THE PUDDLE PIXIES - A BLUE CHRISTMAS - PART 2

 

‘Father Christmas! Of course!’  smiled Matthew.  ‘He knows all the addresses of all the children in all the wide wide world and the universe and beyond – so he will be delivering to the Smurflings too’.

 

‘Yes’, said Jack, in only two days’ time he will have to deliver to the Smurf Village, and he could drop Papa Smurf home too!  And maybe Lord Merlin will be well enough by then to help with a spell to keep the village safe from intruders!’

 

‘Brilliant’ Matthew nodded, ‘but how can we get him up to Father Christmas?’

 

‘Easy’ said Jack, ‘I’ll just send him a message by Elf-mail’.

 

And he did just that.  Father Christmas’ reply came almost at once:

 

‘Too busy to come at present.  Will send Aerotrain to collect Papa Smurf from the Elder’s house at about ten o’clock on Christmas Eve mornng.  Perhaps you can come too Jack, and all your young friends and relations, it would be good to see them all again, and I could bring you all back again in the Aerotrain behind the sleigh when I deliver the presents.  The Aerotrain has been remagicked, so it can carry any number of passengers now!’

 

‘What a great idea!’ said Jack.  ‘I will send messages to everyone, and you two, Matthew and Luke, can run straight over to the Elder’s house and tell them of our plan!’

 

For the rest of the day, Jack was very busy sending messages; many of them sent on Elf Mail were replied to straight away; but some did not have current Elf Mail addresses, so Jack had to run quickly round to their houses, and soon the list of passengers for the Aerotrain was very long indeed!

 

As well as Jack and Luke, there was Matthew and his sister Caitlin, Joshua, Oliver, Samuel and even little Josie, who had never visited Father Christmas before in his own home, and was very excited.  Kiera-Louize was very happy to join them, though a bit sad that her baby brother Harrison was really too small to come; still, she looked forward to the trip and to seeing her friend Ava again.  Little Leo accepted the invitation too, for Matthew was one of his very best friends, and asked if he could invite his cousins Ellie-Mae and Daisy.  Of course, as Father Christmas mentioned in his reply, it didn’t matter how many young Puddle Pixies wanted to join the trip, for the Aerotrain had recently been magically modified; in fact, when Jack and Luke’s grown-up brother Billy and their cousins Natalie and Alexander heard of the trip, they asked if they could come too to help look after the little ones, there was no problem at all! Matthew hoped their cousins the terrible twins Hannah and Amy would come too, as long as their big sister Sophie came too, to keep them under control!  They got up to such tricks – they were so alike no-one knew which was which, and even when their Mum dressed them differently, they would sneak off to change clothes to fool everyone!

 

At the appointed time on Christmas Eve, a crowd of excited young Puddle Pixies gathered outside the Elder’s house, all wrapped up against the cold.  A watery sun was shining against the misty grey sky, when suddenly the clouds parted – and there were thousands of brightly coloured lights twinkling away merrily in the frosty air.  There was a wonderfully bright flash of gold and silver metal – and there was the Aerotrain!  It was so bright, that it was a moment before the Puddle Pixies noticed that the train was hitched up behind a small sleigh pulled by a reindeer with a glowing red nose – ‘Rudolf!’  cried the children, and as sleigh and train came to a chugging halt beside the Fairpuddle, they saw that Father Christmas himself was driving!  The Elder stepped forward to greet the distinguished visitor, followed closely by Papa Smurf.

 

‘Ho Ho Ho!  It’s good to see you, dear Elder!’

 

‘I thought you might be too busy to come yourself, dear Santa – it’s wonderful to see you.  May I introduce Papa Smurf’.

 

The elderly gentlemen shook hands all round.

 

‘Well I thought you might like to joint us, Elder – three old chaps like us should have a lot to talk about – though as it’s Christmas Eve I might just be a little busy!’

 

And his eyes twinkled merrily as he laughed another booming ‘Ho Ho Ho!.

 

‘Thanks for the offer, Santa, but I am just a little too old to be out and about on such a cold day and night.  I think I must stay here, but I am sure Jack and all these Puddle Pixies will look after Papa Smurf when you are busy.  Now off you go and have a good trip!’

 

And the Elder stood back to watch as all the children piled into the Aerotrain, and fastened their seat belts for the long journey. Papa Smurf sat beside Father Christmas in the sleigh as he explained that he had not come in his best sleigh as it was being prepared for the night ahead, being cleaned and polished and checked for sky-worthiness before being loaded up with the millions and trillions of presents to be delivered that very night.

 

With a last ‘Ho Ho Ho!’ Santa flicked the reins and sleigh and train rose into the air, and flashed across the December sky, already darkening and heavy with more snow.  At last they arrived at Santa’s house.

 

His special Elf, Holly, was waiting for them, anxious to show Father Christmas the progress of the preparations.  A jolly young elf took Rudolf off to be groomed and fed, and Jack, who knew Father Christmas’ home very well indeed now, having visited on several occasions, took the rest of the party for a guided tour of the premises.

 

Most of the toys and gifts were finished and wrapped by now, but there are always last-minute things to do, and Papa Smurf was especially interested in watching the Carpenter Elves putting the finishing touches to some beautifully carved wooden models.  They had been very well taught by Jack’s Grandad the great Carpenter Lou, who now lived in the Happy Land with his sweetheart Rose, but who was also a good friend of Santa.

 

Tour over, Jack led them all to the dining hall, where he knew there was always a constant supply of hot soup and drinks.  They were munching appreciatively on the freshly baked bread, when Santa joined them, and sat down to drink a huge mug of steaming tea.

