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Disclaimer: I only own the new characters
Chapter 4: Magic and Tears
The morning of the dance dawned with a crisp fresh blanket of snow covering the entire town. Rays of sunlight began to peer into Noel's lab through the large window that overlooked the town square.
Noel was curled over her lab table, head propped up by her arms, blissfully asleep. She hadn't meant to fall into a deep slumber there, but it had happened somehow. As the light struck her eyes, she pulled her chair out and stood up. No hunger pains greeted her, no aches of any sort were in her, except for some very deep emotional wounds.
Realizing there was no need for her to leave, she walked around to her side tables and began to continue the experiment she'd begun last night.
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For the most part, the day passed quickly in a flurry of work and preparations. Bernard oversaw the whole thing, but he never really saw it at all. He mentally kicked himself the entire day for not saying the right thing at the right time. In his own defense, a few thousand years without ever experiencing the emotion of romantic love would do that to a guy.
His soft brown eyes watched the hours tick away on the ornate workshop clock. They were filled with hurt and anger, longing and despair. Any elf within a hundred feet of him could recognize the unfamiliar gaze as one they'd never seen anywhere in the North Pole before.
Bernard continued to look over at the door that connected the living quarters to the main building. He was hoping that at any moment she'd just coming walking through that door, happy and smiling, and having forgotten his unfortunate statement.
Judy scampered up from behind him, "Are you feeling alright Bernard?"
"Not really." He sighed, and leaned forward, letting his elbows rest on the railing and his eyes survey the workers.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really."
"Is it about Noel?"
"Judy, I really do not want to discuss this right now."
"Curtis and I saw what happened."
"How'd you - "
"We were in the hallway, around the corner. We didn't mean to spy, it just kinda happened. What'd you say?"
"I just accidentally made a statement that I would like to take back."
"What?"
"It's kinda private, Judy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go start up a party prep committee."
Opening her mouth to speak, she quickly shut it as he breezed by her. Blown off again, the little elfess was beginning to feel pretty dejected herself.
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(Hours later)
The party was in full swing downstairs. An annual celebration of epic proportions that no mortal mind could comprehend was taking place. Feasting and dancing, singing and cooking of the most delicious kind.
For one elf though, this was the first celebration that he'd taken little, if no, joy in. Not that he hadn't missed Noel when she'd left on vacation, but there had never been the self-inflicted pain to go with it.
Bernard sat down on one of the many benches lining the outer ring of the dancing area. He watched as Judy and Curtis twirled around in the center of the inner ring. Maybe he wasn't the only elf with romantic heart pains.
"Hey Bernard, how're you doing?" Santa asked, as he dropped down onto the seat next to his old friend.
"I'm doing just great."
"Oh, c'mon, this is the first party where you haven't been absolutely content to be released from work."
Bernard didn't replay, instead he just looked down at the mug of chocolate milk in his hands. Realizing that he would receive no more information from his former head elf, Santa decided to take matters into his own hands.
Without another word, Chris Cringle left the main hall and marched into the lodging quarters of the highly ranked elves. He didn't often spend a lot of time in this area of the North Pole, as it was rare for any elf to be late to work, and he did want them to have their privacy. Pulling the list of room numbers and occupants from his pocket, he began counting door numbers.
When he arrived at the door he believed to be the one he wanted, he gave a few quick raps on the door. He could almost hear the echo of the knocks in the room and it gave him a feeling of uneasiness.
"Noel?" Scott called, pressing his ear to the door. No sounds came back to him this time, and after waiting and knocking again for about 10 more minutes, he decided to try the door handle.
It surprisingly was open and he slowly turned the golden bar. He'd never been in Noel's room, but he wasn't shocked by the Christmas theme that decorated it. What did strike him as odd was the immense size of the room, it was nearly equal to his own.
One side of the room had two doors, and the one furthest from him was labeled, in fanciful calligraphy, "Private Laboratory". Taking a wild guess, and knowing that he had a 50/50 chance of getting it right, Santa walked to the lab door and tried to open it. This time however, the door was securely locked, from the inside.
He knocked, "Noel? Are you in there?"
***************************************
At the first sign of noise, Noel lifted her goggles and replaced the test tube in the holding bar. Someone was calling her from inside her own room.
"Yes? Who's there?"
The voice answered, "It's Santa. Will you please come out there so I can talk to you?"
