a pinch of homestead

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“It’s called ‘hide and seek’ for a reason,” grumbled Kringle. “I can’t help it if they don’t at least try to look for me!”

“Kringle,” said Figgy. “You weren’t even on the property. You were hiding in the mailbox across the street.”

“And the other day you were hiding in a coffee shop down the street. Did you really think the boys would find you in either of those places???” Pixie was losing patience. They had been discussing Kringle’s unorthodox hiding plans for the season for over an hour. And getting nowhere.

Kringle puffed up, looking ready to fight, but then, Figgy put the icing on the cake.

“Of course, we could just send a note to the Candy Cane Review Board. You know, let them know that you can’t come to the tasting this year because you have to re-take Mischief Maker classes.”

Slowly deflating, Kringle eyed the two nervously. He couldn’t be kicked off the Candy Cane Review Board. New flavors came out every year the day after Christmas and Kringle had been tasting for years.

“I heard this year’s new flavors are Buttercream Dream and Chocolate Swirl,” said Figgy.

“Fine. I will hide in places that the boys will be able to easily find me. Won’t be any fun, but I’ll do it.”

“Kringle,” said Pixie. “There are plenty of ways to make each night fun. Especially since you have two excited and enthusiastic boys looking for you.”

“Yeah, do you know how disappointed they are that they can’t find you?” said Figgy.

“Really?” said Kringle. “I had no idea.”

“Probably because you are never there!” said Pixie. “Now come on. You have some making up to do.”

Figgy and Pixie let Kringle lead the way in the flight to the Kipps’ home. The fresh night air and starry sky did much to cool Pixie’s annoyance at Kringle. By the time they reached the living room, she was back to her old self and full of ideas.

“Tomorrow, you could hide here.” Pixie pointed to the Christmas tree.

“The next night you can do something mischievous like…oh, I know,” Figgy had found a sewing machine in the corner of the room. “You can make it look like you needed to sew up your clothes, but then got tangled in the thread!”

Kringle, despite his frown, let out a small giggle, quickly disguising it as an unbelievable cough.

“But tonight, you are going to do something really special. A scavenger hunt,” said Pixie.

Kringle’s eyes lit up. Now this was something he could get behind.

Pixie and Figgy pulled supplies out and started placing the clues around the house while Kringle followed them around asking questions. By the time they were done, Kringle was smiling. Genuinely smiling.

“This is going to be a blast!” Kringle exclaimed.

“I’m glad you think so,” said Pixie, handing Kringle a list of suggestions for the last few days of the year. “You’d better make the rest of the season as fun as you can. These boys have been so good and deserve a good elf.”

Kringle nodded firmly and climbed into his hiding place. Once settled, Pixie and Figgy waved goodbye and flew out the window.

“Are you sure that spot was a good idea, Pixie?” asked Figgy.

“Oh I’m certain. Being stuck in a balloon all day is hilarious and, the least he can do to make up for his behavior this season.”

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“Let me get this straight,” said Pixie. “Figgy bet Nim he could eat more chocolate covered coffee beans and lost because he didn’t actually know what chocolate covered coffee beans were?”

“That’s the long and short of it,” said Lil as she tried not to laugh. “Figgy started retching almost immediately, and Nim had to rush him to Nurse Carmello for emergency treatment.”

“Oh no,” said Pixie, aghast. “Not…The Salt Cleanse?”

“Yep. The only thing that will work on a case such as his.”

Pixie shuddered.

Lil shook her head, giggling. “You should have seen Figgy’s face after he put that coffee bean in his mouth!”

Pixie laughed.

Lil took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. “So, what do we have for tonight? I’m excited to be filling in for Figgy.”

“I’m afraid this might be a difficult one. Poor Trixie isn’t feeling well so we have the Talbot house tonight.”

“Poor thing! What happened?”

“Well, Tinker told her a hilarious joke and she laughed so hard she broke her funny bone.”

“Geez. What was the joke?”

Pixie rolled her eyes. “What do snowmen eat for dessert?”

Lil shrugged.

“Ice cream.”

Lil looked momentarily surprised.

“Not very funny, I know,” said Pixie.

