'Twas the Night Before Christmas
Yes, this is a repost of the original story 'Twas the Night Before Christmas I wrote a while back, which was in script format.
BEWARE: I like talking A LOT! Notice the long header? Just a little heads up (because there's more at the bottom)
The poem doesn't really go with the story, so you can ignore it. Or you can read it (duh) I just put in there because I felt like it.
The same old boring Disclaimer that no one ever bothers to read (because it's boring. Duh. Again): I don't own the characters or any of that. It all belongs to Tamora Pierce. And the verses in bold belong to Clement Clark Moore (the guy who wrote "A Visit From St. Nick")
Additional author notes: I'm not entirely sure what time frame this story takes place in, but Alianne and the others are all quite young. How young though ::shrugs:: I have no idea. And please excuse the OOCness this messed up story contains. And slight character bashing (it's not that I don't like some of the characters, it's just that they're fun to make fun of . . . uh . . . yea!) Flames are for fires, so they really aren't needed here (but I honestly could care less) Yes, really, enough rambling. This is getting quite long ^.^
'Twas the night before
Christmas,
when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, --not even a mouse.
(You know the drill)
So our story begins in a far away land called Tortall. It was a cold, wintry Christmas Eve. In an apartment in the palace of Corus were 5 little children, 3 women, and 2 men [1]
The children were causing quite a ruckus.
"Mommy! Mommy! Alianne hit me! She hit me!" screamed little Alan. He started to cry.
Alanna, who had been talking with Buri, scowled. "Alianne, apologize."
"But mommy, I didn't hit him!" Alianne started to cry too.
Kalasin, who had been watching the whole thing said, "I know who did it! It was Santa Claus!"
Everyone in the room stared at her. "What?" they said.
"It was Santa! He hit Alan! I saw! I saw!" Kalasin cried.
"I saw him too!" said Roald!
"Yea!" Thom added.
All the adults blinked, wondering where the children had come up with such a strange notion. The children looked at each other fearfully, not at all liking this "Santa Claus."
Finally, Buri said, "I think the children should go to bed."
"Right." Alanna nodded. She looked at the children. "You don't want Santa Claus to catch you in the middle of the night, do you?"
The young ones looked even more afraid, and rushed into the bedroom they all shared for the sleepover.
The stockings were hung
by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
Daine looked at Alanna. "Alanna, I think you scared them."
The Lioness shook her head. "Nah, I think Kally did most of the scaring."
George made a face. "Right."
In the bedroom, the five were sitting in a tight circle, huddled together under their blankets. Looks like they're telling ghost stories . . . whoops, wrong holiday. Moving on.
Kalasin was currently telling the other four all about this mysterious "Santa Claus."
"Well, I hear he blows up chimneys in the middle of the night and steals everyone's toys."
Thom clutched his teddy bear tightly, eyes wide.
"Then he runs around and scares all the kids and makes them do the Macarena!"
Oh the horror!
"And then he sticks red balls on your nose and sings 'Rude Oaf the red-nosed reindeer' while you're going the Macarena in your underwear!"
By now, Alianne and Roald were whimpering while Thom and Alan were on the verge of tears.
Kalasin closed her eyes and nodded sagely. "I feel your pain."
Thom and Alan were hugging each other and sobbing.
Kalasin looked at all of them. "It gets worse. . ."
The children were
nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap.
Back in the common room. . .
"This is so boring," Alanna said.
Buri looked at Numair wickedly. "Shouldn't be when Santa comes."
Everyone looked confused, except for Numair. He suddenly got up and rushed for the door. "Oh! I forgot I have to meet with Jon!" He ran out of the room without looking back.
Daine sighed. "This is my life."
And now, back to the bedroom.
After Kalasin's tale was done, everyone was trembling to death and crying their eyes out.
No one could sleep. They were all wide awake with fear.
"What if he comes and gets us?" Thom whispered shakily, tears still in his eyes.
"Yea, what are we going to do?" Alianne asked, just as scared.
Everyone thought for a moment. Then Kalasin stood up and said. "I have an idea." Her face turned devilish. "We'll set a trap for Santa!"
Oh, those scheming children.
Had just settled down
for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Meanwhile. . .
"I will NOT be Santa" Jon cried.
"Oh quit fussing!" said Thayet.
Raoul and Gary looked on.
"Oh no. I am NOT going through with this!"
"Yes you are."
And the arguing continued.
"Well excuse me! If you really want a Santa, why don't YOU do it then? Hmm?"
"Because, you're the only one...wait a minute. Where's Numair?" asked Thayet.
Just then, Numair burst in.
"Where were you?" Thayet demanded.
"Busy," was all he said.
Jon scowled. "I am SO not doing this! I refuse!"
"Too bad. The kids are all expecting Santa Claus to come in the middle of the night," Thayet said.
"And look what happened to the last Santa," Jon muttered.
"I haven't heard. Whatever did happen to him?" Thayet looked at Jon curiously.
"A couple of kids ambushed him."
Silence.
"Oh come on. It's not like that's going to happen again this year."
"How do you know?" Jon glared.
"I just do. Call it my woman's intuition. Now hurry up. We have to get ready."
Away to the window I
flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
Let's take a quick visit to check on those devious little children (again).
"Are you all ready?" Kalasin whispered.
A chorus of responses was heard.
"Good. Follow me."
Back to the scene in Jon's room, Jon was still trying to get out of his little situation.
"I can't believe you're letting Thayet order you around!" Raoul laughed.
Jon glared. "I will NOT do this!" he cried for the millionth time.
"Yes you will!" Thayet ground out.
"No I won't!"
"Yes you will!"
"NO I won't!"
"YES you will!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
Gary looked at them nervously. "Um...can I go now?"
Jon perked up. "I know! Gary can be Santa!"
