Category Archives: Garden Stories

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“Just two more houses to go!” exclaimed Figgy as he landed with a thump on the kitchen counter at the Sampsons.

“Wow, it’s gone by so fast,” said Pixie.

“I know,” said Figgy slowly, hesitantly. “Meeting so many different kids, helping all these Mischief Makers has been…”.

“Frustrating?”

“Well…”.

“Eye-opening?”

“Erm…”

“Fun because we’ve helped so many Mischief Makers and kids enjoy the season more, but a little lonely because we haven’t really connected with any one family?”

“Yeah, something like that,” agreed Figgy.

Lil nodded. “Yes, I miss our old job a little too. Both are fun, but there is something special about making mischief in one house for the whole season.”

Figgy smiled and nodded, happy to have a partner who understood the joy of Mischief Making.

“Ok,” said Pixie. “We have the Sampsons tonight and tomorrow the Talbots.”

“Yep,” said Figgy. “Sparkle couldn’t meet us tonight, she had an emergency appointment with Santa about something that happened a few nights ago with cotton balls, sand and the Sampson’s television.”

“Yikes.”

“I know, but I have her notes here. Samantha Sampson will not eat her breakfast and she refuses lunch and dinner. All she wants to eat are oranges and grapes.”

“Ick,” said Pixie.

“I know,” agreed Figgy. “If she’s going to eat only one thing, it should be something good. Like marshmallows dipped in syrup.”

“Or marshmallows dipped in syrup then dipped in crushed up candy canes.”

“Yum! Or, marshmallows dipped in syrup, dipped in crushed up candy canes, then dipped in dark chocolate candy coating.”

Pixie and Figgy stared blissfully at the microwave, imagining all the melted chocolate and marshmallows.

“What if,” Pixie began slowly. “What if we made Samantha our favorite breakfast?”

Figgy’s face brightened. “Yeah, maybe she just hasn’t found the right breakfast combination yet. We could totally help her with that.”

Pixie beamed and headed for the pantry while Figgy raided the fridge. “Let’s see what we have to work with.”

A few minutes later, they had pulled out all of the ingredients they thought they needed.

“Spaghetti noodles?” asked Pixie.

“Check!”

“Marshmallows?”

“Check!”

“Powdered sugar? Candy canes? Sprinkles and chocolate sauce?”

“Check, check, check and check!” said Figgy.

Pixie scratched her head, surveying all the ingredients. “Something is missing.”

“You are right, this doesn’t look like a very balanced breakfast,” agreed Figgy.

“Oh!” shouted Pixie. “Maple syrup!”

Figgy nodded. Maple syrup, one of the key food groups, was a must.

“Ok, Pixie,” said Figgy. “I think we are all set. Samantha will not be able to resist this delicious breakfast.”

They left a note, forging Sparkle’s signature, and then headed out into the stars.

When they arrived back at the North Pole, satisfied with their work for the night, Glitter was waiting for them on the tarmac.

“Hey Glitter, what’s up?” asked Pixie.

Glitter looked at them gravely. “It’s time for you to find out what Mrs. C. and I have been up to this season. Come with me.”

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Figgy glared at Pixie furiously.

“Figgy,” said Pixie in exasperation. “I can feel your glare.”

“Hmph.”

“You should have explained the rules better. How was I supposed to know??”

“How were you supposed to—what? You don’t know that it is NOT ok to steal other peoples resources?”

“Wel–.”

“OR, destroy their houses that they worked very, VERY hard on?”

“I thought it was—.”

“And for goodness’ sake Pixie. Everyone knows that you are never, under any circumstances, supposed to dig…STRAIGHT DOWN!”

“Hem-hem.”

Figgy and Pixie turned to see a small, tiny really, elf waiting patiently in front of the Toy Shop.

“Oh, hello there,” said Pixie. “We were just, er, debriefing from last night’s job.”

“Hmph.”

Pixie rolled her eyes at Figgy and then turned back to the tiny elf. “You must be Tinsel?”

Tinsel nodded once.

