Merry Christmas! Enjoy.
We come to a house decorated for Christmas. It is a simple house with candle lights in the windows and a wreath on the door. This is the Bennett house and inside the children of the house, Jamie and Sophie are spying into the living room as their mother prepares for their guests. Jamie holds back his energetic little sister who is all too ready to run in and inspect all the lovely treats being laid out. There are cookies and cakes and exotic treats all set out for little hands to grab.
"Sophie, we have to wait until everyone else gets here, then you can have as many treats as you want."
"Cookies!"
"Jamie, Sophie, shouldn't you be cleaning your rooms?"
"Uh, we finished."
"Jamie."
"Alright, alright. Come on Soph, lets go clean our room."
He drags his sister up to their shared room and starts picking up his clutter until he hears the doorbell ring.
"Oh, Sandy. Its wonderful that you could make it."
Jamie bolts out of his room and down the stairs to his uncle, Sanderson Mansnoozie.
"Uncle Sandy! You made it!" The small man dressed all in yellows and golds gives Jamie a bright grin as he is hugged fiercely. He pats the boy on the back to let him know he wants to say something. When he has enough space he signs to Jamie his own greeting before turning his attention to Sophie, who is just making it to the bottom of the stairs.
"Sandy! Sandy!"
The little man gives the girl a hug when she holds her hands out to him for one, picking her up and spinning around to make her squeal in delight.
"More, more!"
"Alright, I think that's enough, let Sandy come in and relax for a bit I'm sure he's been traveling all day."
Sandy holds up on hand to pause his sister-in-law from closing the door as he goes out and grabs a few boxes to put under the tree. Jamie helps, trying to figure out what each gift is as he helps to place them. He doesn't manage to though before the doorbell is ringing again.
"Jamie could you get the door please?"
"Mo-o-om."
"Jamie, please."
"Fine."
Jamie drags his feet over to the door and opens it to be greeted by the smiling faces of two of his friends, Claude and Caleb.
"Jamie!"
"Claude, Caleb!"
The boys embrace for a short hug before backing away from one another and rushing into the house. Claude and Caleb's parents follow them in and head for the dining and living rooms with their gifts and a casserole dish.
"Janet, Terrell, you made it. Thanks for coming."
The adults begin chatting as the kids settle in around the tree, Uncle Sandy supervising.
The doorbell rings again and The Bennett mother went to answer it, admitting Pippa and her family as well as Cupcake's. The children all join up and begin telling one another what they want for Christmas.
The last people to arrive are Monty's family. When they do Monty joins the children in their corner of the room before all are summoned to the table for dinner. The kids all sit at one end of the table leaving the adults to claim the other half. The meal is jovial and everyone eats their fill. When they finish the children give pleading looks to the adults and they give a collective sigh before being led to the sofas and chairs around the tree.
Before they can grab or open any presents Sandy is motioning to two of the packages he had brought. They were plain simple brown boxes about two feet tall and nine inches square each. With a little help from one of the other adults Sandy has both open and the contents of each pulled out. What was pulled out were two lifelike dolls. One was a ballerina with black hair in loose curls down her back and a high necked green dress with rainbow colored crystals sewn into the skirt and bodice, a stiff tuttu held the skirt up and away from her legs. The other doll was a soldier dressed in golden armor with a golden sword held in a salute. Holding up a finger Sandy lets the children know they need to be patient as he pulls out a golden key. He takes it and sticks it into the back of the ballerina doll. He begins to turn it and wind the doll up before pulling the key out and letting the ballerina doll go. It takes it but a moment before it begins to move and dance around on the floor in front of everyone. While the ballerina dances Sandy begins winding the soldier doll and finishes when the ballerina slows down and then stops. Sandy takes the key from the soldier doll and lets it begin to march around, moving the ballerina from the center of the space.