Lil shook her head. “What is her child’s name?”

“Loren.” Pixie consulted the file. “She’s 8 years old and…this can’t be right. She’s afraid of…snow.”

Lil, taken aback, let out a sound somewhere between a snort and a gasp. “How can a child be afraid of snow?”

“I don’t know,” Pixie shrugged. “Come on, lets go see what we can find out.”

Pixie and Lil flew out across shining lakes and snowy forests. They arrived at the Talbots and landed on the dark and cold porch.

“It’s so beautiful here,” said Pixie. “Look at all this sparkling snow.”

“It’s almost as pretty as the North Pole,” agreed Lil.

Pixie’s eyes roamed around the landscape, taking in the beauty of the snow covered trees.

“Let’s go inside,” said Lil. “I think I hear something.”

“Darling, can’t you just try to go outside tomorrow and build snowmen with your cousin?”

“No, mama. It’s too cold and all that white snow,” Loren shivered. “I don’t like it.”

“Sweet girl, I wish you weren’t afraid of snow.”

She kissed Loren goodnight and quietly left the room, flipping off the light switch.

Pixie and Lil glanced at each other, unsure of how to proceed. Afraid of snow? They’d never run into that before.

“Figgy would know exactly what to do in this situation,” said Pixie.

“He would?”

“Oh yes, he’d just snap his fingers and say ‘All we need to do is bring her her favorite cookie and everything will work out.”

“I don’t think a cookie will work here, Pixie.”

“No, you are probably right.”

“But…what could work is bringing the snow inside to Loren.”

Pixie looked at Lil in concern. “But Lil, snow needs cold. It will melt if we bring it in.”

“Not the kind of snow I’m thinking of. Come on, I’m sure they have a bunch of them stashed away somewhere here.”

“A bunch of what?” asked Pixie. But Lil had already zipped out of the room and up the stairs.

“Where are you going, Lil??

“To find supplies!” Lil called over her shoulder.

When Pixie finally tracked her down, Lil was trying to lug a large bag of jumbo cotton balls out of the bathroom. “Found them!”

Pixie eyed the cotton balls and, frankly, thought Lil may have had one too many hot cocoas at the debriefing. Lil quickly explained.

“One of us is going to be a snowman, er elf. A snowelf!”

“How are we…”.

“The other one will be a regular elf who built the snowelf.”

“What are you…”.

“And we will show Loren that snowelves are nice and fun!”

“But…”.

“And, by association, snow is nice and fun,” finished Lil, a huge grin on her tiny face.

Pixie looked at Lil, then at the cottonballs

“Oh-Kaay,” said Pixie. “But how are we going to decide which of us is the…snowelf?”

“Rock, Paper, Snowball of course!”

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Figgy, Pixie, Nim and Lil huddled together on the North Pole Tarmac.

“Come on, Nim! You must have discovered something about what is going on with Glitter.”

“I’ve told you, Figgy, Glitter is keeping…whatever it is…under wraps. She won’t budge and just keeps saying that she’ll tell us what’s going on when she has “permission” from Mrs. C.”

Pixie and Lil sighed in frustration. Glitter had become more and more cagey about her activities with Mrs. Claus and they were starting to worry that it may be something that would affect the entire Mischief Maker and B.R.A.T.T. programs.

“Shhh!” Pixie hissed. “Here she comes!”

“Maybe we can get something out of her tonight at Joe and Jake’s,” whispered Lil.

“Oh, hello Glitter!” Figgy said brightly. “Fine evening, isn’t it?”

Glitter looked sideways at Figgy and shook her head. “Look, I’ve told you all a million times. I cannot reveal anything about this special chi—er, project. Please, please stop badgering me about it.”

“Aha!” said Pixie. “So it has something to do with…chili?”

“Or, chicken?” said Nim.

“Ooo, I know!” shouted Figgy. “Chinchillas!”

Everyone, including Glitter, stared at Figgy.

“Chinchillas, Figgy?” asked Lil. “Really?”

“Anyway,” said Glitter before an argument started. “We’d better get going. I can only help set up the birthday surprise for a little while before I have to get back to continue planning for…well, nevermind. Let’s just get going.

