Ah, tis the season of
cold days, warm houses, cookie baking and snowman making. The smell of
gingerbread wafts through the air as you begin to descend down the stairs of
your parents’ house. The banister is wrapped in green and red tinsel, tickling
your palm as you hold onto it for safety. You land on the hardwood floor in the
living room, spotting the Christmas tree completely covered in lights, tinsel,
egg baubles, and candy canes of various colors. A smile begins to appear on
your face as you continue on your journey to the kitchen, your festive fluffy
socks sliding across the floor. You hear your mother singing Christmas songs,
and after walking into the kitchen, you see her with her back toward you,
making gingerbread creatu. She hears you walk in and turns around.

“Hey honey, what are
you up to?” She asks, turning back around to continue decorating the cookies.

“Nothing much, mom. I
was just thinking about taking a walk outside and embrace the brisk, winter
air,” you reply in a trance, already beginning to feel the chilly breeze across
your face.

“Alright,” she states,
“But be careful! Make sure you wear a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, and a
winter jacket. Oh, and don’t forget your gloves, hat, scarf and-”

“Mooom,” you whine,
“Stop treating me like I’m a little child! I know how to take care of myself.”

She laughs lightly and
shakes her head, “I just don’t want you to get sick, that’s all.”

You scoff lightly,
roll your eyes, and reassured her, “Don’t worry, mom. I’ll be fine.” You turn
to head back to your room to get dressed, taking extra caution while walking up
the wooden steps in your fluffy socks.

Once you’re finished
getting ready to leave the house, you grab your bad and bid your mother
farewell, to which she shouts, “Make sure you’re back before your father gets
home. He’ll be here around 5.” You look down to the watch on your wrist, seeing
that it’s only 2:30 in the afternoon, and yell back an ‘okay.’ You open the
door and shutting it quickly as to not let in any of the outside air. As you
walk into town, you stuff your hands into your jacket pockets to conserve their
heat.

‘This is my
favorite time of year,’ you think. ‘Decorations, music, people showing
compassion for other people, and best of all, the food!’ You look around at
the snow-covered wreaths hanging off the light poles, the twinkling lights
wrapped around some shops’ welcome signs and the large Christmas tree located
in the center of the town. Looking around, you become aware of how cold you are
getting despite wearing so many layers and go into the closest shop to you.

You end up walking
into a little mom and pop café on the corner of the street, holding the door
open for a lovely elderly couple following just behind you. As you stand in
line, you look at the menu and begin to formulate your order in your head. Once
it’s your turn to order, you approach the counter. Behind it is an old man,
looking to be in his 60s. His black hair is streaked with gray, a small Santa
hat perched at the top. His soft, brown eyes peer over the counter at you,
ready to take your order, pulling a pencil and a paper pad out of his red
apron.

“Welcome to the Sip ‘n
Dip Café, what can I get for ya?” As the man, Charlie his name tag reads,
begins to speak, your order disappears from your head and you stutter, struggling
to remember what it is you wanted.

“Um- I would like a
uh-” You tilt your head back to reread the menu, “I would like a Peppermint Hot
Chocolate, whole milk and extra sugar. Also, erm, could I get a Narwi and a
Uilus gingerbread cookie, please?” ‘You can’t get more festive without the
appropriate gingerbread cookies,’ you thought to yourself.

“Of course,” Charlie
says with a small smile, writing your order down on a small slip of paper,
“Anything else?”

“Nope, that would be
everything,” you reply.

“Your total comes to
125,000 TU,” Charlie states.

You dig into your bag
and pull out your wallet, handing Charlie a 100k and 25k barter token. He opens
the cash register and drops the tokens inside, quickly handing you your
receipt. He puts your order in the kitchen’s window and moves to take the next
person’s order. Once your order is called from the back, Charlie grabs it and
places it on the counter in front of you.

“Enjoy your food and
happy holidays!” Charlie says, then goes back to his post at the cash register.

“Yeah, uh, you too!”
You exclaim, walking away, wondering whether you just wished him happy holidays
or to enjoy his food (the latter would be embarrassing). You snort to yourself
and take a seat at a tiny table at the front of the small café. You take a sip
from your hot chocolate and take off the lid, breaking off pieces of
gingerbread to dip into your drink.