Glancing down at her hands, she decided to buy herself some time, "I can't, I'm in the middle of something."
Never before had any elf ever really refused to follow any order or even requests of his. This was a situation he'd never had to handle before, and though it was against his personal rules, he opted to use his magic.
Lights swirled around his hands and slithered their way through the air to the keyhole of the lab door. The door responded by reflecting the rays and sending them bouncing all over the room.
Scott ducked, covering his head, not sure of what they could do if they hit him. He reached into his pocket and clasped the cell phone that connected him directly to his wife.
"Carol? Carol?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Could you come to Noel's room? I need your help up here!"
"Be right there."
However, in all the chaos that had taken over, Scott failed to miss one critical thing. His magic died without his command for it to do so. The lights faded and collapsed into themselves.
A soft hand on his shoulder made him look up, "Carol?"
"What did you need?"
Trying to retain what was left of his dignity, Santa pulled himself to his feet rapidly and motioned towards the door, "Noel is refusing to come out."
His wife nodded and knocked on the door, "Noel, dear? Will you please come out?"
The voice of the female elf came back strong but sad, "No, I'm right in the middle of something and I don't really feel like it."
"Is something bothering you?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Only that we haven't seen you in a day and we're getting worried."
"I'm fine. I just want to get back to work."
"Well that's good then, we need your help in the workshop." Carol lied, biting on her lower lip.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure Bernard can handle it." As soon as his name escaped her lips it was like the opening of a fresh and painful wound. She leaned forward, placing her hands on the table. Something wet and warm ran down her cheeks and dripped onto her hands.
Gasping, Noel brought a slender finger up and traced the line, lifting the now wet digit up to her eyes. Pure fear enveloped her heart as she stared, and she ran for the door to her room.
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Outside the room, Santa was trying his magic again, but every attempt fizzled and failed in ways he'd never seen magic behave.
"Scott, this is really starting to scare me. What's happening to the magic?"
"I don't know." His voice was deep and contemplative, hiding his underlying sense of fright. He pounded his fist against the lab door, "Noel! The magic is dying out! What's going on?"
The lock on the door clicked open and out stepped the female elf, holding a pool of tears in her palm, "Elves don't cry. We can't shed tears. Not unless the Spirit…." Noel trailed off, letting the water run down her face.
"Please try the magic again." Begged the elf.
Both Santa and Mrs. Clause tried, but all the power of the North Pole could not produce the slightest hint of enchantments.
If it hadn't been for her inner strength, Noel believed she would've collapsed right there and then, her knees felt so weak. This wasn't supposed to be happening, not here and not now. She leaned up against the wall to hold herself up and took a few deep breathes to try and calm down.
In a near panic, Scott sent an immediate signal to Bernard, Judy, and Curtis and demanded that they report to Noel's room. Between the time that it took the three elves to get there, Mrs. Clause had sat the elfess down and had gotten her a tissue for her tears.
"I'm so sorry for all of this."
"There's no need to be sorry, this is not your fault."
Just as she was about the comment, Bernard almost fell into the room, the others hot on his heels. He took one look at the tear stained face of his oldest friend, and his voice was so full of disbelief, "Oh geez. You're cry… you're crying."
Noel nodded and turned her face away from his, she didn't want to look at him right now. Bernard sensed this and avert his eyes as well, shamed.
Seeing that if he left it up to these two, nothing would get done, Santa stepped in, "What's the Spirit Noel?"
"The Spirit is the heart and soul of Christmas. The embodiment of the spirits of love, sharing, and giving, into a physical form."
"Basically, " Curtis interjected, "It's a person who's job it is to see that the Christmas holiday is running smoothly."
"Why would the Spirit cause Noel to cry?"
"I don't know. It makes no sense."
The soft voice of Noel pierced the silence again, "She's not making me cry. She is crying."
"What?" Asked Carol, placing her arm around the girl's shoulder and hugging her close in an attempt to comfort her.
"The Spirit and I are friends, since she created me as the first elf, I act as her liaison between her world and our world. She appears only to me and Mother Nature, but I get her feelings. If she is happy, then so am I, when she is sad, I cry."
Scott looked up, "Bernard, will you get the Book of Christmas for me?"
The former head elf ran off at a break neck speed and returned what seemed like only seconds later.
The small group crowded around as it was opened to the 'Holiday Magic' chapter.