With exasperated and frustrated mumblings, the elves and Glitter took off into the night sky and headed for Joe and Jake’s house to set up the annual birthday surprise.

***

“Do you think they’ve outgrown candy and cake and all the sugar for breakfast?” asked Lil as she perused the contents of the cabinet and fridge. “Everything in here seems…really healthy.”

“Nah,” said Nim. “It’s Christmas time. I bet there is cookie dough and ice cream in the freezer and I’m sure the boys have candy hidden in their rooms; some things never change.”

“Woo-hoo!” exclaimed Pixie. “I found the secret stash!”

She hovered above a drawer filled to the brim with candy, cookies, chocolate and all manner of treats they’d expected to find.

“Wow,” said Figgy. “It seems like maybe they have enough sugar. Maybe we should do something different this year.”

Nim gaped at Figgy.

Lil’s gasped.

Pixie goggled.

Glitter, on the other hand, praised him. “I completely agree Figgy. There is far to much sugar in—.”

“GOTCHA!” shouted Figgy. “As if there is ever too much sugar at Christmas!”

“Figgy, you know that the metabolism of an elf is very different from that of a human child. As such…oh nevermind…”. Glitter trailed off as the elves were overtaken by a fit of raucous laughter.

“Oh Glitter,” said Lil. “We hear you. That is exactly why we decided to go the route of a yogurt parfait bar instead of pancakes this year.”

Glitter smiled and nodded. “I think that is a wonderful idea. Fresh fruits, yogurt and granola are a much healthier alternative.”

“Yes,” said Pixie. “We’ll have those things…but we’ll also have all of this!”

With a flourish, Pixie produced a line of sweet, sugary add-ins for the yogurt parfait bar. There were strawberries, blueberries, bananas and granola. But, chocolate chips, crushed graham crackers, mini marshmallows and all kinds of mini candies danced out behind these healthier options.

“I guess that’s a start,” Glitter said in a resigned tone.

“And don’t worry, we’re leaving a few fun minute-to-win-it games too. Exercise, after all, is important,” winked Nim.

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“Hello BRATT Crew!”

A roar of elf voices filled the toy shop. Elves joyfully jostled each other, getting excited for the end of the season.

“Well,” said Figgy. “How is the season going?”

“SO MUCH FUN!”

“WONDERFUL!!”

“MEH.”

“Ok, ok!” said Figgy. “We’ve just over one week to go before the grand finale.”

“WOO HOO!”

“WE LOVE YOU FIGGY!”

“If anyone is having trouble—really having trouble,” said Pixie, eying the two super-Figgy-fans in the front. “Please come and see Nim, Figgy, Lil, or me after the Christmas Corn Syrup toasts.”

With the clunk of glass tumblers full of gooey red and green syrup, most of the BRATT Crew had left for their respective assignments. But, two small…very small…elves remained.

“Mr. Figgy, sir?” said the green clad one.

“Ms. Pixie, ma’am?” asked the one in red.

Figgy and Pixie smiled and nodded encouragement.

“Hi, I’m PB…”.

“…and I’m Pickles.”

“We are at our magic’s end with our kid.”

“Why don’t you two start at the beginning and tell us about the problem,” said Pixie.

“Ok,” they said in unison.

“It all started on our second night there…,” began Pickles.

“We were watching and waiting for little Lolli’s bedtime—,” continued PB.

“When her parents suddenly called out, asking, ‘Lolli! Have you put away the dishes?’” cut in Pickles.

“Then,” picked up PB. “She did the most peculiar thing.”

Figgy, Pixie, and even Pickles, who already knew the story, waited with bated breath.

“She winked.”

“She…winked?” said Figgy.

“Are you sure she didn’t have something in her eye?” asked Pixie.

“Yes,” they said together. “We’re sure.”

“Go on,” said Figgy.

“Then, once again, her mom called up, asking her to do her chores.”

“When she didn’t answer, her mom came stomping up the stairs to find Lolli ‘sound asleep’.”

“But Lolli wasn’t asleep,” said Pickles. “As soon as her mom left the room–.”

