I so would have had this up sooner but I kept getting distracted because I had to write a chapter for my other Christmas story and now the Wizard of Oz is on and its like...Wizard of Oz! How could that not distract you? I like the ballerina munchkins:3 AND SCARECROW! Cause he's like.. So awesome! But I feel so sorry for him cause he can't scare crows and he has no brain! And it must suck so bad for tin man to not have a heart..I mean like, how would he fangirl with no feels? I'm not the only one who thinks like this am I? Is it just me? Okay:/
Oh and you know how people say how everything just appears when your mum finds it, well I never believed that until today! I've been looking for my favourite top for like, three months and she just FINDS IT IN 5 MINUTES?! WHAT?! Just- WHAT?!
*Sigh* Welp...You guys didn't click on this to read about my thoughts of Wizard of Oz or about my mum's magical powers in which she can bring-forth objects that have retired to the island of lost things, no you came to read about a Nutcracker.. But when I put it like that, it doesn't sound too good, does it? Hmph.
OH! And before I forget! The Nutcracker is gonna be called Jay but it's James! If you've seen any Nutcracker movies, you know why I had to call him Jay!
OH OH OH! Aaaaaaaaaaaaand...Thank you all for the lovely reviews! I love them all:D And sorry if there are any mistakes...I was too lazy to read through it!
Anyway, on with the chapter...
…
Logan couldn't understand why he felt such an attachment to the Nutcracker, why he felt so dazzled by the wooden man and why he loved him so much. He couldn't explain it even to himself. This Nutcracker seemed different to most. Of course, it was dressed in the same red jacket with the gold press buttons and blue pants, not forgetting the tall hat on his head, covering his brown painted hair and the sword on his belt. It lacked the moustache that nearly all of the Nutcracker's have and his cheeks were as rosy as his jacket. Logan believed he looked more like a prince than he did a royal guard.
"He's amazing." Logan said more to himself that his aunt. He lifted the Nutcracker's right arm which opened his mouth wide enough to squeeze a nut inside. "Thank you so much Aunt Nicole!" He exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. She laughed and patted him on the back.
"I knew you would like him!" She said, pulling away from the hug. "As soon as I saw him I just had to get him for you!"
Logan was beaming, he couldn't really explain why he loved his present so much. But he did. It was possibly the best present he has received. "Thank you. Really, thank you! He's amazing."
Nicole smiled before grabbing a walnut from the bowl on the coffee table. "Want to try him out?"
Logan laughed but took the walnut from her hand before lifting his Nutcracker's arm and slipping the walnut into his mouth.He pulled the arm back and to his side and the walnut was successfully crushed. Using one hand, he picked up all the pieces that fell on his lap and put them back in the bowl with a laugh. He loved his Nutcracker.
"Thank you." Logan whispered, bring the Nutcracker to his chest and holding him with both hands.
"I wanna see!" Donovan pretty much yelled, getting up from where he sat on the floor and running over to his big brother. "Let me see!"
"No!" Logan yelled. "You'll break him!"
"No I won't, I promise!" He reached for the Nutcracker but Logan wrenched away, holding him to his chest tighter.
"Why do you even care?"
"Because it looks cool! It just crushed that walnut into pieces!" He exclaimed, pointing at the bowl with the crushed walnut. "Let me see it!"
"Him! Not it! Him!" Logan told his annoying brother. How dare he call his Nutcracker a it!
"Stop being such a girl and let me see!" Donovan grabbed the Nutcracker's arm and pulled, trying to get it out of Logan's grip.
"Let go! You'll break him!" Logan shouted, trying to slap his brother's hands away.
"Boys!" Aunt Nicole said but it was clear she didn't really know what to do. She was never good with fighting children. Even if one of those children was practically an adult now. "Stop fighting!
"Just let me play with it!" Donovan shouted, pulling harder on the arm.
"He's not a toy!" And then...
Snap!
Donovan let go of the Nutcracker then and is eyes widened as Logan looked down at his Nutcracker's limp arm. He held the arm gently in his hand, being careful not to rip it out of the socket. He's only had his Nutcracker for a few minutes and Donovan has already managed to break it. Times like these, Logan hated his little brother and his parents for bringing him into the world. He was furious now.
"You broke him!" Logan shouted as he stood up. Logan hadn't noticed Kelly had come into the room until she sent Donovan to his room with his head down. Logan looked back down at his Nutcracker. He could fix him. He just needed a long piece of fabric to hold his arm in place. Where could he get a long piece of fabric?