The children are enchanted by the dolls as they watch them. It was amazing to them and some of the adults were just as impressed. The dolls are quickly put away as the presents are handed out to the children. Jamie is the last one to receive his gift. When he opens it he finds a slightly older style wooden rabbit. Jamie looks it over curiously, studying it. The rabbit is standing on its hind legs, though hunched down, almost like it is sitting on its rump. Its arms are longer than a normal rabbit's giving it a more human appearance. It has a bandoleer strung across its chest and its tall ears are propped up in attention. Jamie turns it over and sees a lever stuck into the rabbit's back, pulling on it he realizes it opens the mouth in front.
"A nutcracker, cool!"
Sandy smiles and nods. The other children all clamber to see the rabbit shaped nutcracker while showing off their own gifts. After another hour the children are ushered out the door by their parents leaving Jamie and Sophie to be sent to bed by their mother.
"Jamie, leave your toy under the tree, it will be there in the morning."
"Alright."
Jamie places the nutcracker under the tree and hurries up the stairs to his room.
Several hours into the night Jamie is awakened by a thud coming from downstairs. Curious, and thinking it might be Santa, Jamie sneaks down the stairs to the living room. Once there he looks around and doesn't notice anything different. At first. Looking around again he sees that a few of the toys under the tree were knocked over, the nutcracker one of them. Jamie walks over and carefully rights the nutcracker and other toys before catching something sliding by the corner of his vision. Jamie turns, his breath coming quickly as he tries to find what had moved. When he finds nothing he calms slightly until he hears the sound of one of the candle jars on the mantle getting bumped before toppling to the ground, it thuds heavily as it hits the carpeted floor. Jamie jumps and looks around, knowing someone or something is in the house.
He starts to edge his way out of the room to get his mom when he feels something wrap around his ankle. Looking down he sees a thin black tendril wrapped around it just before it yanks and pulls him to the ground. As he falls everything around him seems to fall up and get larger. Jamie flips over too look up and sees a dark figure looming over him as he stares up fearfully.
The man gives Jamie a wicked grin as he reaches out for him. The shadow man is interrupted by something striking him on the side of the head. Jamie looks over and sees the nutcracker poised with a boomerang in one hand, another one is caught while Jamie watches.
"Let the kid go Pitch."
"Ah, the rabbit, shouldn't you be cracking nuts?"
The nutcracker growls and launches himself at the shadow man. THe two tumble in front of Jamie and he takes advantage to back away, finally taking in how everything around him has grown massive. The tree towers above everything at impossible heights.
"Woah!"
Jamie turns back to the fight to see that the nutcracker rabbit is losing the fight. Growing concerned he looks around for something he can use to help before his attention is drawn to his feet. He has his slippers on, they were heavy ones, almost like shoes. Not thinking twice he takes off one of them and jumps over to where the two are fighting. He hits the shadowman on the back of the head, distracting him from the fight and allowing the nutcracker to land a sucker punch. The punch knocks the shadow man out and his shadows whisk him away.
With the seeming bad guy gone the nutcracker turns to Jamie and bows to him awkwardly.
"Thank ya mate, that was right good of ya to help mah out there."
"No problem, but why are we so small? I mean me, why am I small?"
The nutcracker looks around at their surroundings and then back at Jamie. "Strewth, that's a bit of a problem there."
Just as the nutcracker is looking around for a solution golden sand drifts by and causes the nutcracker's ears to perk up.
"Sandy!"
Following the sand closely is a man Jamie recognizes.
"Uncle Sandy!"
Sandy nods to Jamie and the nutcracker with a smile. He forms a series of pictures over his head that causes the nutcracker to scowl slightly.
"Must we get his help on this?"
Sandy just nods before turning to Jamie and signing to him with a sleigh with a large man in and pulled by several reindeer.
"Santa Claus?"
Sandy nods and then throws up a handful of golden sand that explodes overhead and showers down on them before forming into a swirling cloud under their feet, lifting the three before flying off. Jamie finds himself blinded by the glowing sand and when his eyes clear he sees naught but the clear winter's sky sprinkled with bright stars. The boy stares in surprise as they fly through the air, both the nutcracker and Sandy watch him with amused smiles before they come up to an impressive wood and ice structure built into the side of a mountain. Jamie was in awe of the building as they flew in nearer to it.
