I remember having had pleasant dreams about preserved fruits and crystallized damsons before I was woken up from my sleep by the soft, penetrating sound of tinkling bells. I was a young squirrel, a dibbun, curled up under my blankets, hiding from winter's cold. I peeked my small, orange head out from beneath my covers and looked all around. It was snowing outside. The snow glistened where it had piled, reflecting the full moon's silver light like tinsel. Gleaming icicles, bathed in a blue sheen, hung decoratively down from the roof. It was quiet. All of the other dibbuns were snoring softly on this typical mid-winters night. Or so I thought.

She must've seen me sit up, because she called out "Nick! Hey, Nick! Did you hear that?" Holly was a squirrel, a little older than me. I looked over at her tiny form timidly. She made me feel awkward.

"Yes," I replied softly, hoping not to wake anybeast else up. "It sounded like bells."

"Yeah," she said back to me. "It did." She jumped out of bed in her oversized nightgown and scurried over to my bed by the window. She looked out across the abbey's glittering, snow covered lawn and towards the large silver moon that was suspended in the center of the black, starless night. The moonlight glimmered festively upon her glistening green eyes and added extra sheen to her red fur.

"What do you suppose it was?" she asked me.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Who in the abbey has got any bells?"

I must've said that a little too loud.

"Hey, keep it down," hissed plum, a small, brown furred dormouse. "I'm tired."

"Sorry, Plum," I said. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Wow!" exclaimed Plum a little bit loudly. He compensated by cupping a paw to his muzzle after he'd spoken. "Did you see that?" he whispered.

I hadn't and, apparently, neither had Holly. She had turned away from the window to look at Plum.

"What plum," she asked.

"The excited mouse ran up to the frosty window and drew a path across the moon with his paw. "I saw something fly across the moon!" he said quietly but excitedly. "Something big!"

"Really?" asked Holly excitedly. "Where is it?" she asked, pressing her tiny face up against the glass.

"I don't know," he said. "I can't see it anymore."

Just then, though, the sound of the bells returned. It was louder. A broken howl echoed through the utter silence of the night. Nobeast except for us must've heard it, though. Nobeast woke up.

"What was that?" I asked.

"It's on the roof!" said Plum in response. "I can see it, can you? It's over by the chimney!"

True enough, something big had landed on the roof of Cavernhole. I could tell because it was the roof with the biggest chimney. Cavernhole was the room with the biggest fireplace in the whole of Redwall.

Intrigued, I hopped out of bed, shivering from head to tail from the cold. My teeth chattered slightly, so I grabbed my blanket and wrapped it around myself until I was nice and toasty warm again.

"Let's go to Cavernhole." Holly suggested. "Maybe, if we're quiet, we might hear whatever it is, walking on the roof."

"Maybe we should go and get the abbot," I suggested. Nobeast was up for that suggestion.

…

Holly and Plum had woken a few of their close friends, telling about what they'd seen and what they'd planned to do. It didn't take a lot of convincing, because dibbuns will do just about anything that might be fun and that they're not supposed to do - including leave the dormitory before morning.

In total, there was six of us – me, Holly and Plum as well as Merry, a vole that wasn't always very nice to me; Jolly, a good natured young hedgehog; and Figgie, an otter with a plump stomach and a love of sweet things just as big.

We crept out of the dormitory without waking anymore dibbuns. The hallways were dim, quiet, cold. Luckily, I had brought along my blanket, because my nightshirt couldn't keep me warm enough. The others were warmed by the exciting prospect of a juvenile adventure. They walked ahead of me, giggling wildly with their paws over their muzzles as they carried out their secretive and clandestine quest.

The halls weren't as dark as they could've been. The moonlight, filtering in through high windows, kept them somewhat light and easily navigable.

"So what do you think is on the roof?" Merry asked.

"It's probably a big bird!" said Holly, opening her arms to depict the grandness of her imagined avian.

"It looked more like a whole lot of birds," corrected Plum, who'd been the only beast to see the mysterious something in flight.

"Birds?" asked Jolly. "Why are we sneaking to Cavernhole to listen to birds?"

"Maybe we can stop by the kitchens and get a snack?" asked Figgie.

"I really think that we ought to go get the abbot," I interjected. "He'll want to-"

"We'd get in trouble!" hissed Merry. "We're not supposed to be up this late. Do you ever use your brain, stupid?"

