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“Let me get this straight,” Mrs. Claus looked down at Nim and Pepper with reproach. “Not only did you let Charlie out of his kennel, you also managed to get yourselves locked in?”

Pepper and Nim glanced at each other sheepishly.

“We didn’t let Charlie out Mrs. C,” said Pepper. “It was Lu–.”

“LUCK!” shouted Nim. “It was luck, the bad kind.”

Mrs. Claus eyed the two suspiciously. “The mischief you’ve gotten into during this beta test is astounding to say the least. Perhaps we need to rename this program to the Tinsel Terrors!”

“Mischief?” Lil said as she whizzed into the room, followed closely by Smarti and Flaky. “Have I got a tale of mischief for you! Bella and Cheyenne are in SUCH a pickle!”

For the next few minutes, the five elves shared stories of the shenanigans their assigned kids had gotten up to.

“…and then they set off a glitter bomb and the WHOLE kitchen was sparkling!” Lil finished the story with relish.

Mrs Claus laughed gently with them. “Alright, alright. It sounds as though your charges have been getting up to quite a bit of mischief as well. Let’s see what you can do to direct their energies elsewhere.”

“Why didn’t you want Mrs. C to know about Lucile?” Pepper asked Nim as they made ready to head their separate ways.

“I don’t know. It just seems like cheating somehow. Having a helper.”

“I don’t think it’s cheating at all. Especially when this supposed helper ends up causing more harm than good!”

“Maybe you’re right…”.

“She is absolutely right,” said Smarti. “Harold is out of control. Last night, he tried to ‘help’ by making extra cookie dough.”

“Well,” said Pepper. “That actually seems rather helpful, Smarti.”

“It would have been…if he hadn’t filled every empty container in the kitchen with sugar cookie dough. Including the kitchen sink!!!!”

All the elves stopped, imagining a sink filled to the top with sugar cookie dough.

“It sounds like heaven,” Lil murmured.

Smarti harrumphed.

“The carpet is covered in snow,” Flaky offered.

The other four elves stared blankly.

“Fake snow,” Flaky clarified. 

“Oh, well, I guess that’s…better?” Lil said with a frown.

“Yes, it will make it easier to clean up.” With a smile and a salute, Flaky rose into the air, and flew off, leaving the others wondering what happened, and just who the culprit was. 

***

What Flaky didn’t tell the group, was that the snow was actually attic insulation that fell down in the living room as the result of an accidental rocket launch into the ceiling. The rocket was, of course, Gretyl’s idea. Mostly. 

Unfortunately, the brunt of the blame landed squarely on Sabine’s shoulders. You see, her parents did not believe in the Elves of Christmas and so every catastrophe or triumph was Sabine’s. 

“We’re going to make it up to her tonight, Gretyl,” Flake admonished as he pushed a toy lawn mower in from the garage. “All we need is the fuel for this contraption, and we’ll have this mess cleared up.”

Gretyl smiled, knowing exactly where said ‘fuel’ was. “One moment!” She raced from the room and came back with two bottles of Super Bubbles. “Here it is!”

Flaky smiled. “Ok, let’s get to work!” 

The Book: “Take responsibility for the messes you make. Don’t leave a bubble-covered mess behind!”

Click here to start from the beginning!

“Er, what are you doing, Pepper?” Lucile the Giraffolope stood silently at the bathroom door watching Pepper as she shook, and shook, and shook a bottle green liquid over the toilet. 

“Creating Christmas Cheer-Water!” Pepper chirped. 

“Christmas…what?”

“Cheer-water, Lucile. You know, green water, red water, sparkly water.”

“Um…what is in that bottle?” Lucile pointed to the bright green, almost empty, bottle in Pepper’s hands. 

“Food coloring!”

Lucile stilled, momentarily speechless. Then, swiftly twirled around and raced to the kitchen. Pepper turned back to the toilet, shrugged, and continued shaking the bottle until every last drop of food coloring stained the toilet water a bright, Christmas green. 

“Hear me out, Pepper.” Lucile stood at the door again, holding a bottle of blue food coloring. “Swamp vs Lagoon.”

Pepper’s eyebrows creeped to her hairline. “I don’t know, Lucile. That doesn’t sound very Christmas-y.”

“Then we’ll make it a Christmas Lagoon! Ornaments, tiny Christmas trees, glitter, reindeer…the works!”

As she rattled off the list of items, Lucile pulled each one into the small bathroom and began running the tub water and dumping the blue food coloring in the bubbling water. “Uh oh! I’m out of blue, can you go to the kitchen and see if there is more?”

Pepper nodded uncertainly and flew to the kitchen, shaking her head uneasily. She searched through the cabinets but couldn’t find another bottle of blue food coloring…just red and yellow and…”Mmmm, Amber maple syrup. Maybe just a little taste…”.

Pepper found a straw and stuck it in the bottle. 

SLURP! SLURP! SLUUUURP!

“What is that sound?” asked Lucile, peeking out of the bathroom.

Pepper glanced guiltily at the giraffalope. “Just a little snack.” She pointed to the now, nearly empty bottle. 

Lucile shuffled over and peered at the label. “Maple Syrup? Is it good?”

Pepper’s jaw dropped. “You’ve never had maple syrup?!”

“Well…no. I haven’t been ali–around for very long.” 

Pepper looked at Lucile quizicaly. “But I thought–.”

“Can I have a sip?” interrupted Lucile.

“Absolutely!” Pepper held the bottle while Lucile took her first-ever slurp of maple syrup. 

Slurp. SLURP. SLUUUUUUURPPPP!

Eyes wide, mouth smiling, Lucile smacked her lips. “That was delicious!”

Pepper looked in horror at the now-empty bottle. “Uh-oh.”

Lucile smiled. “Don’t worry. They keep a ton of canned goods stocked downstairs. I bet there is more.”

The two friends crept quietly to the basement store room where they found not one or two more bottles of maple syrup. But an ENTIRE box of bottles of maple syrup. 

“This is different,” said Pepper. “It’s Golden rather than Amber. Not as good, but still pretty tasty. I’ll bring a bottle from the North Pole tomorrow to replace the one we drank.”

Lucile eyed the bottle. “Maybe we should try it. Just to make sure it’s really maple syrup.”

Pepper smiled. “What else would be in a bottle labeled ‘maple syrup’. Lucile?”

Lucile grinned and opened the bottle. Then another. Hours later, by the third bottle, Pepper was zipping and zooming around the basement singing Christmas carols and Lucile lay on the floor in a pure sugar coma. 

Landing next to the drowsy giraffalope, Pepper frowned. “Did we forget something, Lucile?”

Splish. Splash. Splosh.

Drops of water fell from the ceiling and dripped on Lucile’s head. She sat up, stretched, and yawned. “I don’t know—THE SWAMP!”

Racing up the stairs, the elf and giraffalope gasped in horror as they watched gallons and gallons of blue-dyed water whoosh into the hall. 

“Uh oh,” said Lucile. 

Pepper sobbed. “I guess this is my first entry into The Book.”

“When creating a swamp vs lagoon in the bathroom, don’t drink maple syrup!”