Bizaar Case of Christmas Dermatitis

A women grows up with the weirdest case of dermatitis that happens every Christmas Eve, it gets weirder when she discovers what causes it and leads to a world of Fairy's and Elves.

The Bizaar Case of Christmas Dermatitis

By K.Herzog

 

As soon as Tara hit puberty her body was doing strange things that weren’t common.  She would wake up throughout the night with the feeling of tiny insects moving on her nose.  It was the strangest thing as it was only at Christmas Eve.  Tara was pretty certain this was not a symptom of puberty as none of the lectures in school mentioned it, and no one else made reference to it.

 

This strange symptom continued right into adulthood.

 

‘This is not a normal part of puberty.’

 

Tara would stand in her traditional blue and white stripped men’s pyjama’s in front of the bathroom mirror.  She didn’t like women’s night clothes, they were too ‘girly’ and ‘floral’ for her.  Standing in the mirror, Tara would rub the ridge of her freckled, round tipped, up turned nose.  Her curiosity as to what was causing the crawling sensation as Christmas Eve was increasing.

 

“Tara…. Christmas presents!”

 

Her sister cried out from the living room.  Tara cringed as she wishes people would just come up and talk to her, not yell from miles away, in another room, communicating through walls and doors.  She brushed her teeth really quick, put the odd, annual event in the back of her mind and made her way to the living room.

 

Christmas and New year’s passed, Tara enrolled to study landscape drawing.  While doing this she also made it her mission to solve her weird life-long problem.  Tara saw the family doctor who was baffled and didn’t know what to do.  The short, blonde haired lady scratched her head, pushed the thick black rimmed glasses onto her head and scribbled out a referral.  Tara couldn’t understand what the doctor was saying as the GP smiled, and referred her to a psychologist.  After a year of visits her Psychologist helped with other issues but the silver haired, deep voiced Psychologist finally decide he couldn't solve her unusual problem.

 

“I’m sorry Tara…. I’d say see your GP bout that…but you already did, hence why you’re here.  I think you’re going to be fine with everything else, you have a healthy positive attitude to life but this problem of yours is up to a dermatologist.”

 

That was the last appointment Tara had with her psychologist.  She looked forward to their Friday sessions but realised it wasn’t helping her baffling ‘Yule-Tide’ condition and so decide to move on.

 

During her last year of studying, after a period of e-mails and phone calls between revision she finally made a break through and heard back from a team of professors, a sleep therapist, dermatologist and neurologist.  They heard of her case and looked forward to the challenge.  That year was spent getting ready for Christmas Eve.  Their laboratory was closed over Christmas so they lend Tara equipment and trained her on how to use it and record the information.

 

After that appointment Tara would fiddle with the lap top along with the wiry attachments.  There was a series of wires that would plug into the lap top, they had sticky, metallic pads, remind Tara of flexible fridge magnets.  Tara would attach them to her face like a test subject in a hospital.  The camera was set right by her face on her bed side table.  Tara felt weird with the wires attached and the camera watching but all up, she was ready.

 

Christmas Eve came and she had the special cameras angled at her nose, wires attached from her laptop to her scalp.  It was hard to sleep like that but she did and it happened again!  Tara was too excited when she woke up and couldn't wait until morning so she looked at the video recording, zoomed in on her nose and got a shock.

 

"No way. No waaaay!"

 

Tiny, ant sized people in red and green clothes, pointy beanies and 'Vulcan ears' were using Tara's nose for a skate ramp. Looking like characters from a children's Christmas book, they were happily skating up and down causing Tara's nose to twitch.  She could see them on her desk now, crowding around the mouse pas by her right wrist, staring up at her.  Tara pointed the camera at the tiny people so she could get a good view on the laptop.  Sure enough she wasn’t imagining things, despite rubbing her eyes as if to wake up it was clear as day.  Tara knew it wasn’t ‘her mind playing tricks’ because those sort of hallucinations last a split second, she hadn’t taken any medication, didn’t drink alcohol and wasn’t’ into drugs.  Despite the mind blowing discovery, Tara kept calm and tried to deal with the situation as best as possible.  She plugged in a microphone to the laptop and placed it near the crowed of tiny Elves and they pushed their reluctant leader towards it and he talked into it.

 

"We are Santa's little Elves and we need your help."