 

‘Well, boys and girls, and you of course Papa Smurf, I hope you have had an enjoyable day.  When I have finished this, I must leave you and go change into a clean set of warm clothes.  It gets chills on that sleigh!  Jack – you know the ropes, can you give Holly a hand with checking the gifts as they are loaded?  I know you are very good at that!  And when everyone has finished supper, perhaps they can help with the reindeer, or give the Aerotrain a last polish and shine!’

 

Soon, all was ready.  The children took their seats in the Aerotrain, now even shinier and brighter than before, bedecked in wreaths of holly and mistletoe and bright red flowers on every door handle.  How splendid Father Christmas looked in his best Christmas robes, his long curly white beard freshly brushed.  He took his seat in the Christmas Sleigh, and sat Papa Smurf beside him and Jack, covered with a warm blanket.  The elves all lined up to watch their departure, and cheered and waved as Father Christmas clicked the reins and cried: ‘Goodbye my friends.  Now Rudolf, lead on!  Up, Up and Away!’

 

As they rose up, up and away into the wine-dark sky, sprinkled with a million trillion zillion twinkling stars, the young Puddle Pixies gazed wide-eyed in wonder as round the wide wide world and the Universe and beyond they went, stopping to deliver presents at every place where children lived.   At length, when some of the younger Puddle Pixies were nodding their heads sleepily, they arrived at the Smurf Village.  Father Christmas turned to Papa Smurf.

 

‘First we must deliver the gifts to the smurflings, for Christmas is mainly for the children of the world, the Universe, and beyond.’

 

Papa Smurf nodded in agreement, as Santa twitched the reins to prepare the reindeer for landing.

 

But a strange thing happened – they could not enter the village!  It was as if they were bumping up against an invisible wall.

 

‘My goodness, Papa Smurf, your potion must be very strong indeed if even my magic can’t break through!’ said Santa, scratching his beard. As sleigh, Aerotrain and all hung in the cold frosty air.

 

‘Is there any way of contacting Al the Alchemist Smurf to see if he has invented an anti-potion yet?’

 

Papa Smurf shook his head.  Suddenly Jack leaped up from his seat, narrowly avoiding a nasty accident as Santa caught him by the seat of his pants.

 

‘I think we should take another look at Merlin’s spell to see if we can work out what was wrong with it’.

 

And he took out his Pixie Tablet, where he had jotted down the spell exactly as Merlin had given it to the Elder, and read it out once, just in case:.

 

         

                      By holly and by mistletoe

                        May Papa Smurf now homeward go.

                        By snow and ice and frost I shout

                        LET SMURFS IN – KEEP WITCHES OUT!

 

 

 

 Nothing.

 

‘So friends, let us all have a Very Deep Think’.

 

The travellers went silent, all thinking as hard as they could.  No-one was surprised when it was Jack who jumped up so fast that once again Santa had to catch him.

 

‘I see the problem!’ he cried.  ‘It’s obvious when you think about it – look at the last line – it’s all wrong!  Not ALL Witches (nor Goblins come to that) are bad – and there are many bad folk who are not witches or goblins!  So I think the last line should read:

 

                        LET GOOD FOLK IN – KEEP BAD FOLK OUT!

 

‘It’s worth a try’ said Santa ‘If we all say it together, using all the love and goodness in our hearts, maybe, just maybe, it will work!’

 

So, on Father Christmas’ count of three, they all repeated loudly and with as much belief as they could muster:

 

                     

                        BY HOLLY AND BY MISTLETOE

                        MAY PAPA SMURF NOW HOMEWARD GO

                        BY SNOW AND ICE AND FROST WE SHOUT

                        LET GOOD FOLK IN – KEEP BAD FOLK OUT!

 

As the final words died away on the still atmosphere, the air parted before them and the whole procession passed through and landed on the snowy ground near the first Smurfling’s house.

 

It was not long before Father Christmas had completed his deliveries in the Smurf Village, and he walked with Papa Smurf to his own front door.

 

‘Well, it was good to meet you Papa Smurf, we must do it again one day.’

 

Then he handed him a parcel.

 

‘What’s this, Santa?  A present for ME? Surely your presents are for children, not old codgers like me!’

 

‘Presents are for everyone, especially friends – I hope you like it!’

 

With that he walked back to the sleigh, which immediately rose into the cold morning air, all the Puddle Pixies on board waving and calling: ‘Bye Bye Papa Smurf, and Merry Christmas!’

 

Papa Smurf opened his parcel, for it was already Christmas morning.  He was delighted to find the very beautiful carved wooden model of Father Christmas’ house which he had admired back in the workshop.  There was a little note attached, which read:

 

                     

                        A little gift to remind you of your visit to my home.  Merry Christmas love from your friend Father Christmas’.

 

Soon, all the Puddle Pixies were tucked up at home in their own little beds, and Jack once again helped Santa deliver the last of the presents.

 

‘Well, Jack, another good Christmas Eve, thanks to you’ said Father Christmas.

 

‘Now off you go to bed; it’s already Christmas morning!’

 

From his bedroom window, Jack watched the sleigh and Aerotrain until it disappeared behind the wintry moon, and Santa’s final jolly ‘Ho Ho Ho!’ floated away on the North Wind in the slowly brightening snowy skies.  Then he went to bed, happy in the knowledge that, not only would there be a full stocking waiting for him when he got up, but also that the power of love and goodness had triumphed in the end.  He whispered as he closed his sleepy eyes:

 

‘A Merry and Peaceful Christmas everyone!’

 

 

 

 

‘