“Lolli sat straight up in bed and began silently giggling until it turned into a full on belly laugh and could no longer be contained.”

“It didn’t stop there,” said PB. “She pretended to be sick the next day to get out of walking the dog.”

Pickles continued. “One day, every time her dad asked her to take the garbage out, she just said ‘5 more minutes’ until he gave up and took it out himself.”

“And, when her mom asks her to brush her teeth she always, always says ‘I already brushed them’,” finished PB.

“Maybe she has already brushed them,” said Figgy.

PB and Pickles shook their heads. “Come with us and see.”

The elves zipped to the Peterson’s home. Pixie and Figgy watched in wonderment as PB and Pickles shot through the air like tiny rockets. When they’d finally reached the home, the tiny elves led them to Lolli’s room.

“Good, she’s snoring,” said PB.

“Yes,” said Pickles. “It’s really strong when she’s snoring.”

Pixie and Figgy exchanged puzzled glances.

“Go on,” said PB.

“Smell it,” said Pickles, pointing at Lolli’s face.

Pixie and Figgy crept onto Lolli’s pillow. She let out a mighty snore and a blast so strong and disgusting hit the elves, knocking them to the floor where they wretched and gagged.

“That is awful!” shouted Figgy while he held his nose and raced for the door with Pixie. They could not get away from the stench fast enough.

When PB and Pickles finally found them in the bathroom, squirting Febreze^TM at each other’s faces, Figgy and already formulated a plan. “Right. I saw some Oreo^TM cookies on our way to Lolli’s room. I’m assuming she likes them?”

PB and Pickles nodded.

“Good,” he picked up a tube of toothpaste. “Let’s get them in here.”

“Figgy,” said Pixie. “You’re not going to—“.

“Yep, we are making these plain old Oreos^TM minty fresh.”

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Pixie had watched as Glitter silently slipped out of Sugar Water during Figgy’s 3rd, possibly 4th retelling of the previous night’s mayhem. After telling Figgy, Nim and Lil what she saw, they decided to investigate.

“There she is,” whispered Figgy as he watched Glitter canter to Santa’s home.

“Why do they keep meeting?” asked Pixie for the hundredth time. “What are they talking about and why isn’t Santa there too?”

“I don’t think he knows,” said Nim. “He seemed surprised the other day when I mentioned that I had seen Glitter at his house when I dropped off Mrs. C.’s order of sugarplums.”

“Oh Nim, that wasn’t surprise,” said Lil. “That was amusement. Your face was covered in powdered sugar and sticky goo from eating the sugarplums.”

Nim chuckled.

“Quiet!” Pixie whisper-shouted. “They’re coming out!”

The four elves watched as Glitter hauled a large sack to a sled parked around the corner.

“That’s not Santa’s sled,” said Figgy.

“No,” said Nim. “That is the emergency back-up to Santa’s sled. It is normally used only for special missions…hey! They must be on some ‘special’ mission!”

But they could not stay to find out more. Nim’s ‘hey!’ sailed across the field of swirly-whirly gumdrops and right into Glitter’s ear.

“HIDE!”

Nim and Lil raced for the candy cane path behind Santa’s Workshop while Figgy and Pixy shot straight into the air, hurtling toward their next house.

***

Landing in a heap on the front doorstep, Pixie and Figgy finally had a moment to catch their breath.

“Do you think Nim and Lil made it back to the Workshop?” asked Pixie.

“I hope so,” said Figgy. “They were on foot and Glitter is fast, but I’m not sure if she really saw us or not.”

Pixie was just about to say more when she noticed an elf with its face pressed up against the frosted window in the door.

“That must be Lucie,” said Figgy.

Lucie smiled when she heard her name and started dancing and twirling and jumping up and down.

“Hmm,” said Pixie. “She seems…enthusiastic.”

Figgy snorted. “Let’s go.”

They both entered the house and were immediately tackled.

“I’m so excited to finally meet you two!!!”

“Uh, it’s nice to meet you as well…Lucie?”

“YES! Oh, you know my name! You know my name!!!”

“We-ell,” said Figgy. “You did send a letter asking for BRATT assistance so…”.

“YAY! You read my letter! I can’t believe you read it! Did you read the part about howr they won’t clean their bathroom?”