Gary looked at his cousin in disbelief. "WHAT???"
Raoul snickered. "Tough luck Gary!"
"And Raoul can be Santa's little elf," Jon added.
"WHAT???" cried Raoul.
Thayet shook her head. "Now you stop that. You're going to be Santa Claus whether you like it or not!" She threw a fake beard at him.
Numair gave Jon a long, long, long, long, seemingly endless list, and a very, very, very, very big bag of toys. "Here, this is the childrens' wish list," he said, pointing at the long, long, long, long list. "I did the best I could. Can I leave now?"
Jon glared.
Raoul handed Jon the rest of the Santa costume, snickering. Gary chucked one of the boots at his cousin.
"Ow! What was that for?" demanded Jon, rubbing his head.
Gary grinned innocently. "Nothing."
Jon glared. "You're going to regret this for the rest of your lives."
"JON!!!" Everyone cried.
"Fine!" Jon stalked towards the door. "I'm going. I'm going! Are you happy now?"
Everyone grinned.
"I'll be expecting a big Christmas present this year," he mumbled.
The moon on the breast
of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.
So now that Jon is on his way, let's get back to the others. The adults are already asleep, but the children are up to no good.
In the dark common room, they set up their trap. Observe:
Alan tied a long piece of string across the fireplace at the very bottom.
Alianne filled up a glass of sour milk.
Roald put dried globs of mud on a plate (Gods know where he got it from)
Kalasin was simply holding a big bag containing who knows what.
Thom . . . was holding his cat, Freckles [2]
A loud THUMP was heard somewhere above them.
"C'mon! Santa's coming!" Kalasin whispered.
Kalasin, Alianne, and Roald ran to hide behind the sofa
Thom and Alan hid behind the Christmas tree.
As they waited quietly, there was a noise coming from the fireplace as Jon came down the chimney.
"Oof!" He tripped over the string, landing with his face on the floor. "What is the meaning of this?" his voice slightly muffled.
Alianne covered her mouth to keep back a giggle.
Jon glanced at a table with a plate of "cookies" and a glass of "milk."
"Ah, cookies!" He picked up a "cookie" and took a bite. It really was too dark to see much. Immediately he started to choke.
"Agh!" He spluttered and coughed and then grabbed the glass of milk to wash out the taste. Well, that didn't really work. He spat out the sour milk and hollered, "Alanna, I'm gonna get you!"
Thom almost started laughing at that, and in his attempt to stop himself, he let go of his cat. Freckles ran to Jon and leapt on him, claws extended.
"AAAHHHH!!! GET AWAY FROM ME, DEMON!!!" he screamed, trying to peel off the cat. "OWWWW!!! GET OFF OF ME!!! HELP!!!
Kalasin started laughing so hard she dropped the bag she had been holding. All the contents that were in it spilled out. "Oops," she said.
Bouncy balls rolled all over the floor.
Jon quickly lost his balance just as the cat jumped off. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he crashed to the floor.
Somewhere in the Yamani Islands. . .
Little Keladry stopped in the middle of one of her glaive exercises and looked up at the sky. She had sworn she had heard someone screaming. She shrugged. It must have been her imagination.
Ahem, back to the story.
With a little old
driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name.
"ALANNA!!! YOU'RE IN BIG TROUBLE!!!" Jon yelled from his position on the floor.
Alan fell over laughing and accidentally knocked over the tree.
Jon saw the tree falling and started screaming again, "AAAHHHHH!!! HELP ME SOMEONE!!!!!" He got out of the way just in time.
And just then, Alanna ran into the room, followed by all the other adults. "What is GOING ON????"
"Uh-oh," Kalasin said. She and all the other kids ran out of the room.
The lights went on.
"Oh my!" Daine cried when she saw the sight before her. And it was quite a messy sight indeed.
"THOM! ALAN! ALIANNE! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" Alanna yelled.
"We're in trouble now," Thom muttered.
All the children slowly filed into the room as if it were their death march.
Kalasin and Roald gasped. "Daddy?"
"Now, DASHER! now,
DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
Jon looked up.
"Kally?"
Kalasin rushed over to Jon. "Oh daddy! I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you!"
Alanna glared at all the kids. "Would someone please tell me what is going on?"
"Well . . . Kalasin." Alianne stopped when Kalasin gave her a look. "We thought Santa was big and scary! We didn't know it was Uncle Jonny! Honest!" she said instead. She looked at Alanna pleadingly. All the children put on their puppy dog faces.
Alanna sighed. "Now what am I going to do with you five?"
George looked around at the big mess. "Kind of obvious, dont'cha think?" He turned and looked at Alanna. She gave him an impatient look.
Thayet rushed in, followed by Raoul, Gary, and Numair.
Thayet glanced around the room. "What happened here?"
Alanna shook her head.
"See, Thayet? I told you this would happen," Jon said.
Thayet signed. "All right, sorry. Next year Gary will be Santa Claus."
Everyone groaned.
THE END
That's all folks! I'm wondering what to do next with this story, since it doesn't really seem complete. Wondering what will happen next? ::sigh:: So many possibilities. I got a request to do a sequel of sorts about Easter (you can just imagine what sort of chaos these kids are gonna cause) except I'm fresh out of ideas. Open to suggestions here!
[1] Okay, the people that are present in the room are: Alianne, Kalasin, Alan, Thom, Roald (the kids) Alanna, Daine, Buri (the women) Numair, George (the men) Just in case anyone wanted to know.
[2] It was mentioned in Wild Magic (I think) that Daine helped to heal Thom's cat. I think his name was Freckles or something. Not entirely sure.
That about wraps things up.
Oh, and here's the rest of "A Visit From St. Nick" just for your reading pleasure:
As dry leaves that
before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT."
~ Clement Clark Moore