An idea struck and Logan sat down, carefully placing the Nutcracker on his lap. Kelly sat down next to him and started to rub his back and Nicole did the same. He untied his bow tie, pulled it away from around his neck and used it to create a small sling.
"Do you think that will work?" Logan asked hopefully, looking up at Kelly then Nicole. He felt bad for his aunt, she probably spent so much on his Nutcracker and Donovan just went and broke it.
"I think that will work just fine." Nicole smiled, resting her chin on his shoulder as she smiled. "You fixed him up good."
"You sure did." Kelly agreed, repeating Nicole's actions. "How about tomorrow, I'll find the first aid kit and you can use a real bandage rather than your bow tie?"
"That's sounds good." Logan nodded with a yawn as he unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt. "Sorry, I'm just a bit tired."
Kelly nodded and stood up along with Nicole. "Why don't you take a nap, sweetie?"
"No, I'm fine." Logan said, not wanting to sleep on the sofa like the little kid his was acting out to be. Kelly raised her eyebrows and gave him the look that said do-you-really-want-to-argue-with-me. Sighing, Logan let himself lie down, resting his head on the sofa cushions and closed his eyes. He held his Nutcracker close to his chest as he felt a blanket being thrown over him. He toed off his shoes and brought his knees to his chest for a second so he could pull his socks off. He could never sleep wearing socks, even if it is just a short nap. He shifted a little bit, nuzzled his head in the cushion before letting out a content sigh and fell to sleep almost instantly. He was tired.
…
"You need to stop filling his head with all your stories!" Mr. Mitchell quietly said as he turned off one of the wall lamps. Nicole stood behind the sofa, looking down at her nephew who looked so peaceful in sleep.
"But he asks to hear them, Charles." Nicole whispered with a smile.
"Whether he asks for them or not, you are to keep your mouth shut!" He turned off another wall lamp. "He needs to focus on his studies to become a doctor! Not go gallivanting across globe!"
"I don't think he wants to be a doctor." She said as Charles turned the Christmas tree lights off.
"Nonsense. Of course he does!" He yelled only for him to be shushed by Nicole when Logan stirred a little. Charles sighed, "of course he wants to be a doctor."
"I think he's letting his want to make you proud take over his want to see the world." Nicole thought aloud.
"He knows that whatever he does, I'll be proud of him." Charles said, coming to stand next to his wife's sister with only the fireplace lighting the room.
"He doesn't know that." She said. "Remember that one Christmas when he was nine? He found that injured mouse under the piano and him, Kelly and I nursed it back to health. He was so excited that he ran all over the house looking for you and when he finally did, he dragged you back to kitchen where the mouse was in a shoebox. He was so excited that he thought he made you proud. And what did you do?"
Charles looked down at Logan, remembering exactly how that night went. He yelled at Logan for taking care of the rodent rather than throwing it outside and then he grabbed Logan's elbow before dragging him upstairs to his room, lecturing him about how a Mitchell is supposed to behave and what's proper.
"I went up to his room and held him while he cried." Nicole said, knowing that she didn't need to say what he did by the look on his face. "He went on and on about how you hated him and how he'll never make you proud."
"He doesn't still think that, does he?"
"What do you think Charlie? You call him weak all the time, even today and right in front of him. You make him think so little of himself."
"I don't mean to." Charlie sighed. "I just want him to be safe and have a good and easy life. Give him the things I never had at his age."
"What if he doesn't want the life? He's not like you." She rested a hand on his shoulder as Charles brought the blanker over Logan's shoulder.
"He's like you." He said with a sad sigh. "I heard what you two talked about earlier. You invited him to travel with you."
Nicole nodded, wondering where this was leading. "I did. But he said you wouldn't allow it."
Charlie pushed a bit of Logan's hair out of his face. "Well..."
…
The grandfather clock chimed at midnight and Logan shifted so he was lying on his back. The Nutcracker fell from his grasp and landed on the floor. A sleepy groan could be heard but it didn't come from Logan.
The Nutcracker's eyes opened and he sat up. He brought his wooden hand to the velvet fabric that held his arm with a fond smile on his face as he remembered who put it there. But before he could think anything else of it, he saw the rat men coming out from under the Christmas tree. He hated the rat men all most as much as he hated who they worshipped: the Rat King.
As the men got closer and drew their swords, the Nutcracker could clearly see their unnatural buck teeth and their bottom lips leading up to the tip of their noses rather than the bottom of their nostrils like normal people. They were so strange to look at. They even had whiskers!
Wasting no time, the Nutcracker stood up and pulled out his sword ready to fight them on. The rat men snickered, thinking he had no chance. It was eight against one, it was obvious to them who was going to be winning. But they had never seen the Nutcracker fight before.