"Okay," read Scott, "The Spirit of Christmas is the first concern of every Santa Clause and every elf. The Spirit is the physical embodiment of all the good things that make up the Christmas Holiday."
"Ha! Told you!" Laughed a triumphant Curtis.
Bernard looked at him, "Next time, wait until someone disagrees with you first before you celebrate being right."
Realizing his mistake, Curtis slumped his shoulders, "Oh."
"In order to keep the Holiday running smoothly, it is necessary to see that the Spirit remains happy. This happiness is the result of the happiness felt by children on Christmas morning when they receive both what they want and need."
"That's our excuse for giving kids clothes." Explained Judy.
"Should these requirements not be met, the Spirit will become saddened. Some warning signs of this are a loss of magic and the disappearance of holiday decorations. If the Spirit's happiness is not restored by the next Christmas season, the Holiday will disappear forever, and cause a chain reaction that will eliminate all other Holidays from the earth."
A collective gasp ran through the group, this was something that only Noel had known of so far.
"The only magical being that can contact the Spirit and demand her presence is Mother Nature. Otherwise, the Spirit may choose to appear to the oldest living elf, but she cannot directly contact the spirit."
Scott closed the book as his wife sputtered, "But you've done your job Scott. The kids have what they want and need every year. We have the ratings to prove it!"
Everyone in the room turned to Noel, "Is there any other way that the Spirit can be made sad?"
"Maybe personal feelings?"
"The Spirit doesn't have personal feelings, it's not human." Curtis objected.
"When it's in human form, it can be hurt just like everyone else. And since she spends so much time in human form…"
"Can you think of anything that might've upset her?"
"I know that a few years ago, she and I were friends with a girl who lost her life in a car accident. But we both got over that."
"Would something like that have set of the Mrs. Clause, Clause?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, so why don't we get any new clauses to take care of instead?"
"There are no more, we need a Santa and his wife, and that's it before total elimination."
"Well, we have to contact Mother Nature. We're only a few days away from Christmas."
"We're gonna start seeing a rapid deterioration of decorations around here." Mumbled Bernard, and as if on cue, the tree in Noel's room shook slightly.
A few of the brightly colored bulbs and popcorn string decorations fell to the ground. The bulbs shattered, sending bits of glass everywhere. It was heartbreaking to watch as the particles crumbled to fine dust. Then, the dust became transparent and finally, disappeared. The popcorn faired no better as it shriveled into nothingness.
"Oh no." Whispered Judy, walking over to the tree. She ran her small hand over the floor, hoping to find something, anything, that proved to her that what she just saw hadn't happened.
Before the group had time to recover from that shock though, the alarm panel in the room sounded, lighting up the signal that indicated the Research Lab.
"The main lab! Something's wrong!"
Six pairs of legs ran for the area that lay next to the workshop, as they moved, Bernard turned to Noel, "You have a detection system in your room?"
"Yeah, how do you think I always knew everything before you did?"
He nodded to himself and kept running.
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The door to the main lab was smashed. Broken glass and wood, covered in soot and ash lay all around.
Curtis ran inside, "The new machine blew up! Quinton? Quinton are you okay?"
From beneath a pile of wreckage in the corner, a small hand began to dig itself out. Judy picked up the edges of her dress and moved as fast as she could towards the person.
Luckily, Quinton wasn't buried too deep in the ruble and was unhurt, "I don't know what happened. The machine just seemed to self-destruct."
"Alright, we'll get a clean-up crew in here. Why don't you go to bed for the night Quinton, get some rest?"
"Sure" The elf stumbled off towards the lodging quarters, and he never looked back.
Sighing, Santa ran his hands through his hair, "Well, I guess that ends the party for tonight."
Noel stared down at wet ash that was being created as the tears fell from her face to the floor. Tiny spots of sadness dotting the once beautiful floor. Her mental musing was interrupted as Larry and Jessica called out to Santa.
"The presents are disappearing!"
"Come quick!"
It was true. The majority of the wonderfully wrapped presents had simply faded away, and more were going. Most of the elves simply stood around, staring is disbelief.
Santa cleared his throat, "I have an announcement to make. My friends, there is a problem with the Spirit of Christmas that we are trying to figure out. Please stay calm and don't panic."
As the Clauses turned around to walk upstairs, Noel made a decision. She threw a longing glance at the pained face of Bernard and looked back at her boss.
"Call the council. I'm going to try to contact the Spirit."
