Gui and the New Years' miracle*
By Audrey Lafourcade
Through this short story, I hope to recreate the magic of the holiday season. It already seems so far away! By following Gui on his epic journey, you are about to embark on a trip to the heart of nature and ancestral traditions. This year, I’ve decided to send you my New Years’ wishes through a beautiful story. The inspiration came to me a few days after Christmas and it was during a discussion with my wonderful grandmother that the tale took its final form. Sitting comfortably by the fire, I asked her about the traditions of yesteryear. She rummaged through the drawers of her memory to find some of the characters in this story. With this short story, it is therefore the family spirit, simple and magical moments, that I hope to convey to you. This little story is also a story of friendship between myself and Olivia Gouguenheim, who signs the illustrations for this little book. With her pretty pencil strokes, the characters took shape. I invite you to discover her world of illustration on her website: www.oliviagouguenheim.com. Finally, Veronica Alba, with her delicate fingers and expert eye, transformed a simple Word document into a real little book. As you can see, these new year wishes are the result of a very personal project, full of important values to help you start off 2020 well. I hope this story will provide you with a welcome break in the rush at the beginning of the year. Happy reading and happy new year! Hope to hear from you soon (by email, no doubt)! Audrey Lafourcade Discover my work here:
And here: www.audreylafourcade.com
* Every New Year since the Middle-Ages, we have gathered “Gui” (Mistletoe in French) to offer it to friends and family with this wish: "With the Mistletoe, the new year", which was later replaced by "Good year, bad year, may God be here" (meaning “May God be in your house”) . In the 19th century, we said "Happy New Year, paradise at the end of your days", and the expression "Happy New Year" finally came into existence in the 20th century.
With the mistletoe, the new year!*
Perched on his poplar, Gui was getting bored... Long gone were the days when people rushed over at New Years to kiss under his leaves. Oh, he loved seeing the familiar parade of heads in January! Sometimes covered with lovingly knitted hats, chic or cheeky ones; sometimes bald heads and sometimes bushy ones… All so different, and yet all equally pleasing to Gui. His annual mission also gave him plenty of time to see how the lives of his visitors changed from year to year. He was able to guess the secret wishes they were coming to make when kissing under his branches. "These guys are hoping for a boy as their third child" thought Gui at the sight of a pregnant couple, "I wish them good luck" . He saw a new family approaching, “These ones are coming for better health” ... Gui, in addition to being gifted with riddles, knew he had the gift of bringing people good luck. Last Christmas, he couldn’t wait to glimpse those recognisable heads and see new little ones with them, after having brought good luck to many couples the previous year. But here he was... Modern life had gradually got in the way, and the number of people coming to make New Years wishes had diminished drastically. Soon everyone would be ringing in the new year, but nobody had come to visit Gui yet. Feeling redundant and lonely had ended up sapping all of his energy. Several times, Gui had wanted to give up and today he felt ready. "It’s over! I’m quitting!, he said to himself. I can't take feeling useless and alone anymore. After centuries of service, I am taking my well deserved retirement!”. Gui had imagined a terrestrial world that was very different from the airy, windy and lonely one that he had known until then: “Once I’m on the ground, I’ll sympathize with the snowdrops, socialise with the daffodils; I’ll bask in the scent of wild strawberries as summer approaches, play with the ladybirds, butterflies and bumblebees and when autumn comes and sheds its leaves, I’ll turn myself into a warm shelter for delicious mushrooms!” . Gui had thought long and hard about how he would leave his tree. His plan was well thought out: he would swing back and forth and left to right, to break the vine that had
tied him to his poplar for so long. Thrown to the ground, its soft leaves would cushion him and he would roll into new adventures. So Gui swung and he swung, with increasing force. As he put all his effort into his movements, he suddenly felt the vine break and set him free. Instead of a rapid descent and a cushioned landing, he flew away, carried by a gust of magic wind. He was spinning on invigorating currents, surfing between the branches of trees he had never seen before. He felt immense joy. He was: “Freeeeeee”! If this was what retirement felt like, he was going to enjoy it a lot! The green, leafy ball had no idea where he was going. Gui relied entirely on the will of the mysterious wind that had released him. He felt so full of glee that no question or doubt could take this moment away from him. After a long winding journey over which he had been able to observe the beauty of the valleys, plains, and villages, the wind dropped and slowed down his course. Gui finally landed in front of a brick building, where a sign above the door said “Endangered Traditions Association" . “How strange!” thought Gui. The powerful blizzard howled one last time and forced open the doors of the intriguing building. With no warning, Gui was hurled inside. Confused and disoriented, when he regained consciousness there were three huge pairs of eyes staring at him.
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- “Who are you?”, a sked Gui. - "We are the esteemed representatives of the "Endangered Traditions Association”, s aid a bearded old man with a quivering voice. - "Yes, well, let's just say that we are a small group of lost or endangered traditions; it’s a little less pompous!”, e xplained an exotic hat with a female voice. - "Welcome, s aid the third member of the group. I'm the skittle. I’m one of the lost traditions, just like old grandpa here, s he said, pointing to her neighbour. I belong to a bygone era, when men who left to do their military service gave me life on the 100th day before the end of their mission. These young men used to carve words into a skittle to symbolise approaching the end of their service. At the time, there were as many skittles as young soldiers. But little by little, this tradition lost its popularity and once military service was no longer compulsory, the skittle completely disappeared. I am the last symbol of this dead tradition”, explained the wooden shape. "I am Father January", continued the man with the long white beard. “Before the arrival of Coca-Cola and Santa Claus, I brought children their new years’ money in January, as my name suggests. They were waiting for me just like they still wait for the fairy to come when they lose a tooth! Oh! It has been a long time since they have waited for me. And as for the red man's sleigh, on the eve of December 24th... I was forced into early retirement! I was always old, I have been for as long as I can remember, but I’m still in good shape! Anyway, after Santa Claus, his reindeer and his elves stole the show from me, I found myself alone for a few years ... And one day, I decided to break free from loneliness and create this association for traditions that had suffered the very same fate. That's how I got to know the skittle”, h e told Gui.