When they were close enough, one of the rat men lifted his sword to take down the Nutcracker dramatically. But he was taking too long, giving him the Nutcracker time to strike his sword through his chest and kick him away. One down. Seven to go. They swarmed him like a moth to a flame, trying to be the one to make their king happy and kill the Nutcracker. But it didn't take long for him to take their lives and soon there were eight dead rat men scattered across the living room.
"How do you always do that?" An all too familiar voice yelled in anger. The Nutcracker turned to see the Rat King standing behind him with a sword in hand.
"Why do you always try to kill me?" He said in return.
"I have my reasons. But it's all going to end tonight."
…
Logan was woken up by noises that weren't ordinary. He rubbed his eyes and sat up to look at where the noises were coming from. "I have got to be dreaming." He whispered to himself when he saw his Nutcracker fighting tiny men who had faces that had more rat features rather than human features. Logan continued to watch with wide eyes as the Nutcracker killed the last rat man but another one came up behind him.
They talked for a minute before a fight broke out. Logan tried not to move, he didn't want to distract his Nutcracker and have him lose and be killed. But it looked like that didn't matter because soon the rat man wearing a crown gained the upper hand and was ready to take the Nutcracker apart.
Logan jumped to his feet and grabbed the rat man by the back of his jacket and held him up to his face.
"What do you think you're doing?" He yelled, waving his sword about.
"You don't hurt him." Logan told him and the rat man only snickered in return before his sword materialized into a long staff with ruby on top. He said some words in a language Logan didn't know and he soon found himself shrinking. He dropped the rat man and watched in horror as he got smaller and smaller until he was the same size as the man that made him this small.
"Not so brave now, are you?" He came closer to Logan with a cruel smile on his face but he didn't get any further than three steps before the Nutcracker pushed him aside and he landed on the floor with a thud.
Now, the Nutcracker knew that the Rat King was smart. So he wasn't surprised when he jumped up and declared "This isn't over!" before running back under the Christmas tree. The Nutcracker waited until he was sure he was gone before turning back to Logan.
"Thank you." He said. "For helping me."
Logan nodded, not really sure how to respond. What do you say to a man made out of wood and is the size of a rat?
"Are you okay?"
"No." Logan said, shaking his head. "Look at me! I'm not meant to be this size! I'm meant to be...You know! Tall! And you! You! You're not meant to talk or walk or do any of that stuff! You're an inanimate object and you can't move! And you just killed like... A hundred-"
"Eight." The Nutcracker cut in but his words fell on deaf ears.
"-guys who look like rats! Rats! No one looks like rats unless their really unfortunate! And oh my god! He made me tiny! I'm not meant to be tiny! I'm meant to be tall!"
"You said."
"Make me tall again!" Logan demanded. "And stop moving! Go back to crushing walnuts and stop swinging a sword around, for Christ's sake! You could kill someone!"
"That's the idea." He chuckled. "And I can't make you tall again. Either the Rat King -the man who just turned you small- or the Strong One can."
"Strong one? Rat King?" Logan squeaked. "Okay okay okay okay... This is just a dream. It's a dream! This is not happening! You are going to pinch me and I'm going to wake up! OW!" He screeched and rubbed his arm when the nutcracker pinched his arm with wooden fingers. "What did you do that for?"
"You told me to pinch you."
"But you're a nutcracker-"
"Yeah, my name's Jay, by the way!"
"-You're not meant to pinch me!"
"Are you just going to keep going on about what's 'meant' to happen or can we go?" Jay asked, getting a little impatient.
"Go? Go where?"
"I want to kill the Rat King and need the Strong One to help me and you want to be tall again and you need the Strong One to help you too." He explained like it was so obvious. "So can we go?"
"Where?"
Jay pointed to underneath the Christmas tree. "There. It leads to a whole other kigndom."
"If we find this...Strong One, he'll make me tall again?" Jay nodded. "But how will I get back?"
"He'll bring you back." He explained and Logan nodded. It's his only hope.
"Okay." They started to make their way towards the tree but stopped when Jay turned to face Logan.
"By the way," He put his sword back on his belt and used his free hand to untie his sling. "Thank you for helping me. Really."
"It's fine." Logan said with a bright smile. "Let's go."
I really don't like this ending but...Oh well! Really, I didn't like this chapter at all...Hmmm..
I'd like to say sorry again if there were any mistakes...I was too lazy to go through it!
Anywhoo...I want to know what you, yes YOU, my readers, think of this chapter! And the only way in doing so is typing magical words from your beautiful minds in the little box below! Thankerooooo!