1 On One Snowy Night

Twas the night before Christmas. Snowflakes slowly drifted downwards from the night sky above. A thick blanket of white snow covered every biome. From the deserts to the Woodlands forest, snow was everywhere.

Children all around the OverWorld were anxiously awaiting the arrival of morning. Some eager children would try and stay up all night, but wouldn't succeed. If they wanted presents after all, they would have to be asleep.

From the Kingdom of the Plains, to a small cottage in the middle of the Woodlands Forest, everyone was preparing for an exciting day that would follow. Children, however, weren't the only ones waiting for the new day to begin. Adults were making last minute changes to their Christmas wishes and decorations. Everything had to be neat and in order before Santa arrived.

Our story begins with two young blockheads in a small, secluded cottage in the middle of the middle of the Woodlands Forest. Their names? Thomas and Aurora. Have they been on the nice list? Or naughty list? Let's take a look and find out, shall we?

"Thomas!" Aurora shouted as she ducked behind her mound of piled up snow, dodging Thomas' snowball attack. Both of them have been playing outside almost all day, except for when ma and pa made them stay indoors for family bonding in the morning.

It had seemed as if they had lost track of time, not paying attention to how late at night it was getting. In the night sky above, hiding behind occasional gray clouds, was a full moon. It shined bright.

Earlier in the day, Thomas and Aurora had built a snowman together. They decorated their snowman with a red and yellow scarf wrapped around its next, pieces of coal they took from the chest inside near the fireplace, and sticks they found lying around in their yard. After completing the snowman, they had to come up with a name for him. The name they had chosen was Mister Sugarplum McSlushy. Odd name for a snowman, don't you think? It was a silly name indeed. Giggle if you must. After all they were just tiny, young blockheads. What would you name your snowman?

"Can you just stop throwing snowballs for one second?" Aurora asked as she was still ducked behind her snow mound. For a moment, he did stop. What he didn't know was that Aurora had a big snowball in her hand, ready to retaliate back at her silly little brother. Counting down from three, she jumped back up onto her feet. Her arm was high in the air.

Thomas should've seen this trick coming. But he didn't. Aurora threw the snowball at him with all her might. As she did that, the door to their house opened. Their mother stepped outside, with their father standing behind her.

"Time to come inside and—," Juliana, their mother said as the snowball that Aurora had thrown hit her in the face. Her face suddenly became covered with cold, white snow. She opened her eyes and blinked twice.

Thomas and Aurora stood frozen in place (pun not intended.) Was their mother upset? They didn't know. For all they knew, she was stunned. She looked back at their father. He giggled.

"Well it seems this look suits you, Ms. Jingle-bottom," Quintin, Thomas and Aurora's father said. Thomas and Aurora laughed as their mother looked back at them.

"Oh you little stinkers!" Juliana growled as she ran down the steps and into the snowy backyard. She leaned over and picked up a handful of snow. She packed it together and turned it into a snowball. "Now it's my turn. I'm gonna get you two little blockheads."

Quintin closed the door and ran down the cobblestone steps and into the backyard. Having to join in on the fun, Quintin made a snowball out of now and tossed it at the nearest blockhead to him—Juliana. The snowball hit her in her butt.

"Ow. That was my butt," Juliana said as she threw a snowball back at Quintin.

"Oopsie," Quintin responded as a snowball hit him on the head. His face was now covered in snow just like Juliana's. Thomas and Aurora began running around the backyard dodging any snowballs that came their way. Who says a little fun before bed was bad?

Because they were so busy having fun together as a family, they didn't notice the small elf hiding behind an oak tree. He was wearing a pointy red and green striped hat, a red button up coat, and black pants, with black leather, laced shoes. He smiled as he looked down at his wrist. He was wearing a golden bracelet. It was glowing all sorts of colors. Green, blue, red, and purple.

"Santa," the elf said, "come in Santa. This is Phineas."

"Phineas?" A deep voice responded through the magical, enchanted bracelet, "how are they behaving?"

"As any young blockhead should. Playing outside with their parents and just having fun," Phineas responded.

"Ho, ho, ho," Santa said, "I knew they were good children. I think I'll do something extra special for them tonight."

As our friends continued to bond as a family, our dear old jolly friend Santa Claus himself was loading his heavy red sack of presents onto his sleigh. Three ankle-height tall elves were guiding Vixen, Comet, and Donner into their positions in front of the sleigh.

Oh, how could I forget about Misses Claus? She too was present wishing her dear husband a safe journey. As usual, she had a special drink prepared for him to keep him warm.