“Ye-.”

“And how the parents are getting really, really mad?”

“Yes, we di–.”

“AND how they said if they don’t start cleaning up they’re bathroom they’ll take all their presents back and tell Santa to skip over their house?”

“Whoa. That’s harsh,” said Figgy.

“Lucie, Figgy and I read your letters, all 24 of them. That’s why we are here. To help. And, we have an idea.”

“I’m all ears,” said Lucie with a slightly hysterical laugh.

“Could you show Figgy and I the bathroom? We’d like to see how bad it is for ourselves.”

Lucie led the elves to the bathroom. When they walked in, they both gasped. It was, quite possibly, the filthiest bathroom they had ever seen. And they had seen the Abominable Snowman’s bathroom, so that was saying something.

“How in the world did it get this bad?” asked Figgy, holding his nose.

“Where are their parents?” asked Pixie, staring in disgust at the pile of used towels on the floor.

“It’s like I said in my 23^rd letter. The parents have given up. And, they never come down here if they can help it.”

“Right,” said Pixie. “We’ll clean the bathroom, top to bottom. Scrub every surface until it shines.”

Lucie frowned. “But, wouldn’t that just show them that someone else will pick up their messes? Won’t they just keep being, well, slobs?”

“Ah,” said Figgy. “But you forgot the one thing that will ensure this works.”

Figgy and Pixie exchanged glances. “Toilet paper.”

Lucie waited for an explanation. None came. Instead, Figgy and Pixie flew to the cabinet under the sink and gingerly opened the door. They pulled out several rolls of toilet paper and rejoined Lucie in the hall.

“Ok, Lucie, where is their bedroom? We have some mummies to wrap.”

Lucie, Figgy and Pixie worked together to wrap both sleeping boys in toilet paper. Only their eyes, nose and mouth were left uncovered. They then rolled the rest of the toilet paper back to their now sparkling bathroom.

“I still don’t understand how this is going to help.”

“Trust us. With this note, it will help,” said Pixie.

Dear Sammy and Tim,

We’ve cleaned your bathroom, spic and span. We’ll only do it once.
If it gets that dirty ever again, we will personally tell Santa to bring you nothing but toilet paper for Christmas.

Sincerely,

The Mischief Makers

“You’re sure?” asked Lucie.

“Works every time,” said Figgy.

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Figgy and Pixie read over the Thompson’s file a second, then a third time, hardly believing their eyes. Phrases like “destroyed the coffee table” and “ruined the microwave” popped out.

“I can’t believe the parent’s have let this go for so long,” said Pixie.

“Me neither,” agreed Figgy. “It sounds like this Terry kid has taken apart and attempted to reassemble everything in the house!”

“And he tried blaming poor Tattle, but since this penchant for disassembling has been going on since August, the parents wouldn’t believe him.”

“It could have been Tattle,” Figgy pondered.

“Figgy! How can you say that?”

“Think about it. There is nothing to say we can’t go visit our houses outside of the Christmas window.”

“I can assure you, Figgy. I did not destroy property and ruin electronics.” Tattle stood behind Figgy, arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

“Oh, hi Tattle,” said Pixie nervously. “Figgy wasn’t accusing you. He was just, just thinking outside the box.”

“Yes, well I would appreciate it if he would think inside the box from now on.”

Figgy cleared his throat and looked at his toes. “Er, sorry Tattle. Won’t happen again.”

Tattle’s shoulders slumped and he sighed heavily. “It’s fine, Figgy. I would have wondered the same. I am just at my wit’s end with Terry. I’ve tried bringing Lego bricks, experiment kits, and all manner of bobs and bits. Nothing helps.”

“I am sure you have done everything you can, Tattle. Let’s get going to the house and see if Figgy and I can take a crack at the problem.” Pixie grabbed Tattle by the hand and off they flew.

When they peered through the window upon reaching the house, all three elves gulped.  They saw Terry busy at work on what used to be a large television.

“Is that…the screen?” whispered Pixie, pointing to a shiny grayish sheet cracked and shattered on the floor.

“I think so,” said Figgy.

