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- 12/13/2024
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
A Holiday Adventure - 2. A Sort Of Typical Day At The North Pole
The sun shone brightly in the sky, making the North Pole's most populated area sparkle and shimmer because of the pristine snow that covered the roads, sidewalks, and buildings. The entire Elfington City was alive with bustling activity as the inhabitants prepared for the massive Christmas Eve party, the annual musical, and the return of one of their favorite sons.
Two giant billboards were lit with ten thousand bright multi-colored LED lights a piece, one commissioned by Eugene Elfington and his wife, Sable, the mayor and first lady, that read, "Welcome Home, Nicky, and Welcome To Elfington City, Reilly." Sable is Stella Claus' twin sister, and Gene is Kris' best friend from childhood. The second billboard, commissioned by the Elfington City Playhouse, advertised their annual Christmas musical, which this year was Jerry Herman's "Mrs. Santa Claus," with Stella Claus in the title role.
For countless centuries, Winter Wonderland Mountain, located just ten minutes north of town, was home to the Claus and Frost families. They worked together to preserve as much of the land for wildlife as possible and co-created the largest reindeer breeding population in the world.
The Frost women had long since tired of naming their sons Jack, so it was unanimously decided to use the umbrella name, "The House Of Frost."
Leland Frost, the future Wizard of Winter, was overly excited about seeing Nicky and meeting Reilly and planned on surprising Nicky by riding in the sleigh along with his best friend and honorary brother's pet reindeer, Roland, lovingly nicknamed Rollie. The five-foot-eleven, silvery blue-skinned male giggled as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He fumbled with his spiky white hair and dressed in blue jeans, a green puffy-sleeved shirt, and black two-inch-heeled boots.
"Mom, Dad, I'm going over to Papa Kris'."
Leland was about to grab his tan leather jacket when his mom entered the room, posed with her hands on her hips.
"Don't think you're leaving this house until you've cleaned your room and finished the decorations, Leland," Wanda Frost firmly stated.
The matriarch of the Frost family was a force to be reckoned with. Despite being only five-foot-five, the silver-haired Mistress Of Snow could make a body's bones freeze and break to pieces with one puff of her breath and not break a sweat.
"Mom, I'm ninety-nine years old, and…"
"And when you're head of this house, you can do as you please, but until then, you'll get your little butt in gear and finish your chores."
The Frost family created the unique snowflakes that fall every winter and supplied the world with beautiful crystal and glass Christmas ornaments.
"Dad," Leland whined.
Thomas looked up from his newspaper and smiled as he said, "Listen to your mother, son. Believe me, it'll make both our lives more pleasant."
Wanda glared at her husband.
"Tommy, don't make me get the rolling pin, you old coot."
Thomas and Leland cracked up laughing.
"Yes, dear."
*****
Maxwell Icington, the playhouse's stage manager, stood outside the dressing room and knocked on the door.
"Stella, sweetheart, you're needed on stage."
"Be right there, Maxie."
Stella Claus was not the grandmotherly homebody that people think of when picturing Mrs. Santa Claus. She was a hundred-and-fifty-year-old, statuesque, muscle-toned, buxom bombshell with flaming red hair who preferred to wear jeans and slacks for everyday purposes, dressed in glamorous, sparkly gowns for the events, performances, and concerts she attended and gave, and could also walk in seven-inch stiletto heels like they were sneakers. However, she was also a superb actress who, with the help of some stage makeup to tone herself down, a wardrobe consisting of nothing bright or sparkly, and a gray-haired wig, became the quintessential Mrs. Santa Claus.
Sheila Snow walked onto the stage and just about had a heart attack.
"Blitzen, stop eating the scenery."
The reindeer lifted his head, snorted, flicked his tail at the portly woman, and slowly sauntered off as she shooed him with her clipboard.
*****
Leland entered the craft room, created ten uniquely designed snowflakes from a block of slightly softened ice, and tossed them into the air. Then, he kept them stationary by shooting them with a suspended animation ray gun, summoned his ice breath, and blew on the flakes to harden the shapes. He wiggled his fingers, making sparkles appear. The magic surrounding the creations sent them to the replicator machine, where they were sucked into a giant opening in the machine, and a couple minutes later, millions of snowflakes traveled through the vent and were ejected outside from the second opening so gusts of wind could carry them away to decorate the parts of the world experiencing winter.
*****
In the fabled workshop, Kristopher Claus was perched on the edge of his desk, looking at his tablet and chuckling as he watched the classic movie "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." Oh, if they only knew, he thought while shaking his head, twitched his pointed ears, and continued thinking. The idea of a naughty and nice list is so ludicrous. Don't these humans know that there's no way to keep track of anyone's behavior unless that person's on YouTube or one of the social media sites?
Kris closed the electronic device, looked around at the pictures decorating his office, and smiled at the thought of his boy coming home with the man everyone hoped would become his husband. Tears streaked down his cheeks as the love and pride for Nicky swelled in his heart. His son was making history in two different ways. The first was bringing a human to the pole, which hadn't occurred since his ancestors, Kris Kringle Claus and his wife Anna, were rescued from Saibline, the Sorceress of Ice Mountain, by the first Jack Frost. The ice mage entombed the dark mystician in the thickest block of ice he'd ever created. Then Jack used his magic to drop it into the darkest, inaccessible cavern under Ice Mountain. The second was being the first gay Santa in the history of the family lineage.
"Sir, I'm back with the drone, so now we can test it and get the kinks worked out. It's a nice day outside, and I see young Leland's been at work with the snowflakes. I sooo can't wait to see my buddy Nicky again. You know, he kept me from getting into trouble in school when my mouth would run away before my brain could censor what I said."
Like the Frost clan, over time, the Claus clan was able to adapt to the changing times, and they became the craftspeople of a finely tuned operation that seamlessly combined magic and technology. The two-hundred-year-old, six-foot-three, two-hundred-twenty-five pound blonde chuckled at the excited motor mouth green-haired elf, who was perfectly named Gabby Swiftspeech. He was fifth in a lineage of fast-speaking elves.
"Thank you, Gabby. I'll join you shortly."
Kris sat in his leather, heated chair, pulled on his size fourteen black boots, grabbed his red fur coat with white fur lining, and walked outside to watch the testing.
A rumble started. The tremors grew and became so intense that they were felt by the people in Elfington and up on Wonderland Mountain. The quaking was strong enough that Kris and everyone on the mountain had to find shelter when an avalanche threatened to bury them.
"Gabby, please, go see if anyone is hurt or lost. I need to check on the ski lodge and the carnival, then meet with Thomas to see what he might know of this earthquake."
"Yes, sir, Santa. I can't believe how wild that was. I've never felt anything shake my bones like that quake did. Have you? I mean…"
"We'll discuss it later, Gabby. Please, go."
"Will do, I'm gone, sir."
"He means well and has a good heart," Kris said, shaking his head.
A few hours later, Kris and Thomas met over lunch to discuss the possible cause of the Pole's earthquake. What no one knew was the quake did more than shake the ground on which they stood because deep in the caverns of the Ice Mountain, a woman was encased in thick, unbreakable ice. The quake released steam, the ice began to sweat, a crack formed, and behind the shiny sheet, the woman's eyes blinked for the first time in centuries.
Thanks for reading, reacting, and commenting.
Love y'all
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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