"Thank you. So... Happy Christmas then. And say hello to everyone," Faith replied, then let the phone slip into the pocket of her coat, as she wrapped the woolen fabric closer around her body. It was cold out here, above the sea, the overcast sky promising snow, or rain.

It wasn't entirely unexpected, she mused. The old wood of the pier creaked under the soles of her shoes, as the frothy, wind-whipped sea appearing in the narrow gaps between the dark planks crashed against the structure's tall and sturdy pillars. She started drifting away from her friends the moment she found a new job and left the city months ago, but she thought they would visit for her birthday, and stay over for Christmas...

Apparently they couldn't, none of them. As if the little seaside town where she lived now was on another planet. They invited her to spend the Holidays in the city of course, but she refused. She couldn't imagine leaving the Victorian house she lived in for more than a few hours. Faith knew it was crazy, but she... had fallen in love with it, with the spirit dwelling within its ancient walls. Oh well, if her friends did not want to come, she would spend Christmas alone... No, not alone. She never felt alone in the old house. 

She walked down the abandoned pier lost in thought, observing the giant Ferris wheel of the closed pseudo-Victorian amusement park attracting thousands of tourists each summer. Now it stood still, lifeless, only its white gondolas swang and shivered eerily in the increasing wind whistling through the wheel's iron skeleton. 

Seagulls screeched above her head suddenly, disturbing her train of thought. They struggled against the wind with their snow-white wings, barely avoiding being trashed into the angry waters. The first drops of rain landed on her face just as she reached the tip of the ancient pier. As always, she spread her arms and leaned out above the railing as far as she could, looking transfixed at the heaving sea and the stormy horizon, feeling as if she was flying. The tip of the old pier was the best place in the world.

Faith closed her eyes and offered her face to the freezing rain drops, shivering. As the rain grew heavier she pulled her hood on and ran back towards the beach, a smile spreading on her lips. Soon she would be at home.

🎡🎄🎡

"Caleb, please! Just one ride..." Penelope whined, pulling at the young man's sleeve, her eyes following the brightly illuminated Ferris wheel turning slowly around.

He sighed, holding on to his top hat which threatened to fly away on the increasing wind. Penelope may be the most popular young lady of the town but she was... annoying. He had never given her any reason to think that he was interested in her more than in any other girl, and yet she never left his side when they met their friends. Caleb took a golden watch from the pocket of his frock coat, noticing the first rain drops landing on its glass face reflecting the lights of the giant wheel.

"I'm sorry, Penelope. Not tonight. It's too late, I must finish writing that article by tomorrow morning. George will be happy to go with you," he said, smiling at his friend desperately in love with the beautiful Penelope.

Pouting, the girl let go of his sleeve finally, and laced her arm through George's, who beamed at Caleb.

"All right. But promise me that you'll come for Christmas dinner, my mother..." Penelope insisted.

"I'll... try." Caleb called, already retreating down the pier, the wide coat billowing in the wind around his legs.

He forgot all about Penelope even before he reached the few market stalls huddled on the beach at the foot of the pier. From the glimpses he had been seeing, he was quite sure that it was the other girl's birthday today... 

🎡🎄🎡

Faith ran up the front steps just as the rain turned into a downpour.

"Hello." She greeted the empty house as usual. 

She took her damp coat off and let her bag, full of essays and homeworks to correct during the Holidays drop to the floor. She had two weeks to do that, she would think about them later, Faith mused as she headed towards the sitting room. The house was warm enough but she wanted to lay a fire anyway, she loved the comfort of its flames. Then she would cook and...

She stopped, astonished, in the doorway-- the fire was already burning on the hearth. It wasn't the first time that something strange happened within the walls of this house, but she had never found a fire burning, or an... old-fashioned looking box of chocolates and a single red rose lying on her coffee table.

"Thank you," she whispered to the air surrounding her, heart soaring.

Whoever was doing these things, belonged to her and this house, and even though she could not see him, somehow... he had grown on her during the months she lived here. 

That he was a man, a visitor from some other time and place, was the only thing Faith was sure about. She kept finding evidence-- his things appearing around. A top hat. A bowtie. A pair of gloves. Silver studs. And as Christmas approached, his presence started to feel stronger.

🎡🎄🎡

Caleb did not see the girl but he sensed her presence the moment she entered the drawing room-- the flames on the hearth flickered, following her movements. He smiled as he saw his rose vanish; she found it. 

Just like he kept finding her things around the house, while he kept losing his... It was so... awe inspiring, he mused, closing his hand around a tiny heart shaped earring-- her-- he carried in the pocket of his shirt as a talisman, as he continued to write at his desk by the window. It wasn't an article for the paper he was working on, as he had told Penelope, he finished that this morning. Right now he was working on a book-- ever since this invisible girl entered his life months ago, he was obsessed by the idea of parallel words.

🎡🎄🎡

Faith, having decided not to waste time cooking, made herself a sandwich and took a shower before she returned to the sitting room, two glasses and a bottle of wine in her hands. She shivered, imagining someone's-- his-- cool breath landing on the back of her neck as she sat on the sofa by the fireplace. Grabbing a blanket and settling in one corner, she watched with bated breath as the cushion in the opposite corner shrank under an invisible weight...

"Hmm, hi," she said, pouring out the wine in both the glasses, then reaching for her book.

Faith believed she could hear a low scrape of a pen against a sheet of paper, but nothing else. So, she tried to concentrate on her book, watching as the wine from the second glass vanished as fast as her own.

It was late at night when she woke up briefly in her bed, and fell asleep again immediately, smiling at the handsome young man who brought her there.

Faith was startled awake hours later. She sat up, looking around, but all was quiet. And yet... The weak light of the wintery day was flooding her bedroom and the pillow next to hers looked as if someone had slept on it. No, that's impossible. She could not remember how she got to bed at night but... surely... No. It had only been a dream, she tried to persuade herself, recalling vaguely a handsome face smiling at her in the semi-darkness of the night. 

Shaking her head Faith forced herself out of the bed. It was the twenty-fourth, and she still had to decorate the Christmas tree.