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Disclaimer: I only own the new characters
Chapter 4: Magic and Tears
The morning of the dance dawned with a crisp fresh blanket of snow covering the entire town. Rays of sunlight began to peer into Noel's lab through the large window that overlooked the town square.
Noel was curled over her lab table, head propped up by her arms, blissfully asleep. She hadn't meant to fall into a deep slumber there, but it had happened somehow. As the light struck her eyes, she pulled her chair out and stood up. No hunger pains greeted her, no aches of any sort were in her, except for some very deep emotional wounds.
Realizing there was no need for her to leave, she walked around to her side tables and began to continue the experiment she'd begun last night.
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For the most part, the day passed quickly in a flurry of work and preparations. Bernard oversaw the whole thing, but he never really saw it at all. He mentally kicked himself the entire day for not saying the right thing at the right time. In his own defense, a few thousand years without ever experiencing the emotion of romantic love would do that to a guy.
His soft brown eyes watched the hours tick away on the ornate workshop clock. They were filled with hurt and anger, longing and despair. Any elf within a hundred feet of him could recognize the unfamiliar gaze as one they'd never seen anywhere in the North Pole before.
Bernard continued to look over at the door that connected the living quarters to the main building. He was hoping that at any moment she'd just coming walking through that door, happy and smiling, and having forgotten his unfortunate statement.
Judy scampered up from behind him, "Are you feeling alright Bernard?"
"Not really." He sighed, and leaned forward, letting his elbows rest on the railing and his eyes survey the workers.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really."
"Is it about Noel?"
"Judy, I really do not want to discuss this right now."
"Curtis and I saw what happened."
"How'd you - "
"We were in the hallway, around the corner. We didn't mean to spy, it just kinda happened. What'd you say?"
"I just accidentally made a statement that I would like to take back."
"What?"
"It's kinda private, Judy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go start up a party prep committee."
Opening her mouth to speak, she quickly shut it as he breezed by her. Blown off again, the little elfess was beginning to feel pretty dejected herself.
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(Hours later)
The party was in full swing downstairs. An annual celebration of epic proportions that no mortal mind could comprehend was taking place. Feasting and dancing, singing and cooking of the most delicious kind.
For one elf though, this was the first celebration that he'd taken little, if no, joy in. Not that he hadn't missed Noel when she'd left on vacation, but there had never been the self-inflicted pain to go with it.
Bernard sat down on one of the many benches lining the outer ring of the dancing area. He watched as Judy and Curtis twirled around in the center of the inner ring. Maybe he wasn't the only elf with romantic heart pains.
"Hey Bernard, how're you doing?" Santa asked, as he dropped down onto the seat next to his old friend.
"I'm doing just great."
"Oh, c'mon, this is the first party where you haven't been absolutely content to be released from work."
Bernard didn't replay, instead he just looked down at the mug of chocolate milk in his hands. Realizing that he would receive no more information from his former head elf, Santa decided to take matters into his own hands.
Without another word, Chris Cringle left the main hall and marched into the lodging quarters of the highly ranked elves. He didn't often spend a lot of time in this area of the North Pole, as it was rare for any elf to be late to work, and he did want them to have their privacy. Pulling the list of room numbers and occupants from his pocket, he began counting door numbers.
When he arrived at the door he believed to be the one he wanted, he gave a few quick raps on the door. He could almost hear the echo of the knocks in the room and it gave him a feeling of uneasiness.
"Noel?" Scott called, pressing his ear to the door. No sounds came back to him this time, and after waiting and knocking again for about 10 more minutes, he decided to try the door handle.
It surprisingly was open and he slowly turned the golden bar. He'd never been in Noel's room, but he wasn't shocked by the Christmas theme that decorated it. What did strike him as odd was the immense size of the room, it was nearly equal to his own.
One side of the room had two doors, and the one furthest from him was labeled, in fanciful calligraphy, "Private Laboratory". Taking a wild guess, and knowing that he had a 50/50 chance of getting it right, Santa walked to the lab door and tried to open it. This time however, the door was securely locked, from the inside.
He knocked, "Noel? Are you in there?"
***************************************
At the first sign of noise, Noel lifted her goggles and replaced the test tube in the holding bar. Someone was calling her from inside her own room.
"Yes? Who's there?"
The voice answered, "It's Santa. Will you please come out there so I can talk to you?"
