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“Glitter! We miss you! How is your new job?” asked Pixie as Glitter cantered up to them outside the toy shop.
“Yeah, what have you been up to?” added Figgy.
Glitter shuffled her hooves and looked somewhere above Figgy’s pointed hat. “Oh, you know. A little of this, a little of that.”
Pixie and Figgy, brows raised, exchanged glances.
“There is so much to do for Mrs. Claus’ Special Pro—er, assistant, you know.”
“No, actually, we don’t kno–.”
“What’s that?” asked Glitter cocking an ear.
“What’s what?” asked Figgy, bewildered.
“Oh, yes. I think I hear Mrs. Claus calling about Cookie, poor dear keeps burning the curtains when he cleans. Well, you two have fun!” And with that, Glitter galloped off toward the Claus’ house without a backward glance.
“That was odd,” said Pixie.
“Yeah,” said Figgy. “Since when does Cookie clean?”
Pixie looked at Figgy in exasperation and shook her head. “Ok, let’s get going. Holly was going to meet us there.”
***
“It’s not that they’re bad,” said Holly as she paced across the kitchen, wringing her hands and frowning. “They’re actually quite polite and listen well.”
“Then…why are we here?” asked Figgy, confused.
“They’re just not excited about anything,” said Holly. “They’re…they’re bored.”
Holly bowed her head, looking ashamed that her assigned children were bored. Feeling as though she wasn’t doing a good enough job.
“Did you try the zipline from the Christmas tree?” asked Pixie. “That’s always a good one.”
“Yep, didn’t even crack a smile.”
“How about stuffing yourself in a mason jar with a ‘HELP! I’m trapped’ sign?” suggested Figgy.
“I did that one a few days ago. I thought I maybe saw the start of a smile, but it turned out to be a very long, loud yawn.”
Did you think to—,.”
“Look,” interrupted Holly. “I’m telling you I have tried everything I can think of. Nothing works. Nothing.”
Holly let out a small, squeaky sob and wiped her eyes. Pixie and Figgy felt awful for her. There must be something they could do to pull her out of this slump.
After a long pause Figgy asked, “What do they get excited about?”
“Alex, Steve, Creepers, Zombies, Skeletons, blocks, Piglins…and all of that.”
“Er,” said Pixie. “What?”
“Minecraft,” Figgy said knowledgably.
“Oh!” said Pixie. “Oh.”
Holly nodded solemnly.
“Well, that’s an easy fix!” exclaimed Figgy.
“It is?” Pixie and Holly asked in unison.
“Sure! We’ll just make the rest of the days full of Minecraft.”
Holly looked both hopeful and hesitant. Pixie, puzzled and perplexed.
Figgy shook his head and smiled. “I’ll make a list of fun Minecraft activities, crafts, and challenges for you to use the rest of the year.”
“Ok,” said Holly with a glimmer of excitement in her voice. “What do we do tonight?”
“Tonight, we LARP!”
“LARP?” asked Holly. “What is that?”
Figgy smiled. “Live Action Role Play! Now, who wants to be a Creeper?”
a pinch of homestead 