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Sparkly Sprinkles had almost had enough. Trekking through knee deep snow drifts, almost getting attacked by a passing yeti, and falling face first into a puddle of hot cocoa was not her idea of a good time. She comforted herself by focusing on the story she would uncover and the headlines she would write once she found out what those Mischief Makers were up to.
“Mischief Makers Found Collaborating with Christmas Criminal…The Grinch!” she muttered as she trudged through yet another snow drift.
“Figgy Frost and Pixie Powder Admit to Secretly Sabotaging Santa’s Sleigh!” She laughed under her breath, relishing the ridiculous headlines as she imagined papers flying off the press.
“Who are you talking to, Pipsqueak?” A high-pitched, silly voice startled Sparkly. She fell, yet again, into the snow drift.
Getting back up, she quickly dusted herself off and frantically searched for the source of the voice.
“Who’s there? Where are you?”
Three warty and wiggly gnomes bounced out of the trees.
“I’m Snickerbottom!!”
“I’m Chuckleberry!!”
“And I’m Gigglesnort!”
Sparkly looked at the three suspiciously. “ Those can’t be your real names.”
All three gnomes drew back in mock outrage.
“How dare you besmirch our names,” said Gigglesnort with a snicker..
“How could you doubt our answers!” added Snickerbottom with a chuckle.
“How do you style your hair?” asked Chuckleberry with a giggle.
“I, well…I mean, are those really your names?”
“Of course!” They all three chanted.
“Oh. Well, I apologize for doubting you,” said Sparkly, turning on her saccharine-sweet voice. “I wonder if you could help me? You see, I’m looking for—.”
“Why did the snowman cross the road?” interrupted Gigglesnort.
Sparkly stared. “Um, what?”
“Because the chicken dared him to!” answered Snickerbottom.
The gnomes slapped their knees.
“Hee-hee,” she laughed half-heartedly. “Funny. But, I really need to find 4 elves and a rein—.”
“Why did Santa’s helper see the doctor?” demanded Chuckleberry.
Sparkly took a deep breath. “I’m not sure…”.
“Because he had low elf-esteem!” shouted Gigglesnort.
More raucous laughter ensued.
Sparkly rolled her eyes. “Yes, hilarious, but can you tell me if you’ve seen…”.
“What do you call a snowman with a sixpack?” asked Snickerbottom.
Sparkly turned red, losing patience with these three.
“The abdominal snowman!” answered Chucklberry.
The gnomes rolled in the snow, laughing so hard that Sparkly discovered how Gigglesnort got his name.
“HAVE YOU SEEN FOUR ELVES AND A REINDEER?????”
The gnomes abruptly stopped laughing.
“Geesh, you don’t have to get so upset,” said Gigglesnort.
“All you had to do was ask,” added Snickerbottom.
Chuckleberry burst into tears.
“Look, I’m sorry. I’ve been trudging through this snow for over a day and I just want to find four despicable elves and an overgrown reindeer. So. Have you seen them?”
Chuckleberry hiccuped.
Gigglesnort glared.
Snickerbottom answered. “Well, not that you deserve the answer, but it just so happens they passed through here yesterday chattering on about a mailbox.”
Sparkly sighed in relief, then her eyes brightened with interest. A mailbox? “Did you see which way they went?”
“They went right over there to the left,” pointed Gigglesnort.
“So they went left at the fork?”
“We don’t know. They left right before we could see which way.”
The laughter started all over again.
Sparkly groaned and, taking her chances, turned left at the fork.
a pinch of homestead 