 

She scratched her head and sat on her chair.

 

"What?  But I thought Santa's Elves were a bit taller."

 

The Elves laughed at the misperception and it broke the tension between Tara and the Elvish leader.  He smiled and took off his pointy beany, revealing a head of neck length, straight brown hair.  Tara noticed they looked just like Caucasian people only tiny and with pointy ears.  Their clothing looked medieval, like from the illustrations on Vikings and Saxons that Tara glanced at.  Their colours were stereotypically Christmas.

 

"Us Elves come in various categories...and size.  From the tiny like us to the height like in the story you humans like, called ‘Lord of the Rings’."

 

Tara was baffled at their knowledge of popular culture.

 

"You've seen 'Lord of the Rings'?"

 

"No... we don't get out much. The other 364 days in the year we roam about your house and garden but we can't go far."

 

Tara nearly got lost in conversation.

 

"What are you doing on my nose every Christmas Eve!?"

 

She raised her voice and the Elves cowered.

 

"Please, not so loud."

 

The leader pleaded as he put his pointy, green beany back on.

 

"I'm sorry."

 

"We gather together on your nose in the hope Santa will come back for us...we get bored so we've been using your nose ad a skateboard ramp."

 

“You have a really cute nose; it makes a lovely skate board ramp!”

 

Spoke up a female Elf with long, silky, white hair.  She spoke up with enthusiasm but then cowered beside their leader.  Tara suspected they were a couple.  The Elves were still a bit wary of Tara and weren’t sure if she would help the Elves or be offended at them using her face as a recreation park.

 

‘My body’s an amusement park…. didn’t think it would be this kind of amusement.’

 

She thought to herself.

 

Tara's conversation went on until dawn.  The moment the conversation dwindled she destroyed the video evidence as she wasn't sure what would happen if society discovered these fragile, tiny humanoids.

 

Christmas break finished and Tara reported back to the team of specialist.

 

"I'm sorry I feel like I've waisted your time but last Christmas eve nothing happened."

 

Naturally the doctors were disappointed but not angry as Tara paid a hefty fee, specialist aren't cheap.

 

Tara continued to study landscape design and every Christmas Eve the tiny Elves skate up and down her nose with cheers of fun and amusement.  She'd wake up to converse with them, learning about the Fey Folk, Santa Clause, Yule and Elf land.

 

The last year of Tara's certificate was up, graduating with flying colours approaching with a working trip to Holland.  She sat in her comfy desk chair, spinning around feeling relieved her studies were over, all that hard work on assessments paid off and through networking she found a position overseas.  This was all very exciting for Tara as the job was in Holland but it made her realise something else.

 

“Holland...oh, Elf land?"

 

She thought as she hopped off her desk chair over to her small bookshelf which was right next to her desk.  Tara pulled out and opened an old book.  Opening it up and reading the section on Fairy’s and Elves she figured out, according to the book, Elf land is bordering on the Holland and Germany.

 

Next Christmas Eve would be her last with the Elves using her nose for a skateboard ramp.

 

"Good news, you're going home!"

 

The microscopic humanoids squealed in delight.

 

Tara explained her career opportunity and how she always wanted the experience of living and working overseas.  She also explained that their ancestral homeland is conveniently where she is moving to.  Originally the Elves wanted to go back to the North Pole and work with Santa but they’ve done enough work, Santa already has plenty of help so they felt it was best to get on with their lives and go home.

 

Time came and Tara was well and truly settled in Holland.  First time off work she walked to a Forrest in Eastern Holland near Germany.

 

"That's it little people.  This would be your home."

 

They cheered with joy as they gathered on Tara’s golden, blonde head, jumped off her nose onto the nearest tree, crawled down its trunk to the ground and beckoned her to kneel closer to the ground as they shouted in her ear on rehearsed unison.

 

"Good bye Tara.  We'll miss using your nose as a skateboard ramp!"

 

She stood up and laughed her ladylike laugh as she wiped away a tear of joy for them but sadness for her.  She'll miss her tiny, red and green, pointy eared friends.  Tara walked away happy that they’ve gone home safely and filled with wonder as this experience has opened a new door in her life.

 

“Huh…. Elves are real.”

 

She said to herself as she walked through the greenest countryside she’d ever seen.