Not long after they reached the balcony and set down Jamie found himself being ushered inside by the nutcracker, they were followed by Sandy, who closed the door after them.
"Is he even going to be back from his rounds yet, its still rather early?"
Finally realizing where they were Jamie is even more awed by the building around them. Before he can say anything though a large furry creature walks into the large parlor they have come into. It garbles out some sort of speech that causes the Nutcracker to turn to it.
"Just let us know when North gets in Phil."
Phil garbles out some more of what Jamie assumes is his language and motions to him. Jamie backs up beside the nutcracker. The rabbit puts a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Just get him something to drink and some cookies."
Phil nods and shambles out of the room while the nutcracker leads Jamie to one of the sofas and then sits down beside him.
"So, what do I call you, cause 'nutcracker' is a bit weird?"
The nutcracker blinks at the boy beside him then grins.
"Aster, but mah friends call me Bunny."
"Aster Bunny? Cool. So who was that guy you were fighting? Are you like a toy brought to life or was it something else?" Jamie would have continued to ramble off questions but Bunny placed a paw over his mouth to silence him.
"That 'guy' I was fighting is the Boogieman, Pitch Black. And I was stuck as a nutcracker because he cursed me. You broke that curse, somehow."
Here Sandy cuts in with a series of pictures that Jamie can't decipher.
"Are ya kiddin' me. That was a cheap trick Sandy."
Sandy just grins, but before more can be said a large booming voice can be heard outside the room. The doors are thrown open and in walks a very large man in a familiar red coat with a long white beard. Jamie's jaw drops.
"Ah, welcome friends." It is then that Santa spots the boy and his eyes widen. "What is child doing here? Bunny!"
"Woah! Hold you nellie North. He only came cause he helped me out with Pitch."
"Pitch!" North's eyes go wide. "How did he do this?"
"Took his slipper and knocked the blighter on the back of the head, gave me the chance to knock him out."
"Aha, well then we must celebrate. I will call others." He holds up a hand for a pause and goes to the door, telling one of the yetis to summon the others before going back and settling in on a large overstuffed chair.
The four chat, Jamie excited over being in the presence of Santa Claus. After a while the door was opened once more, admitting a brightly colored woman covered in feathers.
"Oh Bunny!" The woman charges towards Bunny, who catches her and gives her a reassuring hug.
"Hey there Tooth. Sorry to have worried you."
"Just don't do it again." It is here that the woman notices Jamie, he seems unsure how to take this colorful bird woman. "Oh, who's this?"
"Tooth, this is Jamie. He helped me take out Pitch and broke the curse."
The bird woman is soon launching herself at Jamie and giving him an energetic hug.
"Oh, that's just wonderful. How did you manage that?"
With a smile Jamie regals the bird woman, Tooth, with the tale. By the time he finishes they all hear a raucous from outside the room and all turn to see what is going on. When the door opens it reveals a young boy with white hair and bright blue eyes carrying a crooked staff in one hand. Before he can say anything the others in the room are either laughing out right or fighting to hold back their own laughter. As they all laugh the boy scowls deeply in irritation.
"Oh come on!"
"Jack, oh MiM, what are you wearing mate?"
What Jack was wearing was a blue and pink corseted dress with a stiff tutu holding the skirt out away from his hips. Ribbons and bows decorated the hem and skirt.
"We were supposed to be doing the Nutcracker and I was supposed to be the shepherdess. Why aren't any of you in embarrassing outfits?"
"Uh, mate, we weren't, its not. Oh MiM, Ah can't believe you dressed like that."
Jack just glares at his laughing friends before turning on his heel and stomping out the door, slamming it behind him. Roaring laughter can be heard through the door as the rest of them bust out laughing.
I came up with this after going to see the Nutcracker Ballet and the image of Jack in a tutu was stuck in my head. I screamed to be written.