THE PUDDLE PIXIES - THE CHRISTMAS TREE FAIRY

It was just over a week before Christmas, and in New Puddlington all the puddles were frozen solid. As the Puddle Pixies would be unable to launch their puddaloes, they had all their ice-skates lined up neatly in the boathouse, ready to put on at short notice, so they could skate over to harvest the rainbows, in the unlikely event of any appearing at this time of year, with Fizzle the Firefighting Dragon standing ready to assist in case of accident.

Snow lay thick on the ground, and in the Dark Dark Forest, plump red berries shone brightly against the deep green leaves of the holly trees. In the branches of the oldest trees, great clumps of mistletoe hung daintily from the branches, their translucent berries gleaming softly like pearls in the last rays of the Winter sunshine.

Jack Puddle Pixie was walking through the forest, keeping to the proper paths as his mother always told him. As usual, he carried his special book in one hand, so he could identify any plant or animal he came across that he did not recognise. In the other hand he carried his magic magnifying glass, the better to study any interesting items he may come across in his travels.

It was already starting to get dark, and Jack’s backpack was already full of an assortment of twigs, leaves and berries and other interesting items that he was going to take home to his Mum so she could make some decorations for the house, as well as some to take to school in the morning to decorate the nursery Christmas tree.

Jack’s little brother Luke and his cousin Matthew were both going to the Christmas party the next day at the Fairpuddle Nursery, and Jack’s Mum Puddle Pixie Jacqui who worked at the school and his Auntie Jessica who was a teacher at the nursery were going early to help the teacher Miss Bathsponge decorate the tree and prepare the food.

When Jack arrived home, Mum was pleased with the things he had found, and when the boys had gone sleepily to bed, she sat at the kitchen table making trimmings for the lovely Christmas Tree that Jack’s Dad had already planted in a large red pot and placed in the nursery room.

In the morning, Jack set off happily to school, waving goodbye to his Mum and Auntie and the two little boys at the nursery door.

Soon the tree was looking splendid. Shiny cones and berries hung on each branch, and some friendly glow-worms had volunteered to light up every branch.

At half past 8, the other little Puddle Pixies began to arrive. Matthew and Luke jumped up and down with excitement as they greeted their friends. Big Thomas and his little brother Samuel were the first to arrive, then Josh followed quickly by little Leo with his Mum Puddle Pixie Katie, her sister Pixie Leprechaun Jamie and her two little girls Ellie-Mae and Daisy. It was Leo’s first Christmas, and he squealed with delight at the sight of the decorated room and the glowing tree. Kiera-Louize and Joshua A would be going to Big School soon, but by then both would have a new brother or sister to introduce to the Nursery. In ran little Ava, clapping her hands in excitement, and pointing at the Christmas fairy sitting smiling right on top of the tree, looking so pretty in her shiny white dress, her dainty wings sparkling in the light of the glow-worms. Baby Josephine was the last to arrive, carried by her Mum.

Luckily, Jack was a Very Special friend of Father Christmas, and had helped him with his deliveries on several occasions, so he had kindly agreed to come to the party and give the little Puddle Pixies an early Christmas present.

When they had all had enough to eat, the nursery teacher, Miss Bathsponge, suddenly called for ‘hush’.

‘Listen, children, I can hear sleigh bells!’ she said.

Sure enough, there was a ringing and a tinkling in the frosty air, and all the children rushed to the big nursery window, just in time to see Father Christmas swoop down in his splendid sleigh to land beside the Fairpuddle.

‘Whoaaa lads’, they heard him cry to the reindeer, as he jumped down and swung a huge exciting-looking sack over his sholder, then tramped across to the Fairpuddle Nursery, his big black boots leaving deep footprints in the freshly fallen snow.

‘Ho Ho Ho’ he laughed, as he sat down on the teacher’s big chair, and gave out gifts to each girl and boy.