“Uh oh,” said Tattle.

Before Figgy and Pixie could ask, a tall and imposing woman came striding into the room, the look on her face so furious even Santa would quaver under her gaze.

“Terrence Bartholomew Thompson!”

The small boy simply looked up from his project and looked at his mom with a guilty expression.

“Sorry, Mom. I really thought I could get it all back together this time.”

“To your room, now!” She sighed in frustration as she followed Terry up the stairs.

“See,” said Tattle. “This is what I’ve been dealing with.”

Pixie and Figgy sat silently pondering. It was clear that Terry loved to work with his hands and build things. But how to get him to stop taking things apart first?

And then, like a bright, twinkling star, Pixie had it.

“Figgy, do you have the emergency bag on you?”

“Pixie, I always have the emergency bag on me. No way would I leave the Pole without it. No way would I ever, ever, EVER forget it. Especially not since tha–.”

“Great!” interrupted Pixie. “Let me have it. I know exactly what we need. Figgy, you and Tattle clean up the TV mess while I find what I’m looking for and then we’ll meet back here.

While Figgy and Tattle zipped around cleaning up the electronics mess, Pixie rifled through the Emergency Bag and found the item they needed. “A-Ha!”

Figgy looked up and bee-lined back to Pixie, followed closely by Tattle.

“The Gingerbread House!” Figgy clapped his hands and smiled.

Tattle’s face fell. “I’ve already tried The Gingerbread House. It kept him busy for an hour.”

Pixie grinned. “Yes, but were all the pieces whole?”

Tattle cocked his head to the side. “Whole?”

“Yes. Because if the pieces were all whole and unbroken, it wouldn’t take him all that long to slap the walls together, right? But…” she raised the boxed gingerbread house high above her head and–SMASH–it hit the ground with a soft crack of gingerbread . “If it is all in pieces, it will take longer and be more interesting for Terry to build! He can make his own creation just like he tries to do with the couch. And the tv. And the toaster. And–well, you get the point.”

Terry blinked.

Figgy clapped him on the back. “Just leave it to good ol’ Pixie!”

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“What else did he say?” Pixie asked Nim after he’d finished telling them about the ‘talking to’ Santa gave him for the previous night’s shenanigans.

“Well, he’s not happy, but I did think I saw a little twinkle in his eye and I know his lips twitched.”

“So…we’re not in trouble?”

“Oh, he’ll have to reprimand us somewhat, if only to save face in front of Elven Resources. But, I think he is secretly glad we ‘fixed’ Merry as he put it.”

“Plus,” said Lil as she landed beside Nim. We think he may have engineered it that we ‘help’ Merry.”

Figgy and Pixie giggled.

“Where are you two off to tonight?” asked Nim.

“We are going to the Jones’ house to help Jingle with five competitive and rambunctious kids,” said Figgy.

“Yes,” added Pixie. “She is apparently having difficulty keeping them from destroying their house. It sounds like they are rather…energetic.”

“Well, good luck!” said Lil.

“And, have fun!” said Nim.

Pixie and Figgy jumped into the air and headed off to meet Jingle at the Jones’ house.

* * * *

They gazed around the kitchen in shock. Games and toys were strewn everywhere, confetti and glitter on the counters and a half-finished game of monopoly had exploded all over the table.

“Where do you think Jingle is?” asked Figgy. “I thought she was going to meet us here.”

HEEELP!!

“Did you hear that?” asked Pixie.

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!”

“Where is it coming from asked Figgy?”

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!

Concerned at the frantic tone of that last cry for help, Pixie and Figgy raced around the room looking for the source of the terrified scream.

“Found her! She’s over here!” called Figgy.

When Pixie caught up with Figgy, she gasped at the state of the poor elf. Until, that is, she saw that Jingle was laughing. Hysterically, and perfectly at ease in the Tupperware container of cheesy snowballs.

“Oh thank goodness you guys are here! I need your help!” She threw a snowball at them.

“You seem…ok to me,” said Pixie.

“Me? Oh, yes I’m fine. But these kids are SOOOO energetic, that I have already gone through all the activities I had planned for the season! I could really use a little help coming up with more.”

