December 24
Christmas Eve

MAX

I shook the bell. It made the most beautiful sound my sister and I had ever heard.

But my mother said, "Oh, that's too bad."

"Yes," said my father, "it's broken."

When I had shaken the bell, my parents had not heard a sound

At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe.

Mom closed The Polar Express with a slight sigh. "And now," she said, "it's time for all of you younger ones to go to sleep. I know that you will be up very early tomorrow. Don't open up any presents until everyone is awake. Got it?" A chorus of positive responses answered her. "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."

Mom led Fang, Iggy, Merlin and I away from the bedrooms, where we could hear Nudge squealing about how she hated the idea of bedbugs to Ella and Angel. Lucky Gazzy got to sleep in a room reserved for him and Iggy.

We went downstairs and sat in front of the fire in the cottage's large fireplace. Fang and Merlin had managed to find a really great place for us to stay. They had picked out a two-story house on a small, private bay, where ours was the only building in sight for a mile. I wasn't sure, but I was hoping that this would turn into a place where we could actually be safe from the world. Kinda like that deserted island that the Flock had wanted to run away to a little while ago. Being here, I could understand the attraction that the idea held.

Mom poured us some hot chocolate. "Does everybody have their presents wrapped and under the tree?"

"Gazzy and I do," Iggy said.

"Angel, Nudge and I are good." I made sure the girls had taken care of anything, and Nudge had insisted that she help me wrap my presents. Both Merlin and Fang nodded their confirmation.

"Well that's taken care of then." Mom sat down in a large armchair.

Merlin lowered his glass, a large foam moustache underneath his nose. "Are there any presents from 'Santa'?" He asked, making air quotes.

"What with the trip up here and making everything safe, I just couldn't find the time to do any extra shopping."

"Eh, maybe Santa is real, and he will deliver to the younger kids if they still believe in him."

"Do you still believe in him Merlin?" I asked.

"No, but I didn't believe there was such thing as winged people or werewolves either. I'm just saying that anything is possible, even magic, as there is nothing to prove it isn't real."

"It would be nice if magic was real," Iggy said wistfully. I had a feeling I knew what he was thinking about.

"We can always hope Iggy." I said. I got up from my spot next to Fang. "C'mon, we should get to bed."

Fang and Iggy cleaned up for Mom, and then we walked upstairs. I saw Gazzy hiding in a corner near the stairs. "Come here kiddo, why are you still out of bed?"

"I couldn't sleep," He said, "I'm to excited to sleep."

I crossed my arms. "And what do you want me to do about it?"

"Could you sing me a song? It might help if I have a tune to think about." He asked, sitting down on his bed.

Hmm. I really couldn't remember any songs that would be good lullabies. It had been a long time since any of the Flock had needed help falling asleep.

Merlin sat down next to him. "Get under those covers and I'll sing you a song I know. He doesn't sing in his sleep, does he?" He asked Iggy. When Iggy told him it was safe and that he wouldn't create a monster, Merlin began to sing.

Old toy trains, little toy tracks,
Little toy drums, coming from a sack,
Carried by a man, dressed in white and red,
Little boy, don't you think it's time you were in bed

Close your eyes,
Listen to the skies.
All is calm, all is well
Soon you'll hear Chris Cringle and the jingle bells
Bringing...

Old toy trains, little toy tracks,
Little toy drums, coming from a sack,
Carried by a man dressed in white and red,
Little boy, don't you think it's time you were in bed.

He finished the song by fading out the last lines, and Gazzy happily closed his eyes and drifted of into the land of candy canes and sugarplums.

Merlin quietly got off the bed and started to walk towards the room he and Fang were sharing. I caught his arm as he passed. "You never mentioned that you were good at singing."

He laughed quietly. "I'm not really that good."

I shook my head at his denial and stepped into my room, falling asleep as soon as I hit the covers.

December 25
Christmas Day

Merlin

I was awakened by a loud screech. As I groggily wondered what could have made such an unholy noise, my question was answered by a stampede. Leading the charge was the two blond haired siblings, and their little dog too. They were being followed by our fearless leader, her hair flying behind her as she chased the three troublemakers. I dragged myself downstairs and sat in a chair next to the large Christmas tree. Iggy came down as well, grinning widely.