Giving Figgy a “we’ll-talk-about-this-later” look, Pixie pulled out the folder on Tinsel’s assigned home. “Yes, of course. Let’s see, you have…Molly and she refuses to go to bed?”

Tinsel nodded a second time.

“Oh, that is a problem,” said Figgy.

Tinsel nodded a third time.

“Well, let’s get to the house and see what we have to work with. I’m sure we can figure some way to tire Molly out.”

Tinsel shot into the air toward Molly’s house, Pixie and Figgy close behind.

***

Fifteen minutes later, all three elves, having run down the hall and into the pantry, were panting and trying to catch their breath.

“She’s a menace!” grumbled Figgy.

“A terror,” added Pixie.

Tinsel nodded…again.

“Tinsel,” said Pixie, noticing that the elf had yet to speak. “Can you…that is to say, are you able to…”.

“Can you talk?” finished Figgy. “It’s just, you haven’t made a sound beyond clearing your throat.

Tinsel sighed and when she finally spoke, Pixie and Figgy were shocked by the tone of her voice. Expecting a high squeaky voice from one so small, what came out was a deep, baritone voice belonging to a much larger elf. Like Santa or the abominable snowman.

“I try not to. My voice is too loud, even at a whisper.”

“You’re whispering?” asked Figgy.

Tinsel nodded. “I think it might be why Molly doesn’t want to go to sleep. You see, she heard me on the first night and I’m pretty sure she thinks there is a big scary monster under her bed, so she finds any excuse not to go there.”

A loud gasp came from below. The elves peeked down to see Molly staring straight above the spot where they were hiding, a look of pure terror on her face.

“See,” said Tinsel, trying to be quieter. “She can—AGH!—hear me—AGHHHH!—even when I’m—AGGGGHHHH!—whispering.”

Pixie and Figgy could only stare. They were still unable to believe that such a deep voice came out of such a small body.

Tinsel nodded.

“Ok,” said Pixie, snapping out of her reverie. “We are just going to have to show Molly that there is absolutely nothing to be scared of.”

“How are we going to do that?” asked Tinsel.

“We’ll have to get a little goofy,” said Pixie.

“And a little messy,” added Figgy, picking up on Pixie’s plan.

Minecraft forgotten, Pixie and Figgy filled Tinsel in on the plan and got to work.

***

“Are you sure about this?” asked Tinsel staring at all the candy, sprinkles, icing, gummies, sugar coated chips, and ice cream cones strewn over the table.

“Trust us! Molly is going to love it. You said yourself she likes to do crafts. What better craft is there than sugar cone Christmas trees?”

“No, not that. I mean this!” Tinsel pointed to the sugar cone hat on top of his head. Icing and candy dripped down the sides into his eyes and all over his clothes. He felt ridiculous.

“Oh,” giggled Pixie. “Well, this way, maybe Molly won’t be so scared of you. It should work.

“Should? SHOULD??”

Pixie and Figgy backed away slowly. Tinsel was getting angry.

“Let us know how it goes!” shouted Figgy on his way out the door.

It was their cue.

Here’s the set up from last year, first story for 2022 scheduled to post on 11/30!

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North Pole Gazette

Reported by Sparkly Sprinkles

December 25, 2021

After a turbulent year, Pixie Powder and Figgy Frost are happy for some downtime at the North Pole. But these two Mischief Makers are in for a real surprise. 

A source who is familiar with the matter told this reporter that Frost and Powder are going to head up a new task force in the Mischief Maker Program: The B.R.A.T.T. Correctional Crew! 

B.R.A.T.T., or, Big Rowdy Association of Tiny Tyrants is an old division of the North Pole that, due to a series of in-home kerfuffles, has recently come back into service. Frost and Powder’s mission: assemble a team to target Tiny Tyrants and whip them into shape.

And here they come just out of Santa’s office! While Frost’s smile seems a bit forced and Powder’s giggle a little nervous, Santa knows these Mischief Makers are up to the job. 

Where will they go next? 

This is a developing story. 

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“You’d better come with us.” Pudgy turned and led the group back to the garden once again to discuss the new information. “I want Leo to hear it first hand.”