Figgy and Pixie smiled. Nim and Lil had come to their rescue many times when they’d first started and didn’t really know what to do, or had run out of good ideas. Now, it was their turn to help.

“Ok, Jingle,” said Pixie. “What have you done so far?”

“Let’s see. I set up an obstacle course. Sledding down the stairs. Snowball fight. Floor is lava. That sort of thing.”

“Sounds like the Jingles like more active activities. Have you tried Minute-to-Win-It games?” asked Figgy.

“Minute-to-Win-It games?” asked Jingle. “What are those?”

“What are they?” asked Pixie.

“Only the most fun games on the planet!” said Figgy.

“Here, we’ll show you.”

Pixie helped Jingle out of the snowballs and led her to the living room where they spent several hours brainstorming games for Jingle to play with the Jones. A game or two for every night until Christmas.

“Thanks you two!” said Jingle. “You two should write a book with ideas like this for other Mischief Makers who get stuck in the same old, same old ideas.”

Jingle waved as Figgy and Pixie flew back to the North Pole thinking about Jingle’s idea and wondering…

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Pixie and Figgy watched as Glitter went galloping across the North Pole, making a straight shot to Santa’s Workshop.

“Something must be wrong,” said Figgy and he and Pixie joined Nim and Lil swooping after Glitter.

When they entered the workshop, they knew immediately who was causing the alarm.

“Oh,” said Figgy, sounding annoyed. “It’s just Merry…again.”

Pixie sighed. “I wonder what it is this time.”

Lil shook her head. “She’s probably complaining about her kid again. You should have heard her the other night. ‘She finds me too fast, I don’t know what to do.’ Well, stop hiding in plain site for starters.”

Nim dropped his voice to a whisper. “Well, I heard from Tink, who got it from Shimmer, that on the first night, she refused to go at kick-off because she just realized that she was afraid of heights.”

“Erm, she’s a Mischief Maker, how can she possibly be afraid of heights? Flying is in our blood!”

They quieted down as Santa made his way toward them with Merry following close behind. A small smirk on her face.

“Figgy, Pixie, just the two I am looking for.”

Nim and Lil, sensing danger, started to slowly back away.

“Not so fast you two,” Santa chortled. “I’d like you all to be in on this project.”

“But, Sir,” began Figgy. “We have a very special assignment tonight and really should get back to planning.”

“Oh the Carlsons can wait. Between the five of us, I have my doubts that it actually is a B.R.A.T.T. house. Flip and Pip are such pranksters that my guess is they were laying a trap for you two anyway.”

“Of course, Santa,” said Pixie with a resigned expression. “How can we be of help?”

“Wonderful! I knew I could count on the four of you,” said Santa with a twinkle in his eye. “I’ll let Merry here explain what is going on. I need to get back to the electronics department. Apparently, our game testers are getting a little too competitive.”

With a twinkle in his eye, Santa left.

“So, Merry. What’s going on?” Figgy asked.

“Well, you know, Mischief Making takes so much energy. I’m just exhausted, like all the time. So, I thought you guys could, you know, take over for a night or two. Or, even the rest of the season, if it’s no trouble.”

Merry’s eyes sparkled with cunning.

“Merry,” said Lil impatiently. “You know very well that all of the Mischief Makers are expending maximum energy making this season memorable for their charges. Do you really think you deserve special treatment just because you’re a little tired??”

“And just because your father is the head of Elven Resources,” Pixie muttered.

Merry just smiled and gazed at them smugly.

“Ok, Merry,” said Figgy with a smile. “We’d be happy to help you out.”

Pixie, Lil, Nim and Merry looked at Figgy in shock.

“We will?” asked Nim.

“Of course,” continued Figgy. “We are always willing to lend a fellow Mischief Maker a hand. And, afterall, this is what BRATT is for, right Pixie?”

Pixie noticed Figgy’s eyebrows dancing and smiled. “Yes, Figgy. You are absolutely correct. We are here for all BRATTs.”

Nim and Lil grinned, finally catching on and wondering just what Figgy had in store for Merry.

* * *

“Ok, ok!” squealed Merry. “I don’t think I really need your help, you guys can just go!”