As Santa boarded his big, wooden red sleigh, Misses Claus took the surprise drink out from behind her back. It was Santa's favorite—Cinnamon Eggnog. As he put his pointy red hat on top of his head of long grey hair, he looked down at Misses Claus.

The Elves were pulling back the large wooden sliding doors, opening the ice tunnel. Gliding down the ice would help Santa's sleigh pick up speed. And you thought it was just going to be something like "up, up, and away" didn't you?

"Misses Claus...my dear. You know I'll be warm. Just look at how fat I am!" Santa said as he gladly accepted the glass bottle filled with the cinnamon eggnog. He put the glass bottle in his large coat pocket, smiling at Misses Claus.

"No naughty nonsense you hear me? You be good now!" Misses Claus said. "You must be going now," Misses Claus said as Santa looked over at the Countdown clock hanging on the wall. The bell chimed, indicating the timer had started. T-minus twelve hours. "Be safe now."

"I always am," Santa responded as he grabbed the ropes to the reindeer. He adjusted his coat and winked at Misses Claus. She took a few steps back. Her hands were behind her back while she sported a bright smile on her face.

As Santa rose his arms, readying himself to whip the ropes and call out the reindeer's names, he looked down at his three tiny helpers. Lars, Moon, and Sunshine. The three elves would help him deliver presents by throwing them over the sleigh, while Santa jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

"Say their names with me now," Santa said to Lars, Moon, and Sunshine. They were jumping up and down with joy. Another exciting year helping Santa deliver presents worldwide, biome to biome.

"On Dasher, on Prancer, and Vixen too," Santa said, "on Comet, on Cupid, and Donner and Blitzen."

He whipped the ropes, with the ropes making a whiplash sound. All seven reindeer began pulling the heavy sleigh with all of their might. Misses Claus waved goodbye to Santa. He waved back at her before disappearing into the ice tunnel.

Once he was gone, she could hear him cheering with joy as his voice echoed throughout the ice tunnel. The ice tunnel was dark. The iron legs of the sleigh glided on top of the ice smoothly.

As he continued to make his way out of the ice tunnel, some other tiny elves were waiting for him to come out of the end of the ice tunnel. A small group of about five or six elves were standing in the snow.

But wait! There's a catch. These aren't just any kind of elves. No, they don't help Santa make toys for young blockheads. Instead, they're mean and cruel elves. Their name? The Dark Elves. Not only have they been Santa's number one foe, but they have tried hundreds of times to acquire the magic of Christmas. But they failed epically.

Don't underestimate these cruel elves. Instead of wearing cheerful clothing like the others do, they instead wore all black clothing. They're skin color was grey, and they had pointy and ugly noses.

Santa's sleigh flew out of the tunnel and into the brisk and cold night. As his sleigh flew over them, they ducked so that he wouldn't see them. Wearing all black clothing didn't really blend in too well with their surroundings. Luckily for them, they weren't spotted.

"That was a close call," Scooter, the elf in charge of this night mission, "I thought you said he wouldn't see us here? That this spot was out of sight?"

"He didn't see us!" Earl responded, "we're fine."

As they bickered back and forth to each other, Santa was heard shouting at the top of his lungs. The dark elves' mission was to steal the magic from Santa's sleigh. Without magic, how could he possibly deliver every present on time?

The Dark Elves have had enough of failed attempts. Tonight was going to be the night they will finally ruin Christmas once and for all. Why would anyone want to sabotage Santa and ruin Christmas? It's the one holiday every blockhead looks forward to. Without it, what would become of the OverWorld then?

Scooter grabbed a black-painted wooden wand out of his inventory. He held it high into the air, far above his head. Earl and James looked at it.

"You know what Scooter?" James said, "this year might finally be the year we destroy Christmas."

"And once we do, everyone will be on their knees begging us to return Christmas to them. With the magic from his sleigh, we'll be considered the most powerful elves in the entire OverWorld," Scooter lectured as he glanced up into the night sky.

Flying in front of the full moon was Santa. He was shouting the words "ho, ho, ho" as he flew all around in the cold air.

"Fetch the sleigh and wolves," Scooter ordered Earl and James to do quickly. The longer they waited to act, the further Santa got away from them. They were determined to finally get what they've always wanted—the magic of Christmas.

Did Santa know anything at all that was about to happen? Did he suspect anything? Of course he didn't. The one and only thing he cared about tonight was getting gifts out under Christmas trees around the World.

Why don't we move along and follow Santa on his journey? Speaking of which, where is Santa? He couldn't have flown away that quickly, right?