Glancing down at her hands, she decided to buy herself some time, "I can't, I'm in the middle of something."
Never before had any elf ever really refused to follow any order or even requests of his. This was a situation he'd never had to handle before, and though it was against his personal rules, he opted to use his magic.
Lights swirled around his hands and slithered their way through the air to the keyhole of the lab door. The door responded by reflecting the rays and sending them bouncing all over the room.
Scott ducked, covering his head, not sure of what they could do if they hit him. He reached into his pocket and clasped the cell phone that connected him directly to his wife.
"Carol? Carol?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Could you come to Noel's room? I need your help up here!"
"Be right there."
However, in all the chaos that had taken over, Scott failed to miss one critical thing. His magic died without his command for it to do so. The lights faded and collapsed into themselves.
A soft hand on his shoulder made him look up, "Carol?"
"What did you need?"
Trying to retain what was left of his dignity, Santa pulled himself to his feet rapidly and motioned towards the door, "Noel is refusing to come out."
His wife nodded and knocked on the door, "Noel, dear? Will you please come out?"
The voice of the female elf came back strong but sad, "No, I'm right in the middle of something and I don't really feel like it."
"Is something bothering you?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Only that we haven't seen you in a day and we're getting worried."
"I'm fine. I just want to get back to work."
"Well that's good then, we need your help in the workshop." Carol lied, biting on her lower lip.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure Bernard can handle it." As soon as his name escaped her lips it was like the opening of a fresh and painful wound. She leaned forward, placing her hands on the table. Something wet and warm ran down her cheeks and dripped onto her hands.
Gasping, Noel brought a slender finger up and traced the line, lifting the now wet digit up to her eyes. Pure fear enveloped her heart as she stared, and she ran for the door to her room.
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Outside the room, Santa was trying his magic again, but every attempt fizzled and failed in ways he'd never seen magic behave.
"Scott, this is really starting to scare me. What's happening to the magic?"
"I don't know." His voice was deep and contemplative, hiding his underlying sense of fright. He pounded his fist against the lab door, "Noel! The magic is dying out! What's going on?"
The lock on the door clicked open and out stepped the female elf, holding a pool of tears in her palm, "Elves don't cry. We can't shed tears. Not unless the Spirit…." Noel trailed off, letting the water run down her face.
"Please try the magic again." Begged the elf.
Both Santa and Mrs. Clause tried, but all the power of the North Pole could not produce the slightest hint of enchantments.
If it hadn't been for her inner strength, Noel believed she would've collapsed right there and then, her knees felt so weak. This wasn't supposed to be happening, not here and not now. She leaned up against the wall to hold herself up and took a few deep breathes to try and calm down.
In a near panic, Scott sent an immediate signal to Bernard, Judy, and Curtis and demanded that they report to Noel's room. Between the time that it took the three elves to get there, Mrs. Clause had sat the elfess down and had gotten her a tissue for her tears.
"I'm so sorry for all of this."
"There's no need to be sorry, this is not your fault."
Just as she was about the comment, Bernard almost fell into the room, the others hot on his heels. He took one look at the tear stained face of his oldest friend, and his voice was so full of disbelief, "Oh geez. You're cry… you're crying."
Noel nodded and turned her face away from his, she didn't want to look at him right now. Bernard sensed this and avert his eyes as well, shamed.
Seeing that if he left it up to these two, nothing would get done, Santa stepped in, "What's the Spirit Noel?"
"The Spirit is the heart and soul of Christmas. The embodiment of the spirits of love, sharing, and giving, into a physical form."
"Basically, " Curtis interjected, "It's a person who's job it is to see that the Christmas holiday is running smoothly."
"Why would the Spirit cause Noel to cry?"
"I don't know. It makes no sense."
The soft voice of Noel pierced the silence again, "She's not making me cry. She is crying."
"What?" Asked Carol, placing her arm around the girl's shoulder and hugging her close in an attempt to comfort her.
"The Spirit and I are friends, since she created me as the first elf, I act as her liaison between her world and our world. She appears only to me and Mother Nature, but I get her feelings. If she is happy, then so am I, when she is sad, I cry."
Scott looked up, "Bernard, will you get the Book of Christmas for me?"
The former head elf ran off at a break neck speed and returned what seemed like only seconds later.
The small group crowded around as it was opened to the 'Holiday Magic' chapter.