What Merry said hurt me. What hurt me more was that the others giggled. Holly didn't giggle though. She walked a little more slowly. Soon, she was walking side by side with me.

"Scared?" she asked.

"A little," I admitted. Something about the silence and the bells was off putting.

She grabbed my paw out from beneath my blanket and, smiling, held it in her own. I suddenly felt too warm for the blanket.

We had to pass through the Great hall to get to Cavernhole. At night, empty, it was even grander than it was in the day – scarier, too. Colored light from the stained-glass windows fell down upon out little expeditionary party. The silence was deafening. Holly must've been scarred, because she snuggled really close to me. I chanced to wrap my blanket around her. She didn't object. She looked really pretty drenched in multicolored light. If the others were scared, they didn't show it. They were actually getting fairly raucous and bubbly.

Cavernhole was a dark, dreary place without the fires going. There weren't many windows, so not much moonlight got in here. There were a few candles, though. And even though as dibbuns we weren't allowed to play with fire, we lit some of them anyways. The soft, orange glows made everything feel very cozy.

"Well, what do you hear?" asked Jolly.

Everybeast tilted their heads towards the ceiling strained their ears.

"Nothing," said Figgie after a period of silence. "And I'm still hungry."

"Look."

Plum pointed to a table that rested by the hearth of Cavernhole's enormous fireplace. On it was a big bowl of candied chestnuts and a beaker of cold strawberry fizz. All of the dibbuns except for me and Holly rushed over. There was only one cup, so the other dibbuns passed it around, pouring more strawberry fizz into it as they continually emptied it.

"I wonder who this is for." Jolly said.

"Us, I guess," said Figgie through a mouthful of candied chestnuts.

"This is great!" said Merry. "If we'd gone to get the abbot, then we wouldn't have gotten this." She looked over at me and stuck out her strawberry red tongue.

"Can I talk to you?" Holly asked. "In private?"

I shook my head dumbly and we both, still sharing by my blanket, walked out into the Great Hall.

"What is it?" I asked.

Holly smiled bashfully, her green eyes twinkling. "It's a magical night, isn't it?"

"I guess," I said.

Then, unexpectedly, she leaned over and kissed me on my cheek. I blushed and she giggled, covering her face with her paws.

"Hey, you lot," shouted Merry from Cavernhole. "Come look at what Jolly found. It's a velvety red bag! There are more candied chestnuts in it!"

Holly blushed and ran in to join the others. I slumped down against the wall outside of the door. Despite my earlier uneasiness, tonight felt right. It must've been a special night, indeed.

Suddenly, the giggling in the other room stopped. I smelt soot and there was a lot of stomping. I turned and peeked through the door. My eyes went wide.

There, standing at the fireplace hearth was the strangest creature that I'd ever seen! He was tall and fat and wore a fluffy red jacket and pants that were trimmed with fluffy white stuff. He was mostly furless, but a big, white beard that started right below his coal-black eyes and fell down to his chest. His nose was as big and as red as a beet. The white, curly hair that grew on top of his head was mostly covered by a red hat that looked like a sleeping cap. He laughed, "Ho ho ho!" The strange howl that I'd heard earlier! He was covered head to toe in soot, too. He'd come down the chimney! He'd been on the roof! He was so silly looking that he made me want to giggle. But I didn't.

Where were the others?

I looked at the red, velvety sack that he had slumped over his shoulder. It was wriggling. I could hear the muffled screams of my frantic friends. I gasped. The thing looked at me.

His black eyes met mine. They were wide and emotionless, but a smile crossed his plump, red lips. He put a white gloved finger to them and then put it on the side of his nose. He winked at me and started up the chimney with my screaming friends in tow…

I stared for moment at the hearth – the entrance to the fireplace into which my friends had just vanished along with a big, fat, monstrous…thing! Soot poured down as the fat thing escaped up it. I did the only thing I could do as I felt the culmination of my fear run down my thigh. I screamed.

…

Nobeast believed me, but they couldn't find the others – my friends. I don't think they wanted to believe me. I heard the bells one more time that night. They were accompanied by the broken howl of the strange, fat creature and what I am sure was the screaming of the others.

Eventually, they found Holly. She was horribly mutilated, though, they say. She'd been cut open and stuffed. Her eyes were replaced with two glass marbles and her mouth had been sewn into an unfriendly smile. Curiously, on her left let, there was a tag of sorts. It read:

To: Nick.

From: Santa Clause…