Mischief Makers: The Trick

Glitter was not happy with Nim.

First, he made a giant mess with bits of paper on her first night on assignment.

Then, he dumped red and green sprinkles all over her and the gingerbread village she put together for the boys.

What would he do next? How long would it take for the big guy to hear about Nim’s behavior and her failure to keep him in line?

Something had to be done.

“Nim,” she began innocently. “Did you have a plan for tonight?”

Nim yawned and stretched.

“Not really,” he said. “I thought we might decorate the tree a bit more and hide in the branches.”

“Oh,” she said, surprised. “That sounds–“.

“There is plenty of toilet paper we can use as tinsel.”

“Oh,” she said, not-so-surprised.

Nim started for the bathroom.

“I know! Let’s use Legos to write a message to the boys!” called Glitter frantically, stopping him mid-flight.

Nim, suddenly full of energy, zipped to the Lego table.

“That’s a great idea Glitter! We can sprinkle a trail of Legos from their room to the Lego table!”

“Wait!” she called as he started to do just that. “Let’s write the message first.”

Nim fluttered back to the Lego table to help.

“You build their names and I’ll build the message,” said Glitter.

“Ok!”

Nim was so focused on building the boys’ names that he didn’t notice that Glitter wasn’t building a message at all.

“Nim, can you come over here for a minute?” Glitter asked a few moments later.

Nim zoomed to where she was standing.

“Wow, what a great box! Is the message inside?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “Yes, it is.”

Without seeing the gleam of triumph in her eyes, Nim zipped into the box.

“I don’t see a mess–Hey!”

“Ha!” Glitter exclaimed. “Got you now!”

Nim’s reaction was not what she expected. She was prepared for anger, not hysterical laughter.

“Oh Glitter! What a funny trick!”

Glitter was surprised to feel a small glow pleasure at Nim’s compliment.

She was funny? Really?

“Oh. Well, I-I’m glad you aren’t upset at my little trick.”

“Upset? Why on earth would I be upset!” Nim grinned. “There’s hope for you yet!”

Glitter smiled. Nim had already completed the kindness task they were leaving for the boys.

Maybe there was hope for him yet!

Nim’s Joke

Why are Christmas trees very bad at knitting?

Because they always drop their needles!