Jack and his big brother Billy, Matthew’s sister Caitlin and other friends such as Abby and Izzy, and Sophie with twins Hannah and Amy and Joshua T were there too, as they had been allowed out of school for an hour to greet their old friend Father Christmas. Of course, Jack felt obliged to ask Father Christmas whether he thought he might need his help this year. He replied:

‘Ho ho, Jack my boy, I think, barring accidents, I will be okay this year. I have got a very special friend staying with me until the New Year, and he can do just about ANYTHING! Yes, if any toy gets broken, or goes wrong, Lou will fix it, and if there’s a problem, he’s the man to solve it!’

Jack laughed, for Father Christmas was talking about his Great Grandad Lou, who had gone away to live in the Happy Land with his sweetheart Rose a few months ago.

‘Yes’ he said, ‘You won’t have any bother with Great Grandad there to help’. Then off he went to join the little ones to wave goodbye as Santa’s sleigh rose up up and away into the cold air. The children watched until just a twinkling flurry of snow could be seen, and his final ‘HO HO HO’ faded into the stillness of the pale sky.

The children all went back into the nursery to carry on with the party. Suddenly, Keira-Louize gave a cry and pointed to the Christmas tree. ‘Look’ she shouted ‘the Christmas Tree Fairy has gone!’

The children gasped. ‘She must have fallen off’ said Luke, and Matthew nodded in agreement. They started looking all round the bottom of the tree. The other children started searching too; soon there was nowhere left to look, and sadly, their teacher Miss Bathsponge, said ‘I am afraid someone must have come in and taken her whilte we were waving to Father Christmas’. The children tried to carry on with the party, but it had all been spoiled.

Then suddenly the little Puddle Pixies saw a group of grown-up Puddle Pixies running through the snow past the nursery window. Keira-Louize pointed. ‘Look’ she said, ‘There’s my Dad’. Now, as you may or may not know, Keira-Louize’s Dad is Puddle Pixie Police Officer Tommy. Jack banged on the window calling ‘What’s up?’ PPPC Tommy came to the door, stamping the snow from his boots.

‘There has been a robbery’ he told them. ‘Goodness, that was quick’ said Jack. ‘How did you know the Christmas Tree Fairy has gone missing? Miss Bathsponge hasn’t reported it yet!’. Tommy replied, ‘I know nothing of a missing fairy. All the ice skates at the boathouse have vanished, and the Weather Pixies have said there will probably be rainbows tonight! This is quite unusual at this time of year, and it would be a terrible shame if no-one can skate across the Fairpuddle to gather them!’

Tommy went on :’ Fizzle the Firefighting Dragon thought he saw a strange black cloud over the boathouse where the skates were kept, but he saw no-one going inside. He also heard some cackling laughter, so we can only assume that it was a group of Wicked Witches making trouble. We have run as fast as we can, but we cannot fly through the air!’.

Jack frowned. Then a big smile spread across his face. ‘I know who can help us!’ he said. ‘My old mate Father Christmas!’. Miss Bathsponge replied ‘But he has only just left, and how can we get in touch with with him anyway?’

Jack smiled again, saying, ‘I have his elf-mail address. I will send him a message straight away’. With that, he whipped out his Tablet, and wrote a long letter explaining the situation. In no time at all, the Tablet went ‘PING’ and the reply came ‘ON WAY’. Immediately, there was a flash of light and a flurry of feathery snowflakes, and Father Christmas was in the room with them, looking serious for once.

‘Right, all you Puddle Pixies, get your hats and scarves on, we’re off to catch some thieves!’ Jack looked thoughtful. ‘But how can we possibly catch up with them?’ Father Christmas smiled and pointed through the window. ‘Look’, he said, I have come in my super-speedy sports sleigh. I couldn’t use my best sleigh anyway of course, as it needs to be in tip-top condition for my Christmas Eve duties!’

As the Puddle Pixies looked, they saw a sleek, silvery sleigh, with a full crew of reindeer led, of course, by Rudolph himself, his red nose glowing like a live ember in a Winter bonfire.

Jack said, ‘But we can’t all get in there, it’s even smaller than your best sleigh’ and besides, how will we know where to look?’

‘Get ready quickly, follow me, and you will soon see’, said Santa.

