THE PUDDLE PIXIES - JACK SAVES CHRISTMAS

It was December, and all over the world folk were getting ready for Christmas.

In his faraway land, Father Christmas was beginning to get a bit worried, because many of his elves had gone down with a nasty bout of Elf Flu, and were sniffing and sneezing all over the place. Some had taken to their beds, and lay there feeling very sorry for themselves, unable to work. The result of this was that the very important work of preparing the toys and gifts for all the children of the world was falling behind, and Father Christmas was very afraid things would not be ready in time.

As he sat, head in hands drinking a cup of hot chocolate, wondering what to do, suddenly he heard a little ‘ching’, and his shiny new computer popped up with a message :

YOU’VE GOT ELF-MAIL

It was a message from his old friend Jack Puddle Pixie, wishing him a Very Merry Christmas. Father Christmas sat up, put down his hot chocolate, and stroked his beard.‘That’s it’ He cried. ‘I’ll get Jack Puddle Pixie to help me – he was so good the last time we met, I am sure he’ll get the workshops up and running in time for Christmas! He jumped up, pulled on his thickest red coat, and called out to the Elf Reindeer Keeper : ‘Elfred, get Rudolf hitched up to my Sports Sleigh. We have a job to do!

Ten minutes later, Rudolf was pawing the ground, anxious to be off. Father Christmas jumped in, picked up the reins and with a toss of his fine winter antlers, Rudolf rose into the sky, with Santa laughing all the way to New Puddlington.

Now, it had been a very wet Autumn in New Puddlington. In fact, it had rained so hard and so often, all the puddles had flooded and the earth was very wet. Of course the Puddle Pixies didn’t mind this, as they love to swim and play in the water. Now, Winter had come, and a thick blanket of snow covered all the land and hid the frozen puddles from sight, so you could not see what was land and what was puddle.

As New Puddlington came into view, Rudolf pointed his head downwards and gracefully came into land near what he hoped was Jack’s cottage, although it was difficult to see because of the snow. Father Christmas and his sleigh followed smoothly behind. Bump..bump..bump….and they had landed on velvety unbroken snow.

Father Christmas leapt out and unbridled Rudolf, so he could have a wander about while Santa went to find Jack. Santa strode off in what he thought was the right direction, resplendent in his warm red robes, big boots and furry hat. Rudolf spotted his old friend the Big Red Fox, and trotted over to have a chat with him.
Suddenly there was a loud CRACK, and Santa disappeared slowly from view. Of course, they had landed on the frozen puddle and Santa had fallen through into the freezing water. Even his magic was frozen, and he could not get out. ‘Help, help’
He called, splashing and flailing his arms.

Rudolf heard the commotion and just did not know what to do. Then he remembered Jack, and cantered off to his house, knocking on the door with his antlers. ‘Jack Jack, Father Christmas needs your help’.

Jack was just waking up in his cosy bed, stretching and yawning. He opened the door and stared in surprise at the panting red-nosed reindeer standing there shaking the snow off his coat. Rudolf explained the problem, and told Jack to jump on his back so he could take him quickly to Santa. When they arrived at the puddle, they could see Santa waving his arms and shouting ‘help help!’

When he saw Jack he said : ‘Please help me Jack. I cant swim because my clothes are so heavy and waterlogged, and my magic is frozen solid!’

Now, of course, all Puddle Pixies learn to swim almost before they can walk, but Jack, being special, and not quite as agile as most pixies, had only recently taken lessons, and he was not at all sure he could manage to swim in such deep water. However, on seeing his old friend in trouble, he jumped straight in, swam across and grabbed hold of the hood on Santa’s coat, pulling him to the surface and towing him back to the bank.

By this time, a whole crowd of Puddle Pixies had gathered to watch, and they all clapped and cheered as brave Jack pulled Santa out. He took him home to his house, where his mother made them both a hot cup of camomile tea, and took a drink of water and a large carrot out to Rudolf, waiting patiently in the snow.

When Santa was warm and dry, he thanked Jack over and over again for saving him. Then he said : ‘I have another favour to ask you Jack. We are getting very behind with our preparations for Christmas, because many of the elves have got Elf Flu, so I was wondering if you could come back with me for a few days and help out like you did before. You were so efficient then, all the toys were made and delivered on time, and no child was disappointed. I am very much afraid if we don’t get your help, there will be no toys for some children this Christmas’.

Jack patted his friend on the back and said : ‘Of course I will come with you. I really enjoyed my stay with you before, and I can’t wait to start. That’s if Mum says it is ok’.

Mum smiled and nodded, and soon Santa and Jack were wrapped warmly in soft blankets in the sleigh, whizzing through the starry snowy skies, with Rudolf’s red nose shining brightly to lead the way.

And so, as before, Jack took charge of the workshops, sorted out all the lists of gifts and supervised the packing. On Christmas Eve, he made sure there was a gift for every child in the whole wide wide world packed safely into the special Christmas sleigh. Then he took his leave of all his elf friends while Santa was hitching up all the eight reindeer, and climbed in beside Santa. With a flick of the reins up up they rose once again into the starry sky, and Jack remembered the poem his Mum read to him every year ‘Twas the night before Christmas…..’ and felt a little sad that he was not with her to do so tonight.

Eventually they delivered all the gifts, and arrived at Jack’s puddle, and after a big hug, he watched the sleigh fly high into the air, fly three times round the house and disappear with a wave of his hand into the cold and frosty night air. Jack’s Mum and Dad gave him a lovely big hug and put him to bed. Mum kissed him and, even though it was so late, read his favourite Christmas story before settling him down to sleep.

In the morning, Jack opened one eye and peeped out to look at his stocking hanging on the fireplace. Yes it was bulging with goodies. Santa had brought his gifts while he was asleep. The family all smiled

Jack truly had saved Christmas.