"Okay," read Scott, "The Spirit of Christmas is the first concern of every Santa Clause and every elf. The Spirit is the physical embodiment of all the good things that make up the Christmas Holiday."
"Ha! Told you!" Laughed a triumphant Curtis.
Bernard looked at him, "Next time, wait until someone disagrees with you first before you celebrate being right."
Realizing his mistake, Curtis slumped his shoulders, "Oh."
"In order to keep the Holiday running smoothly, it is necessary to see that the Spirit remains happy. This happiness is the result of the happiness felt by children on Christmas morning when they receive both what they want and need."
"That's our excuse for giving kids clothes." Explained Judy.
"Should these requirements not be met, the Spirit will become saddened. Some warning signs of this are a loss of magic and the disappearance of holiday decorations. If the Spirit's happiness is not restored by the next Christmas season, the Holiday will disappear forever, and cause a chain reaction that will eliminate all other Holidays from the earth."
A collective gasp ran through the group, this was something that only Noel had known of so far.
"The only magical being that can contact the Spirit and demand her presence is Mother Nature. Otherwise, the Spirit may choose to appear to the oldest living elf, but she cannot directly contact the spirit."
Scott closed the book as his wife sputtered, "But you've done your job Scott. The kids have what they want and need every year. We have the ratings to prove it!"
Everyone in the room turned to Noel, "Is there any other way that the Spirit can be made sad?"
"Maybe personal feelings?"
"The Spirit doesn't have personal feelings, it's not human." Curtis objected.
"When it's in human form, it can be hurt just like everyone else. And since she spends so much time in human form…"
"Can you think of anything that might've upset her?"
"I know that a few years ago, she and I were friends with a girl who lost her life in a car accident. But we both got over that."
"Would something like that have set of the Mrs. Clause, Clause?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, so why don't we get any new clauses to take care of instead?"
"There are no more, we need a Santa and his wife, and that's it before total elimination."
"Well, we have to contact Mother Nature. We're only a few days away from Christmas."
"We're gonna start seeing a rapid deterioration of decorations around here." Mumbled Bernard, and as if on cue, the tree in Noel's room shook slightly.
A few of the brightly colored bulbs and popcorn string decorations fell to the ground. The bulbs shattered, sending bits of glass everywhere. It was heartbreaking to watch as the particles crumbled to fine dust. Then, the dust became transparent and finally, disappeared. The popcorn faired no better as it shriveled into nothingness.
"Oh no." Whispered Judy, walking over to the tree. She ran her small hand over the floor, hoping to find something, anything, that proved to her that what she just saw hadn't happened.
Before the group had time to recover from that shock though, the alarm panel in the room sounded, lighting up the signal that indicated the Research Lab.
"The main lab! Something's wrong!"
Six pairs of legs ran for the area that lay next to the workshop, as they moved, Bernard turned to Noel, "You have a detection system in your room?"
"Yeah, how do you think I always knew everything before you did?"
He nodded to himself and kept running.
****************************************************
The door to the main lab was smashed. Broken glass and wood, covered in soot and ash lay all around.
Curtis ran inside, "The new machine blew up! Quinton? Quinton are you okay?"
From beneath a pile of wreckage in the corner, a small hand began to dig itself out. Judy picked up the edges of her dress and moved as fast as she could towards the person.
Luckily, Quinton wasn't buried too deep in the ruble and was unhurt, "I don't know what happened. The machine just seemed to self-destruct."
"Alright, we'll get a clean-up crew in here. Why don't you go to bed for the night Quinton, get some rest?"
"Sure" The elf stumbled off towards the lodging quarters, and he never looked back.
Sighing, Santa ran his hands through his hair, "Well, I guess that ends the party for tonight."
Noel stared down at wet ash that was being created as the tears fell from her face to the floor. Tiny spots of sadness dotting the once beautiful floor. Her mental musing was interrupted as Larry and Jessica called out to Santa.
"The presents are disappearing!"
"Come quick!"
It was true. The majority of the wonderfully wrapped presents had simply faded away, and more were going. Most of the elves simply stood around, staring is disbelief.
Santa cleared his throat, "I have an announcement to make. My friends, there is a problem with the Spirit of Christmas that we are trying to figure out. Please stay calm and don't panic."
As the Clauses turned around to walk upstairs, Noel made a decision. She threw a longing glance at the pained face of Bernard and looked back at her boss.
"Call the council. I'm going to try to contact the Spirit."
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