CHAPTER 5:

In which F.C. and Co. are decorating for the holidays and things very nearly go amiss.

Cliff House

North Pole

December, 19–

My Dear Children,

Thank you very much for your nice letters. Each one of you has improved so much in your grammar and spelling, I shouldn't wonder if you all become accomplished writers like your father! The North Polar Bear is glad to hear that you enjoyed the gingerbread cookies he sent you.

Well! We have been rather late in putting up our holiday decorations this year. Of course, my home is always decorated for Christmas, but we always add just a few more bits and baubles in December. This year, Polar and his nephews decided to put up a Christmas tree on the front porch. A lovely thing it is indeed, with its branches artfully dusted with snow by Snow Man. The gnomes trimmed it with gold garland and silver tinsel, and Ilbereth added his favorite jeweled bulbs, which are very pretty against the deep green. It will be a glorious sight once the candles are lit!

Paksu and Valkotukka so dearly wanted to light the candles, but they can hardly be trusted with matches. Only a half-hour ago, Bellman caught them lighting a box's worth of them on the doorstep, which set it alight! You may scarce believe it, dear children, as it is so very cold and snowy here, but alas it did happen.

Poor Snow Man took fright at the flames, and Ilbereth rushed for the fire hose. Wonderful handy things, those fire hoses are, but quite powerful if I may say so myself! I had just returned from my little night-time stroll and was making my way to the door when Ilbereth trained the hose on the doorstep and turned it on to douse the fire. How cold the water was as it sprayed my face and suit, and the blast nearly bowled me over! Ilbereth promptly apologized, but I told him not to worry. Thanks to his quick thinking, the doorstep was not harmed at all. Now there is a great quantity of slippery ice on it that slopes gently to the ground.

… ….…. … ….. …

yes Snow Man, the snowboys may enjoy sliding on the ice but we do NOT, at least not without skates and certinly not when carrying hevy boxes of gifts!

Let the snow boys have their fun, my dear Polar. That ice slide does look quite delightful. We can always use the side doors.

But never fear, children, I am recovering quite well from my watery surprise. I am presently sitting by the fire bundled in my furs with the kettle just beginning to sing. Once I am warm and toasty again, I shall light the candles on the Christmas tree. Paksu and Volkatukka are not allowed to play with matches anymore without Polar's supervision. They are quite content to watch me finish trimming the tree while they sip their chocolate.

That is all for now. I am looking forward to delivering your presents this year. I have read through your lists very carefully, and I believe you will like what you receive very much.

Your Loving,

Father Christmas

A.N: Didn't think I would get inspo to write more of these silly little letters this year, but here we are! I got the idea of Father Christmas being sprayed by a hose while I was taking a walk to see the Christmas lights in my neighborhood. One of my neighbors has an inflatable Santa decoration that gets sprayed by the lawn sprinklers whenever they go off, which is pretty funny.

Happy holidays to all of you! Feel free to drop a review. It may take some time for me to reply to them since I don't get email alerts due to the recent outages, but I do appreciate your feedback! :D