Chapter One

~~~The Dinner Party~~~

"Welcome…Glad you've come…Hello…Welcome…" I stood by the door and greeted our guests. My father, the mayor, had invited some friends and important peoples to join us at our house. It wasn't my idea of "fun", but I had to come, and my uncle was coming. He isn't my true uncle; really a family friend. But he always gave me gifts and sorts from his around the world travels, and supposedly he was going to give me something special since I am now thirteen.

"Clara," My brother, Fritz, (his real name is Fitzgerald, but everyone calls him Fritz or Fitz.) came up to me, "Mother wants you in the kitchen." Excited to leave the uncomfortable duty of manning the door, I quickly gave Fritz the door and rushed to the kitchen.

My mom was putting the finishing touches on the main dish. "Hi, sweetie. Can you help and set up the tables? Remember knifes and spoons on the right, forks on the left. Oh, and napkins under the—"

"I know, Mother." I laughed and took the utensils to the Long Table. It didn't take me long to set it, and all I could do was wait. There were about 100 people all ready here. I honestly didn't want to stay, but Mother said I couldn't go to my room. I had to be "social" according to her. I could have been social at the movies with my best friends, Victoria and Mia, but Mother insisted it would have been rude if I wasn't here so I had to cancel my plans for this boring party. I didn't know any of the kids here, and didn't plan to. Really all I had was Fritz, but he made friends with the important peoples' children quickly leaving me alone. So I sat on a stool near the door and watched the party go on.

"Well you don't seem to be having much fun." A familiar voice said from behind me.

"Uncle!" I exclaimed as I turned around to see the whack-a-doodle with clothes on from different parts of the world. He was wearing a traditional Russian outfit today. "Peculiar, but it fits you." I gave him a once-over and then a hug.

"I've got your present right here." He patted his lumpy satchel.

"Ooo, can I see it now?" I asked anxiously.

"Why are you Russian to see it? Get it Rushin', Russian?" He chuckled at his own joke.

"Yes, very funny, Uncle." I giggled at his silliness.

"Don't worry, dear. I'll present it to you by the end of the night. Now where are your parents?" He asked me.

"Mother's in the kitchen and Father's talking to his boss." I told him. Uncle nodded and headed to the kitchen.

I went back to my stool and watched the party go by. At the end, when all of our guest started to leave, Uncle stood in middle of the Grand Room and said, "Clara Silberhaus, may you please come here?" I ran over in excitement. Fritz came over in curiosity along with my mother and father. Funny how someone could say just your name and everyone comes along anyway. As I stood in front of Uncle, he reached into his satchel and said, "I now present to you, your Christmas gift."

I gasped in excitement before it came out. But when it did, I went from a smile to a frown. In Uncle's hands was a wooden doll with a beard and creepy look on its face. "A Nutcracker Doll? Uncle how young do you think I am? Six? Uncle, I'm thirteen; I don't play with dolls!" I said furiously.

"Clara!" Mother said sternly.

"It's alright, Mona. I figured she would say that." Uncle chuckled.

"Then why did you give me this if you knew I would hate it?" I said, words just spilling out of my mouth.

"Clara, that's enough." Father said angrily.

"Richard, it's fine. Now, Clara. I got it for you because it has something magical about it that you'll understand later." Uncle assured me, and I believed him. Uncle was always a mysterious man, never being in one place for long.

"Hey, where's my present?" Fritz asked.

"Fritz, my boy I'm afraid I don't have anything for you. Nothing really seemed perfect for you. Don't worry, child. I'll for sure get you one later. Alright, Silberhauses. I must go now. It was nice seeing you. Merry Christmas!" Uncle said as he grabbed his coat and silly Russian hat and walked out of the door.

"That Drosselmann is something." Mother shook her head and Mother and Father left to finish cleaning leaving me and a very jealous-looking Fritz.

In one swift motion, Fritz grabbed to nutcracker from my hand. "Hey!" I shouted and chased him. "Give it back!" I finally caught him and grabbed for the head. Fritz held the legs. We yanked back and forth until, pop! The nutcracker's head and body were detached. "See what you did?" I yelled at Fritz.

"If you hadn't pulled on it, it would have been fine!" He yelled back.

"Yeah, well if you hadn't run off with it, we wouldn't be in this situation!" I argued. We kept going back and forth until Mother came back.

"I leave you children alone for one minute…" She shook her head disappointedly as she took the body and head. "Fritz, apologize." She said to him sternly.

"Sorry." He grumbled.

"And Clara, this is nothing a little super glue can't fix." I followed mother to her craft box and watched her as she glued it back together. "See? Good as new." She said. "Now, I know it's Christmas Eve, but no messing with it until tomorrow." She put it under the tree. I got dressed for bed after then. I made sure everyone was sleeping before I headed back to the tree. I sat there, examining it until I finally, fell asleep.

Hope you enjoyed chapter one. This is as accurate as possible considering I just saw the ballet. Good tithing to you were ever you are! Oh, and 24 days 'til Christmas!