The small group of mice and not-quite-mice huddled outside the garden gate while waiting for Leo to come out. 

“Back again?” he asked through a mouthful of green beans. “Oh, hey Chipper.”

“Wait,” said Pipsqueak. “You know each other?”

“Sure.” Leo picked at his teeth. “We’ve met a time or two.”

“Of course you have,” Pudgy grumbled. “Chipper and his horde have information on the strawberry thief. They’ll share it with us if we let them in on our deal and share the garden.”

Leo looked shrewdly at Chipper. “You’ve got more brains than I gave you credit for Chipper.”

“Why you–!” 

“Enough!” Pudgy stomped his feet. “Let’s get on with it.”

“Well, what do you know?” Leo asked when Chipper was silent but for the twitch of a whisker.

“Not until you let us in on this deal,” said Chipper with nod at the garden. “How do we get in there without getting trapped?”

“Tell us what you know first, then we’ll tell you the secret,” said Pipsqueak.

Chipper looked from Leo to Pudgy to Pipsqueak. Gomer was chasing his tail. Again.

“Fine,” he said. “We were sniffing around the house, trying to find a way into the garage when we heard an odd sort of jingling sound. We scurried around the corner but all we saw was a shadow. A large shadow.”

The Three Tails and the chipmunks shared a frustrated look. This “new information” was not very helpful and here they’d agreed to share the secret of the garden. For one second, Pudgy considered not telling them how to get in, but his honor would not allow him to go back on his word. 

With a loud sigh, he shared the secret with their new allies and trudged back to the garage with Pipsqueak and Gomer.

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Chapter 5: The New Deal

“I cannot believe you agreed to their terms Pudgy!” Pipsqueak whispered angrily. “After we worked so hard to keep them away from the strawberries!”

The Three Tails wandered back to the garage only to find that more strawberries were missing. Since the chipmunks were occupied in the garden, they knew their culprit was still at large. 

“We have to work with them, Pipsqueak. Besides, they weren’t our strawberry thieves were they?”

“True,” sighed Pipsqueak. “So now we are back to square one.”

The trio huddled behind an old rusted coffee can watching the patch for trespassers. 

“I just don’t know who it could be,” murmured Pudgy. 

“Scoot over Gomer,” Pipsqueak whispered. “You’re hogging the coffee can.”

Gomer grunted but shuffled over.

“Shhh!” Pudgy squeaked. “I see movement behind the bushes!”

They peered around the side of the coffee can and watched as a few, very small, mice scurried around, digging around the strawberries.

“Uh…those don’t really look like mice. I mean, they do, but not really…you know what I mean Pudge?” said Gomer.

In surprise, Pipsqueak looked at Gomer and said, “Wow. You’re right Gomer.” He wasn’t normally so observant.

“What are you guys looking at?”

Pudgy, Pipsqueak and Gomer all jumped. One of the creatures had snuck up behind them. It had a mean look about it like it was ready to fight.

“We could ask you the same question,” said Pudgy, trying his best to sound menacing.

The not-mouse stared thoughtfully at them. “You must be the mice we’ve heard about. The ones who are living it up in the garage.”

“Yeah, so?” said Pipsqueak.

“Well, we all decided that we wanted in on that deal so we’re moving in.”

“What are you?” asked Pudgy. “You’re not regular mice.”

“That’s for sure,” it scoffed, looking offended. “We are field mice. I’m Chipper.”

Field mice, thought Pipsqueak. Burrowing under the ground, eating tubers and destroying gardens. Look at it with it’s short tail…mice are so much more civilized.

“Look, Chipper” said Pipsqueak. “This is our territory. We don’t have enough food to share with-with field mice so you’ll just have to scurry on to the next farm.”

“Ha! What a crock! We know you’ve made a deal with the chipmunks. We want in too.”

“No.” Pipsqueak twirled her tail aggressively around her paws.

Then, Chipper played his trump card. “Let us in on the deal you have with the chipmunks and I’ll tell you what I know about the strawberry thief. The real strawberry thief.”