“Stix? PIXY STIX!” “Huh?” “Stix, we were supposed to be in the workshop 5 minutes ago!” ChocoCane said, shaking her best friend awake. “Dang it! I missed my alarm?!” shouts Pixy Stix, the elf now sitting up in bed, quickly stretching, and running over to her wardrobe. “Thanks for coming to get me, CC.” “Don’t mention it. Now, hurry. Santa wants all elves in the auditorium at 9!” replied ChocoCane, adjusting her glasses and checking her watch. Her watch read 7:06 now. The two elves hurried down the stairs from the second floor of Pine Hall, a large two-story cottage that the two lived in with some of the other elves. It was a cold late November morning, so they grabbed their coats on their way out the front door. “So, why is it that we’re still working before Mr. Claus’s assembly?” asked Pixy Stix, confused. “C’mon Stix, don’t you remember? Ms. Gall said we have to pitch in, all of us. Especially this year. No exceptions.” So far that year, things kept going wrong at the North Pole. One of the reindeer, Rudolph, had been spooked and flew away. A small search party of elves was sent to find him. That failed terribly. The elves weren’t injured, but no one has seen any sign of Rudolph since they returned from their mission. The North Pole Auto Shop had caught fire only a few months ago as well. About a quarter of the shop burned down, and four elves suffered burn-related injuries. A lot of people had been moved to the Naughty List too. But, most devastating of all? For months, the Great Christmas Icicle has been melting at an alarming rate, and no one has managed to fix the problem. Why? Why is it melting so fast? Why can’t the melting be stopped? The answer?: a rapid decline in the love, compassion, and joy in the world. These three things are at the heart of the holiday season, and without it throughout the year, The Great Christmas Icicle melts. Thing is, the Icicle is different from all other icicles. It’s not frozen because of the cold; it’s kept frozen by the warmth of love. Entering the workshop, Pixy whistles, just loud enough that some of the chatter stops, then resumes 3 seconds after. Then, the somewhat faint sound of dogs’ nails hitting the finished wooden floors. Then, WHAM! Something— or rather, someone — knocks Pixy Stix to the floor with a thud. One of the someones, the one whose fur was snowy white, licked Pixy’s face at least ten times — if not more — before hopping off the elf. “Stix! Stix!” the large white puff yelped, bouncing left to right. “You’re back! You’re back! You’re back!” The samoyed bounced some more before sitting on her bottom and wagging her bushy tail excitedly. Pixy Stix giggled as she sat up to face the fluffy snow-colored dog at her side. “Of course I’m back. Why wouldn’t I be?” she chuckled. “How are ya, Blizz?” The puff stood up to get closer to Pixy Stix. “Better now that you’re here!” “Blizzard, we’ve talked about pouncing on her,” said a dark red golden retriever sitting at ChocoCane’s feet. “I’m sorry, Stix.” “It’s alright, Poinsettia. You know she does that in the mornings,” Stix said, turning to the retriever. “I just don’t want you hurt,” Poinsettia said, walking over and nuzzling against Stix. “She’s fine, Tia. Don’t worry your pretty little head,” said Velvet, a red goldie whose fur was a lighter red, and was wearing a white dog sweater with a small red heart on his chest. “But, brother—” “Tia…” Velvet said, eyeing Poinsettia. “If Stix doesn’t like it, I’m sure she’ll say something.” Poinsettia let out a dog-y sigh through her nose. “Fine, I’ll leave it alone. But I’m still not allowing her to get hurt.” ChocoCane chuckled softly. “She’ll be fine, Poinsettia. Our Stix is a tough cookie. Blizzard has been knocking over her since Blizz was big enough to knock her over. She hasn’t had to go to the infirmary once since Blizzard started doing that.” It was pretty much a normal morning in the workshop. Everyone was busy. No matter where you looked, someone was up to something. Elves over in the wrapping station, inspecting the wrapping machines, getting ready to start for the day. Elves in the food court, getting breakfast, chatting away, sipping their piping hot cocoa. Ms. Gall checking to make sure everything’s in working order around the workshop. Pixy Stix, ChocoCane, and the three dogs headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. Blizzard, being the energetic samoyed she was, darted towards a woman whose hair was as snowy-white as her fur. “Mrs. Claus!” she exclaimed, jumping up on the woman, her front paws on her stomach, and licked the woman. The white puff always loved the way Mrs. Claus smelled. Since an average dog has an incredible sense of smell, Blizzard could smell traces of scents from Mrs. Claus’s kitchen on the woman’s clothing, especially on her apron. Because of this, to Blizzard, Mrs. Claus smelled of ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, and hot cocoa.