Lil and Pixie held Merry by the legs while attaching a bungee cord to her waist at stair railing in the Martin’s entryway. They had long since abandoned any pretense that they were actually there to help Merry.

“Come on, Merry!” Figgy called from his bouncing bungee. “The air is fine down here and it’s—BOOOIIING—FUN!!!

“Woo-hoo!” Nim swung by Figgy, giving him a high five.

“But,” stammered Merry. “I’m afraid of heights!”

“No you’re not,” said Lil. “We all know that is just something you made up to get out of Mischief Making.”

“Yeah,” added Pixie. “Now get down there and have some fun!”

Pixie and Lil took great pleasure in pushing Merry off the ledge and felt only a small tingle of guilt.

“You know,” said Lil as Merry screamed on the way down. “We don’t really know if she was lying about the heights fear.”

“Meh,” said Pixie. “Either this cures her fear, or her laziness. It’s all the same in my book.”

Lil laughed and whole-heartedly agreed.

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“Pixie, Figgy, over here!” Lil called from across the Elfateria.

Pixie and Figgy zoomed over to Lil who sat with her arm around a tired and worried looking elf.

“What’s going on Lil?” Figgy asked.

“Well, this is Biscotti and she has a litt–.”

“Erin doesn’t like me,” said Biscotti.

“I’m sure that isn’t true,” assured Pixie automatically. “Er, who’s Erin?”

“Yeah, who is this ‘Erin’ and why doesn’t she like elves?” asked Figgy.

“Erin is Biscotti’s charge,” said Lil. “And I’m quite certain she has nothing against elves. Go on, tell them what you were telling me.”

“Well, she won’t eat any of the treats I leave, or play any of the games I set up.”

“She doesn’t even try the treats?” asked Pixie.

“Well,” said Biscotti. “She nibbles. A sprinkle here. A chocolate chip there. But then, she just plays with her food.”

Figgy shivered. “I have heard of kids not eating their brussels sprouts – blech – but to turn down treats? This is new territory.”

“What have you tried so far, Biscotti?” asked Pixie.

“First night, hot cocoa bar of course.”

“Ah. The standard opener,” said Figgy.

“But I really went all out. Marshmallows, candy cane stir sticks, 5 different flavors of whipped cream, and all the sprinkles.”

“That sounds delicious!” said Lil.

“I thought so, but Erin ate one sprinkle and then used everything else to build a giant marshmallow castle with candy cane pillars and sprinkle shingles.”

“Wow, that sounds impressive!” said Pixie.

“It was,” Biscotti huffed. “But that’s not the point!”

“Of course,” said Pixie.

“But, did you think to snap a picture?” asked Figgy.

Flames fairly shot from Biscotti’s eyes in response.

“Er, nevermind.”

“Next night, I set up a make-your-own-smore bar. I even had a little flameless fire that actually roasted the marshmallows.”

“Whoa,” said Figgy.

“Yeah, but Erin built a small graham cracker cottage out of the materials. This time, the shingles were chocolate squares.”

“Biscotti,” said Pixie. “I’m hearing a theme.”

“A theme?”

“Yes. Erin seems very interested in building and creating.”

Biscotti stared blankly at Pixie.

“The marshmallow castle, smores cottage …”.

“I think you might be on to something, Pixie,” interrupted Figgy.

“I think, that maybe, Erin has been enjoying everything you have set up. Maybe, just not in the way you’d intended, Biscotti.”

“Really?” Biscotti’s eyes began to sparkle. “Do you really think this is all just one big misunderstanding?”

“It usually is,” said Figgy knowledgeably.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out!” said Lil.

***

The three elves flew swiftly to Erin’s house and peered in through the dining room window.

“Coast is clear.” Figgy started forward.

“Wait!” Biscotti pulled him back and just in time. A small, red-haired girl came zooming into the dining room with a popsicle stick creation to show her mom.

“Mommy, mommy! I need more popsicle sticks to build my chateau!”

“We’ll have to get them at the store tomorrow sweetie, it’s bed time.”

As they watched Erin’s mom take her upstairs, Biscotti giggled. “I know what to do tonight!”