Page 25 of Under The Meh-stletoe

"Uhm… Christmas… magic?" She gave me a panicked look and I smirked. "Well. When is the competition starting?"

I checked my watch. We were on time. "You call the competitors up. I'll organize them."

Coffee still in hand, she grabbed the mic from the table and started the show.

"Cookie Cooks, come up one by one!"

The crowd cheered as the competitors approached the gazebo; Ale asked for their name and invited them to line up next to the table. I uncovered the cookies and guided them all on where exactly to stand.

Ale introduced Leslie and Sebastián as the judges.

"Are you judging, too?" One of the participants asked me.

I shook my head. "Nope. It would ruin the system."

Not to say anything about ruining my appetite with so much sugar.

"You could replace me." Ale asked as she approached.

"Why would I want to do that?" I whispered as Leslie and Sebastián began stuffing their bodies with Christmas cookies. "Besides, you just announced you'd be the third judge."

"Fine. Will you be the MC then?"

I rolled my eyes like it cost me to be the MC, but took the mic from her.

I spoke in a monotonous voice. "Cheer and joy. Cookies are great. Once we have a winner, you'll get one to share."

I did nothing to put excitement into it. In fact, I was certain the words dripped with boredom and antagonism. I got a few side eyes from the participants, but Ale laughed.

"You're terrible. Give that to me." She took the mic again and went on to interview the participants, while Leslie and Sebastián continued to taste the cookies. For the next several minutes, the contestants told us about their favorite seasonal memories.

I limited myself to hovering with arms crossed and, a little while later, holding Ale's coffee for her. It still warmed my hand when Leslie and Sebastián approached us to discuss the winner. We moved to the back of the gazebo for privacy as we heard their opinion.

"Totally," Ale said. "I'm on board. Sounds like a unanimous decision!"

I snorted; she'd managed to not taste a single cookie and kept the whole competition moving along. Just my kind of people, but she did it with a smile.

"Let's give them their prize." I nodded at her.

Ale asked the participants to stand behind their cookies; I joined her at the front of the platform, with Leslie and Sebastián.

"Will you do the honors, little person? Stand in front of the winning cookies." Ale gave Sebastián a gentle push, and he jumped to stand in front of one of them.

"Carol wins this year's cookie competition!" Ale exclaimed.

Attendants clapped and cheered; Carol smiled and applauded in excitement. Ale asked Leslie to talk about what made Carol the winner; the latter talked about balance of spices and flavor, plus great decoration, while I grabbed the prize: a framed painting of mistletoe by the school kids, with a drawn banner reading, WINNER.

Carol displayed the award to everyone on the square; they continued to clap as the other participants began distributing the cookies among the crowd.

I turned the mic off. With everyone sharing in the cookies, the event would end soon.

"Why mistletoe?" Ale got her coffee back and sipped from it.

She and I stood to the side of the platform, where the stairs and main pillars met. Leslie and Sebastián chatted with Carol next to us, while everyone else mingled and enjoyed their sweets.

"Who knows," I replied. "The kids come up with this stuff. Mistletoe is a pest. And people think it's romantic? As if."

She chuckled. "I thought the tradition with mistletoe is about… erm… fecundity."