"What's this, Grandma?" asked Poppy. She and her grandma had been going through the dusty and cavernous-seeming attic. Everywhere there were bits and bobs of interesting things, thought Poppy. There were old outfits that Poppy's grandmother, Elouise, and her mother, Louise, had worn. Poppy asked why she hadn't gotten a chance to wear them. Elouise had gotten quiet and said that it had been a difficult time.
Poppy got quiet herself and went on looking through the boxes. She found some old ornaments that still sparkled, but underneath them was an old advent calendar.
Elouise smiled kindly at Poppy and said, "Why don't you take a look, my love?"
Poppy opened day 1 on the advent calendar and inside was a faint, glowing light.
"What," asked Poppy quietly, "is this?"
The light morphed and a small illusion of a young woman and a baby took shape. The closer Poppy looked, the more like her the two people looked. "Is, is this you, grandma?"
Elouise nodded sagely, "And your mother, as a baby at her first Christmas."
"But, how is this so?"
"Just keep looking at the advent calendar, my love."
Poppy opened day 2 and the same faint, glowing light emanated from the little box. This time, Poppy saw her mother as a toddler, crawling towards some of the same ornaments she'd seen.
"Grandma, what is this advent calendar?"
"I'll tell you when you finish looking through it." Elouise's voice had a bit of a strained tone.
But Poppy decided to continue on. Slowly, as she progressed through the calendar, she saw her mother get older at every subsequent Christmas. When Poppy reached day 16, she noticed her mom had a slight bump on her tummy.
"Oh, I'm here," said Poppy delighted. She looked up at her grandma and Elouise had the same strained look on her face that was in her voice earlier. Poppy looked back at the glowing image and saw that her grandma had the same look on her face in the image that she had on now.
In day 17's image, Poppy was there, but her grandma had retreated somewhat from the visible frame.
As the years progressed, Elouise retreated more until day 24. There, Elouise came back into frame, looking remorseful, but hugging Poppy.
When Poppy opened day 25, it didn't glow. "That's this year," said Poppy quietly. "Mom's 25 Christmas is this year." Poppy looked back at her grandma who had tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for some of your Christmases, Poppy. It has everything to do with my own hang-ups than with you or your mother."
Poppy gently set down the advent calendar, not caring anymore how it came to be, and went and hugged her grandmother.
(Prompt by ChatGPT)
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