"What happened?" I asked.

"They had Total lick Max on the face to get her awake. Then Gazzy laughed so hard at seeing her shoot out of bed that he let one of his surprises slip."

"How long will it take for her to calm down?" I had never seen Max go this crazy during my time with the flock.

"She should calm down as soon as she catches one of them."

"Lucky them."

About half and hour later, we were all seated in front of the tree, opening presents as Dr. Martinez handed them out. I had received an adaptor so that I could plug my self into any kind of computer from Nudge, an iPod from Max and a travelling poker set from Angel, and that was only the beginning.

"Cool, a new Hot Wheels set! Thanks Max!"

"Your welcome Gazzy, and thanks for the gas mask, I could have used that earlier."

I watched as Max opened my gift to her, a pair of combat boots with a hidden knife. With the new denim jacket (complete with wing slits) she received from Nudge, she almost had a new outfit. Fang was helping everyone cut away the unwanted packaging with his new Swiss army knife and Iggy was quite happy with his colour-coded micro-screwdriver kit.

Later, Iggy and I made pancakes for everyone (I was really glad I had hired a truck to stock the pantry), and then we went outside to play in the fresh snow of the Rocky Mountains for a while. We had lots of snowball fights, which often included bombing runs on each other's snow forts. After several hours we went back inside, leaving behind some very realistic snow angels. The rest of the day was spent getting ready for dinner, with everyone pitching in to help make some part.

Soon the giant turkey was ready, and we all dug in. Despite the large amounts of food, the meal passed quickly, and we went back to trying out our new gifts. Ella went over to the tree where she had stashed her presents and brushed her hand against a branch as she did. A small, silver bell fell out of the tree and landed in Nudge's magnetic hand.

Attached to the bell was a small box, with a tag addressing it to The Flock. Nudge opened the box and pulled out a large, 100 GB USB memory card! Looking surprised, she handed it to Fang, who plugged it into his laptop. His eyes widened at what he saw on the screen.

"Everyone, you might want to look at this." We crowded around as he read the text.

"Dear Flock,

My apologies for never giving this to you earlier, but the time was not yet right. These files contain information on everything Itex ever did. Use it well, and Merry Christmas.

~Mr. C"

Max was flabbergasted. She looked at Fang, her mom, and myself in a wordless question that we all shook our heads at. None of us knew where the gift had come from. Nudge immediately began searching through the files for interesting information, but there were so many files it seemed an exercise in futility. Soon she gave up, but not before concluding that the files had defiantly come from an Itex computer.

Putting the gift out of our minds for now, Nudge and I tried hooking up her new iPod to my chip in order to access all the songs I had saved. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fang call Max outside to the porch. I called to Angel in my mind, knowing what would happen. Fang spoke softly to Max, and then brought out a small box; his Christmas present to her. She opened it and drew out the gift; a small necklace, with the outline of a heart created by two joined feathers. Fang waited, looking nervous as Max stared at the pendant. After almost ten seconds of this frozen scene, Fang dared to ask if she liked it. She answered in one of the most obvious ways possible which was her kissing him full on the mouth. After a second she realized that the whole family could see her (Iggy included thanks to Angel), she broke away, a blush coming to her face that everybody knew wasn't from the cold.

I turned to the others, waved my hands like a conductors baton, and we all burst out in song:

Max, the red-faced bird-kid,
Had a very de-ep blush.
You should have seen it,
Melt all the snow to slush.

All of the other bird-kids,
Laughed and made catcalls,
Then they ran of screaming,
As Max chased them through the halls.

Which proved to be a very accurate prediction indeed.

My apologies that this is so late, but I've just haven't really wanted to update. Probably because it means I am getting closer to the end of this story. I'm not the only one late with a Christmas Special (coughAkikocough), so don't start complaining. I would also like to announce that this story probably only has about five more chapters left in it. It's okay if you complain about that though. It's nice to know you care enough that you want me to continue.

Read On~DE