WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

Read Part 1

Actually (pronounced, acherly) I heard from my source at the North Pole several days ago but hadn't the heart to add to the generally miserable news I already shared. But today came another missive. Now, you may not like it, but if you don't, you'll just have to lump it--as they say.



Santa's polar bear can be a real pill. Just because he's got a broken leg set with duct tape, he feels sorry for himself. Big baby. Since everything is on hold while the elves, etc., are away chasing the thieving trolls, Andre, Chief Toymaker to Santa Clause has taken a flat-bed cart from Costco (they donated it, acherly) and turned it into a perfectly fabulous rolling chair for Bear:)



I love it when something rhymes.



Andre padded the cart, put a luverly pile of pillows on it for Bear to lean against and added brakes on the wheels so Bear can stop and go at will.



So, you wonder, what does it matter if the Bear is ungrateful--we have bigger fish to fry--or rather smaller ones? We have trolls to defeat and elves to save and Santa's temper to cool off, and FAIRIES to make. And we don't have much time.


True.



But what you don't know is where Bear is right now, as the trolls and elves are warring on the edge of chocolate lake and the elves--being lighter than the trolls--are acherly winning because they're advancing on the trolls who have dropped every single stolen toy and tool on the ice to begin a retreat.

The trolls are slipping and sliding away with empty hands and the elves are tippy-toeing across the fragile lake surface to retrieve what everyone needs. Hooray!



Uh oh!



Bear is bearing down on the scene, roaring at the top of his considerable lungs. He arrived on the last and steepest slope down to the lake and is whipping toward the ice, muffler flying, ears flattened to his head, wheels on the cart going so fast they look like orange and white striped lollipops.



And the brakes have snapped . . .



Smash!!!



Crack!!!



Screech!!!



Many screeches, acherly!!!



That bear has broken the ice and sent all the elves, all the toys and all the tools into the water--I mean, chocolate. There are things like that at the North Pole--chocolate lakes, that is.



Ah, well--you win some, you lose some. It does make you a bit mad to see all those trolls laughing like that.



Laughing? No, they're wailing. My goodness, they're sliding into the bubbling chocolate and because they're heavy, they're sinking. The only way for them to keep their heads above chocolate is to drink it fast. Wow, I knew they were greedy, but fear for their lives makes them rapacious. Look at 'em go. Slurp, slurp, suck, suck, globble, globble.



The level of the lake is going down so fast, I can't believe it. Well, acherly, I can because I knew it wasn't terribly deep.



Oh, my, now I see all the toys and the tools, and the elves have stopped swimming because they can stand on the bottom. And the trolls are still stuffing down the chocolate because they've lost their senses entirely and can't control themselves.



Will they come to their senses eventually and beat up the elves, take away the tools and toys again?



Of course not, you sillies. Don't you remember what I told you after I first heard what was going on up at the North Pole?



Chocolate makes trolls sick. A lot of chocolate makes them very sick. Gazillions of gallons of chocolate . . . well, it won't be pretty, but the elves, Santa, the reindeer, the toys and the tools will be back at the castle getting cleaned up and ready for the Big Night before things get really icky.





Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Wonderful 2009 to all. We'll hang in there together and remember as often as we can that the people who are part of our lives matter more than any thing possible could. Thank you for sharing with all of us here and thank you for putting up with my serial silliness:)



Fondly, Stella



Q: What is your very favorite part of Christmas, or your particularly special Holiday?