As they stepped outside the door, they saw that Father Christmas had also brought the Aerotrain, joined securely to the back of the sleigh. Some of the little pixies had seen this train before, but still they gazed wide-eyed with wonder at the gleaming steaming engine and its big shiny coaches behind, with plenty of room for them all. And as they all ran to find a seat, they saw another elderly bearded gentleman sitting in the passenger seat alongside Father Christmas in the sleigh. Glimpses of a twinkling blue and white robe could be seen beneath the big furry coat he wore, and a tall hat shimmering with stardust peeped out from under the large warm hood.

Father Christmas explained ‘This is my friend the Lord Merlin, the most magical wizard in the Universe and beyond. He has looked into his magic glass, and has seen some Wicked Witches in their lair, with your stolen skates and Christmas Tree Fairy, and many other things besides. He will know what to do.’

When all were aboard the Aerotrain and safely strapped in, Father Christmas gave the command : ‘Up up and away’, and the sleigh and Aerotrain with all its passengers, rose into the air and was gone.

The Puddle Pixies scarcely had time to look down at the view below, when the Lord Merlin called out : ‘Listen, boys and girls, when I call out NOW, you must all shout together this magic rhyme:

‘Wicked witches you did wrong
Put things back where they belong!’

In no time at all, the sleigh came to rest by the side of a big dark mountain, and the sounds of evil laughter and terrible cackling came from within.

The Lord Merlin turned to the Puddle Pixies and called ‘NOW!’ With one voice, they shouted out the magic spell just as Merlin had taught them. The Great Magician stood up and waved his magic wand. A shower of snow descended on the mountain, and at the same time there was a terrific clap of thunder. A streak of the brightest golden lightning struck the mountain top, and it fell into two halves, each of which crashed to the ground with a fearsome noise, revealing a group of thirteen Wicked Witches sitting round a fire, behind them a huge pile of ice skates and other items, with the Christmas Tree Fairy sitting sadly on top.

The Witches’ cackles turned to screams, as their wickedness was exposed for all to see. They leaped up in horror, as their pile of ill-gotten gains disappeared before their eyes. They reached for their broomsticks to try to escape, but it was no good. The Lord Merlin’s magic was far too strong for them, and they were soon packed off back to the planet to which they had been banished many years before. The Great Magician Merlin uttered another special secret spell to stop them escaping again, and he reduced all their rations to the most boring porridge as a punishment.

The Puddle Pixies cheered, as once again the sleigh and Aerotrain rose high into the dark sky.

Soon they arrived back at the Fairpuddle, and as they slid quietly to a halt on the soft snow, Miss Bathsponge, who had stayed behind to make sure there was no more funny goings-on at the Nursery, rushed up to Father Christmas, crying: ‘Oh thank you so much; I turned my back for a minute to sweep up and when I looked round again, the Fairy was back in her place at the top of the tree!’

Then a group of big Puddle Pixies ran by clutching their skates. Thank you, thank you,’ they cried, as they got ready to gather in the rainbows that they hoped would soon be forming over the puddle.

Santa laughed. : ‘I am glad to be of assistance, but most of the thanks is due to my friend the Lord Merlin. Without his magic, we wouldn’t have known where to go, nor how to get your things back!’ He pointed to the sleigh, but to their astonishment, it was empty! Where the Lord Merlin had been, there only remained a bright sprinkling of stardust.

‘I expect he’s very busy. I will thank him when I next see him. Now I must be off too; lots to do; Christmas is only a week away, and though I am sure your Great Grandad Lou is coping very well without me (and he winked knowingly at Jack) I expect he could do with a break. And now, my dear friends, I see the sun is coming out again and there is a black storm cloud on the horizon – I do believe it’s going to rain – and you know what that means….. ‘RAINBOWS’ all the Puddle Pixies shouted, as the rest of the Puddle Pixies ran off to the puddle to put on their skates, all ready to gather in the Winter rainbow harvest.

The little Puddle Pixies stayed by the nursery to wave Santa and his reindeer off, all safe in the knowledge that soon he would be back, filling their stockings with all the nice things that make for a lovely Christmas.

As the sleigh and the Aerotrain rose into the air, Father Christmas’ jolly voice could be heard : ‘Merry Christmas Puddle Pixies and all the girls and boys in the wide wide world. Merry Christmas’ and they watched until his last HO ho ho…. Faded away on the rising wind.