You people-watch out
the front window as you begin to finish off your food, seeing many people
bustling about with many large bags, presumably Christmas presents for their
loved ones. As you continue to gaze out the window, you see a woman walk into
the cafe, a daily newspaper in her hand. As she goes to throw the newspaper
away in the trash can, which happens to be beside your table, you interrupt
her. “Excuse me,” you speak lightly, “Would you mind if I took that newspaper
to read?”

“I wouldn’t mind at
all, here you go,” she replies, handing you the slightly used newspaper. You
thank her and unfold the newspaper, reading the front page: ARE YOU READY FOR
THE HUNT? As you continue reading the article, you find out that Uilus, Narwi
and Divuin eggs are soon ready to be gathered. You flip through the pages of
the newspaper, skipping over the ‘For Sale’ page and going straight toward the
‘Activities’ section. You love participating in community events, especially
when it helps to spread joy and love to others.

While reading over the
page, you see a big advertisement for a Secret Santa that’s happening in your
area throughout the month of December, with prizes given out on December 31, 2019. In the article, there’s also a questionnaire to fill out,
which will help your Secret Santa figure out what you might be interested in.
The form is as follows:

What tier would you like
to participate in (see below):

Favorite Colors:

Favorite Creatus
(including retired):

Favorite items (including
CS):

Favorite Creatu Effects:

Do you like art? If so,
what kind:

What is your favorite part
about the holidays?

 After the form is
filled out, the directions in the article tell you to post the answers to the
questionnaire on the Secret Santa forum page located under the user contest
section of the online forums. You decide that you want to participate in the
event and close the newspaper back up, sticking it inside your bag. Noticing
that you had finished your food, you throw your trash away and begin to head
back home, seeing as how your father will be home in half an hour.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1. All gifts for Secret Santa will be given out on December 31st at the LATEST.

2. Tiers: there will be 5 different tiers that you can choose to participate in:

Tier 1: up to 25m

Tier 2: up to 50m

Tier 3: up to 100m

Tier 4: up to 150m

Tier 5: up to 200m

Please try not to spend more than the limit on the tier.

Additionally, you will only have the potential to gift people in the same tier as you. For example, someone in tier 1 will be given someone else in tier 1 to get a present for.

Please only select one tier! We cannot put a name in more than one tier.

3. If you would like to participate in a tier/higher tier but don't believe you have enough TU, please contact Illuminati or Sliced and they will help you out the best they can.

4. If the questionnaire of the person you get doesn't help you much, you can rmail Illuminati or Sliced and they will provide some assistance.

5. If you would like your present(s) to be sent anonymously, please send your present(s) to Illuminati or Sliced and send them a rmail with who the gift(s) are for so they can send them out for you.

6. Please try to fill the questionnaire out as best as you can! (The more interests/details you add on the questionnaire, the better it helps the gift-er out!)

7. WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING PARTICIPANTS!

Current Secret Santa Participants:

Tier 1:

BoredDragon

NightMareMoonvsLuna

Crisis

RivenRoo

Aneleh

Wolves_Byte23

Tier 2:

Rosette

DreamsAwake

Koopa

Trenthepunkid

Tier 3:

SecretsoftheShadows

Wanderland

Chaos

Athena

Tier 4:

Gozaimasu

Antiarctic

Pegasus

Spider

Tier 5:

SchemesandDreams

Heaven

Lilith

What tier would you like
to participate in (see below): Tier 4 (if I end up alone in this tier, just bump me down to 3)

Favorite Colors: black, ginger, magenta, indigo, Amber, rose 

Favorite Creatus
(including retired): Ahea, quelis, gondra, shaefu, jahra, cyid, tesuri, kayoki, otachie.

Favorite items (including
CS): I looove HA items. I like add-ons a lot.  Lately I've had my eye on a butterfly veil. I also like wigs, jewelry, and wings. (tle="A list of HA items I own" target="">A list of HA items I own) Name tags are always good to have too :)

Favorite Creatu Effects: Reiflem stardust, and I LOVE blessed Ahea, malal, kayoki, and otachie.

Do you like art? If so,
what kind: yes! Digital is my favorite. I love artwork of my HA, my favorite creatu (profile section of my SR), and Pokemon! 

What is your favorite part
about the holidays? I love holiday music, lights, and snow :)