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"As members of the association, we all have to pull together", r etorted the military sculpture. "Yes, well, so to speak, because look at you, you can’t really pull anything… you don’t have any arms!", m uttered the old man with the beard. “And I’m Catherinette!”, the yellow and green hat introduced herself. I haven't quite disappeared yet, but people use me less and less often. My role is to give hope to young ladies who are not married yet. Every year, on the 25th of November in France, 25-year-old girls wear me, a yellow and green hat, as a symbol that they are still single in the hope of attracting a suitor. But, now that the situation is fairly common today, I have been put on hold. I therefore rarely return to service and spend most of my time surrounded by these two. So who are you?” a sked the hat. "My name is Gui! And I am very happy to join your association! Before arriving here, I was hanging on a tree, no longer useful to anyone or for anything." “Why are you saying that?” asked the skittle. “Since the druids declared that I was the shrub of the moon”, a symbol of light and strength, groups of friends, families, and couples came to kiss under my foliage so that I could make their annual wishes come true. My mission was to bring them happiness, s aid Gui, with a quiver in his voice. In recent years, nobody has come to visit me… Not even the most desperate ones... I have been taken over by the Euro-Millions lottery and the rational spirit of our contemporaries. No one wants to rely on a leafy ball for their happiness these days. So let them go elsewhere! I made up my mind and decided to retire! And now, I will be by your side!" "No way Gui!", r etorted Catherinette. In your region, you may have been a little neglected, but that is no reason to give up so quickly!" "She's right, Father January agreed. As long as you have not been clearly replaced by a new habit or your annual day has been removed from the calendar, you are not entitled to drop out of your job. It’s written in the code of ancestral traditions. Do you want to see the article?”, asked the old bearded man. "Think about it Gui!", interrupted with the skittle. At first it will be nice being with us, but you will soon get bored. Believe us, we’re telling you for your own good! Remember those winter days when you made your visitors happy. They may have changed their habits, but humans have always sought happiness. I’m afraid you will never really be retired, little man!”, she laughed. “Haha, for once, the skittle is right!”, joked Father January. "But I have had enough of hanging from this poplar tree for centuries! All I want is to be free!”, rebelled Gui.
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"Wait, I have an idea!, said Catherinette. What if, rather than waiting for people to come to you, you go to meet them and bring them all the happiness they want this year?" "What kind of crazy idea is that, Catherinette?!", demanded Father January. "It's not crazy at all! Gui is full of little branches… they can easily be detached from one another!” “Yes, and so what?”, a sked Gui. She continued: “So we could completely “divide” you in “mini-Gui” so that you’d fly to your recipients! By doing this, you’d no longer be constantly waiting for people to come to you, and you’d regain your motivation of yesteryear by resuming your original mission.” "That's an idea!”, agreed the skittle, seeing Father January approve with a broad smile. "I'm a little skeptical...”, said Gui. "How would I "fly" to these people?" “Oh la la, don’t be so cynical! You asked yourself fewer questions when you flew to us!”, replied Catherinette. "She's right, Gui, s aid Father January. We can always try and if it doesn't work, then you can retire. What do you think?"
Gui, rolled his eyes, let out a long sigh and finally said: “Okay, let's try!”. Not one, not two, but three of his new friends surrounded him to pull on his branches and take these "mini-Guis" down one by one. Little by little, the green ball transformed into a cluster of graceful branches. Gui felt light and free again! In the distance, he heard the blizzard stir. Suddenly the doors of the “Endangered Traditions Association” blew open and a celestial tornado lifted Gui and his little clones into a mighty whirlwind. Caught in this magical current, he disappeared into the night, exclaiming: "Thank you my friends".
- "It's a shame though, I liked Gui a lot!", said the skittle. - "How selfish you can be sometimes,'' grumbled Catherinette. - "I can't wait for military service to be reinstated!", joked Father January, winking at his old friend. THE END
Postcard sent with the book:
Gui ended his journey in this envelope to meet you and bring you good luck in 2020. Give him back his job by sending a kiss to whoever you want with his pretty paper foliage! This short story, like its creation, is the result of many beautiful encounters... Although based in London, I regularly travel to Paris. I hope that this year we will have the opportunity to meet and discuss the great stories that you want to have written in 2020. I wish you a very happy new year! Audrey
Full concept explanations:
I sent my clients and prospects annual good wishes cards. In France, we send New Years cards during the month of January (instead of Christmas cards like in the UK) to wish our recipients a happy new year. To celebrate 2020, I sent them a short story (16 pages, A6 format, printed brochure), accompanied by a postcard and a small branch of “Gui� (mistletoe), to symbolise the main character in my book. The story ends in suspense, letting the readers decide for themselves where Gui is flying to. Well... he flew in the envelope! Gui has come to my readers in the book. He turned into a real, palpable object to bring them happiness. On the postcard, I explain it to my readers in order to ask them to kiss under its paper foliage, so they can carry on the story themselves, giving Gui back his job!