Pontypandy was covered in snow on the early Christmas eve Morning. It was very early and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Penny was walking into the station after she got off Trevor's bus. Sam was waiting for her outside right by Jupiter. Ellie was decorating the station while on Jupiter's ladder. Elvis was helping her from the balcony with the garland. Station Officer Steele was checking his mailbox for postcards from all of Pontypandy in addition to Chief Fire Officer Boyce. While Sam was working with the tree, Penny walked up behind him. She shouted "BOO!"
Sam yelped in surprise and then slipped to a snow bank which caused him to get covered in snow. Ellie, Arnold, and Elvis were laughing at it and they saw it as hilarious. Sam laughed it off and pulled her into the snow as payback. "Morning, Penny. How did you like your fall to the snow?" Sam asked.
"I am gonna say. I love it… Unless it was you who pulled me in, then I say I am crazy about the holidays."
"Why? What's up?"
"You really seem to give me a hard landing. It's like an ice chest out here."
"Did I? Oops."
Sam laughed and then he left Penny as she got up herself. Penny went to her locker and stored her bag in there before she got her Station uniform on and helped everyone decorate the station. Ellie was just about to finish decorating the outside of the balcony with garland when Elvis was not even focused on the job. "Elvis. What are you doing?" She asked.
Elvis didn't pay attention to her. He seemed to be focused on his airpods playing his music. "Elvis!" Ellie called again.
No answer from him. Ellie tried waving to him and he still didn't focus on her or the job. "ELVIS!" Ellie shouted louder. Elvis pulled the garland and he started playing it like a guitar which had Ellie reach for it. She tried reaching for it and then she lost balance. The garland dropped and then Ellie tried to catch it and then she clinged to it. She was now hanging for dear life. "HELP!" She shouted.
"Hang on, Ellie! I'm on my way!" Sam called.
Sam grabbed a short extension ladder and then placed it right under Ellie who was hanging onto the garland while hanging onto Jupiter's ladder. Sam had no time to waste. Arnold and Station Officer Steele heard her and they raced out to where Sam is and then Jupiter's ladder began to bend. The ladder then snapped and it caused her to fall halfway still hanging on and then it was no time to lose at the fire station. "Penny?! We're going to need you!" Steele called.
"On my way, sir!"
Penny ran out with her turnout gear on and then she saw the state they were in with Ellie hanging onto Jupiter. Elvis had no idea that Ellie was hanging onto Jupiter with the garland. "The ladder's too short to get Ellie down from Jupiter's ladder." Remarked Sam.
"Then how do we get her down?" Penny asked.
"I don't know… Tom's out on a call for Dilys." Arnold added.
Sam had an idea how to get Ellie down. He grabbed the garland and then launched it to her. "I got it. If we get the garland right to her and we can use it with bungee cords to tie it down, she'll be able to get down with us catching her." added Sam as he threw the garland to the ladder.
Penny launched a bungee cord to the garland and it tied the garland down to Jupiter's ladder. "Firefighter Phillips! Grab hold of the Garland and then carefully climb down to us. We'll catch you if anything happens." Steele called to her.
"Ok!" Ellie replied.
Ellie grabbed hold of the garland and then she carefully climbed down. She felt her wrist in between climbs down to them and then she was soon on the ground with Sam, Penny, Arnold, and Station Officer Steele around her. Ellie held her wrist and then Sam looked at the damage to Jupiter while Penny examined her friend's wrist. "Are you alright, Ellie?" Sam asked.
"I'm fine, Sam. I didn't see where I was and then… I somehow… Fell from the ladder and caught myself… in time… Where's Elvis?"
"I think Station Officer Steele would know."
Station Officer Steele looked to the balcony and saw Elvis remove his airpods after he finished singing to his music. This gave Station Officer Steele the perfect opportunity to shout at him. Elvis had no idea. He looked for the garland and then tied the last piece for the balcony as it was still there. Elvis tied it to the balcony and packed it up. "Alright, Ellie. Garland's all tied up and ready for the holidays. I'll see you inside." Elvis chimed.
"CRIDLINGTON!" Station officer Steele shouted.
Elvis paused and then he walked to the balcony where he saw Station Officer Steele, Arnold, Penny, Sam, and Ellie standing behind a damaged Jupiter which has a bent extension ladder. "Y-yes, sir?" he asked.
"My office! On that double!"
"Yes, sir."
Elvis went to the office and Station officer Steele went to meet him while Penny, Arnold, and Sam stayed with Ellie. Sam and Arnold were seeing the damage to Jupiter. The Ladder was clearly bent and it wouldn't even be locked. Sam was on the phone with the maintenance team and they said that Jupiter will have to be kept at the station until they can come by and fix it. Until they can, a spare truck with Jupiter's name will have to be sent to Pontypandy. Penny was with Ellie who was holding her wrist. "You alright, Ellie? You're holding your wrist." Penny asked.
"Not really… I was hanging on and I managed to somehow hurt my wrist… I was desperate to get down…"
"Oh my… I guess Elvis didn't pay attention. Did he?"
"No… He was too focused on his airpods."
Penny was examining Ellie's wrist and then Ellie felt the pain where it hurt the most and Penny grew worried. "Oh… I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" She asked.
"It probably did."
"Well, I'm not sure if it's broken, but I think a trip to the hospital is to be done. Just to be safe."
"Ok, Penny."
Sam came down from Jupiter's roof and then walked over to Arnold who looked at the bent extension ladder. He seemed on edge with Elvis after that huge mishap. "Well… Maintenance says they won't be able to fix this ladder until they have a chance to come by. They're sending us a spare rig until this one can be fixed. I'm not sure which one, though." Sam said to Arnold.
"Right… The only question is… How did this happen?"
"Elvis was too focused on decorating the balcony with his airpods and somehow he pulled the garland away from Ellie and she hung onto Jupiter for dear life."
"My goodness, can anything be right for the holidays?"
"No idea, Arnold. Your guess is as good as mine."
"Yeah… I thought so."
While Sam and Arnold were working on Jupiter, Penny walked over to Station Officer Steele who was on the phone with Boyce and then he paused for a moment. "Yes, Penny?" He asked.
"Sir… I'm taking Ellie to Newtown Hospital. I'm not sure if her wrist is broken. I'll let you know if anything changes. Ok?"
"Alright, Penny. Drive safe out there."
Penny and Ellie left for Newtown Hospital in Venus and then Station Officer Steele went to find Elvis in his office. He was not happy with him after what happened out there with Ellie. Elvis knew that he did something wrong and then he stared at him. "You have no idea what you just did, Cridlington…" He said crossly.
"I didn't even know she was hanging on, sir…"
"I'll be notifying Chief Fire Officer Boyce… which I already did."
"Oh no… What did I do?"
"You left Ellie to finish the garland on the balcony while on Jupiter's Ladder."
"Why did I… Oh…"
"Yeah… You left her to do this on her own. Jupiter is now damaged and a spare truck is on the way to us. Why were you focused on music and not your job?"
"I don't know, sir…"
"Well, this is the first time Jupiter has been damaged with Ellie on the job. I won't have you in trouble or anything… Just keep an eye on things next time. Ok? Oh, and uh… You can listen to your music while not on a job in the station unless a call comes in."
"Ok, sir…"
Elvis left and then Station officer Steele filed an incident report in the station. He filed it because of Jupiter being damaged while decorating the station. Sam had parked Jupiter by the training tower and then Arnold put a sign that said out of service in the cab of Jupiter. They waited for word on Ellie and their spare rig.
