging out of a high window, dangling by one strand of thick yarn. Johnny looked closely at it, a little scared. On the scarf, worked into the pattern was part of his name: J o h n n, all that was missing was the 'y' at the end. He had to jump to reach the scarf and it unraveled a little bit as he grabbed it. Very gently, Johnny pulled on the yarn. He tugged and tugged, but the yarn was stuck fast. Then all of a sudden, the yarn pulled taut and the scarf began to unravel in his hands. He tried to grad hold of the yarn and stop it, but the mittens could not hold the yarn at that speed. Johnny watched, mouth agape, as the 'n' disappered, then the other 'n' and so forth. The scarf grew shorter and shorter until the end of the yarn leaped out of his hands and slithered into that high window out of sight. Johnny was too scared to speak.


"When he got home, his mother could tell that something was bothering Johnny. She asked what was wrong and he told her about the mittens, the hat, and the scarf. She listen as Johnny put the mittens and hat in her hands. She turned them over and over, a frown on her face. Then she told Johnny to go play. This time, though, Johnny did not forget about the scarf. When his father got home, Johnny's mother showed him the hat and the mittens and told him about the scarf. He also had a frown on his face as he listened.
"The next morning Johnny wore his new mittens and hat as he and his parents walked down to the huge warehouse. When they got there, Johnny saw a crowd of people had also walked down to the warehouse. Johnny saw a lot of his classmates and their parents in the crown. When the people saw them, they all came running up to Johnny to look at the mittens and hat. They patted his head and tried on the mittens. Some grown-up frowned when they saw them, just like his parents had. Most of the people just seemed confused.
"Then a man in a soldier's uniform pushed through the crowd to look at the mittens and hat. He also frowned at them. Then the big doors of the warehouse were opened and the soldier asked them inside.
"Inside the warehouse was a giant cage surrounded by more soldiers. Inside the cage was a giantess. She was as big as a house and was huddled in the corner. She looked sad and a little scared. Her bigness scared Johnny at first. He had never seen a real giant in real life. Then he notice her sweater looked funny; it only had one sleeve. Then Johnny realized the yarn for the sweater was the same as his new mittens and hat.
"One of the soldiers standing by the cage was holding the scarf in his hands and he was yelling at the giantess. He wanted to know how had she made them. She spoke very softly, saying she had made a hook with some wire she had found in the wall. They asked her why she didn't use it to pick the lock. She blushed and said she hadn't thought of that. They asked her why she had made the mittens and hat, what secret code was she trying to pass on. She shook her head, saying there was no code. She had made them to entertain herself. Then they asked why had she thrown them out the window. She said that she was afraid she would yet yelled at for making them. This made Johnny sad. He was scared of being yelled at, too.
"As loud and as clear as he could without yelling, Johnny said he really liked the mittens she made, and the hat, too. She smiled from ear to ear and said she was really glad he liked them. Then a kid from Johnny's school asked if she could make him a pair. The giantess blushed again as more and more kids asked for mittens and hats and scarves of their own.
“Then the guards shouted and yelled and pushed Johnny and his family and friends outside and locked the big doors. Then they were told to go home and not bother them any more.
“That night Johnny was sad thinking about the giantess all alone in her cage. He kept thinking about how cold her arm must be. In the morning he asked his mother where the unfinish blanket was, the wavy rainbow one his mother had started crocheting and had never finished. She asked him what he wanted it for and he said he wanted to finish it and give it to the giantess so she could use it as a sleeve. His mother said that that was very thoughtful, but she didn't think the guards would like it. That made Johnny very unhappy. He said it was very mean for the guards to let her arm freeze like that. That made his mother think. After a moment, she nodded and disappeared down into the basement. Before he knew it, she had returned with a wavy, rainbow blanket bundled in her arms. Together, Johnny and his mother worked on the blanket, taking turns crocheting rows. When they were done the sun was setting, but they smiled at each other, proud of their work.
"In the morning, on the way to school, Johnny and his mother carried the blanket down to the warehouse. When they got there a guard was standing outside when there hadn't been one before. He stopped them and asked what business they had there. They showed him the blanket and told him their idea. He frowned as they unfolded it. He looked at the top and he looked at the bottom. He ran his hand over it and when he was finally satisfied, though still frowning, he opened the door for them and spoke to the inside guard. This guard also frowned and asked for the blanket to be unfolded again. He, too, ran his hands over the blanket, looked it over from top to bottom. But instead of walking them up to the cage, the inside guard walked them other to a small building in the corner of the huge room. There they meet with the solider in charge of watching over the giantess. They explained to him

Related Ethnicities

• Giants *WIP*