Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Of Elves And Staffs Part 1

Of Elves and Staffs Part I

...

"Didn't we have stay over 'ere so he wouldn't be late for the meeting?" Bunny grumbled, glaring up at the clock as though it was the reason Jack was late. Again.

"Relax, Bunny," North replied. "There is still time."

As if on cue, the doors to the Globe Room burst open as Jack ran in, the frost appearing at his feet a testament to his emotions. He was quickly followed by a very angry looking Phil, although the winter spirit did not even seem aware of the fact as he went about tearing up the room, as if in a frenzied search for something.

North turned to the Easter Bunny and gestured with a raised eyebrow as if to say 'see?'. Bunny rolled her eyes and focused on Jack, who had yet to even acknowledge their presence in the room.

"Jack," North called to the boy. Jack gave no indication that he'd heard. "Jack!" he tried again, but with the same results.

Phil continued to chase the boy, making failed attempts to grab him until his foot slipped on a patch of ice and he fell flat on his back.

"Phil," North held out a hand to help the yeti to his feet. "What is going on?"

Phil replied in yetish, as all yetis do, but North seemed to understand.

"What do you mean he froze workshop?" The Russian glanced over to the spirit in question, who had jumped up onto the fireplace to look behind the tapestry, his frost having unconsciously put out the fire. And that wasn't easy to do. "Jack!" But again, he was ignored.

Sandy tugged on North's pants, gaining the large man's attention. He conjured a ball of dream sand in one hand and pointed to Jack, a question mark appearing above his head.

"No, Sandy," North put his hands on his hips. "We will try to work this out, ya?"

Tooth flew up in front of Jack and grabbed him by the shoulders, bringing him to a halt. "Sweet Tooth, what's wrong?"

Jack pulled himself from her grip and jumped down from the fireplace, continuing his search by the bookshelves. "I can't find it," he ground out in a mixture of panic and frustration.

"Find what?" she asked, hovering just above the ground beside Bunny.

"My staff."

"What, you mean that stick?" Bunny scoffed.

"Staff," Jack corrected, moving on to check around the Globe.

"Where did you last have it?" North asked, more sympathetic now that he understood the situation.

"It was with me last night when I went to sleep," Jack replied absently as he moved across the room again. "But when I woke up it was gone... replaced by a broom handle. I bet it was those damn elves," he added in an after-thought.

Bunny couldn't help herself , a few sniggers escaping her. If looks could kill, Bunny would have died from the glare Jack sent her.

North brought a hand to his chin and 'hmm'ed thoughtfully. "I will have yetis keep eye out."

...

...

In hindsight, it probably hadn't been Dingle's best idea. But it was a bit late for that now. They had wanted to get their hands on a snow globe so they could help North with present delivery. At least, that's how they justified their actions, conveniently not bringing up the fact that Christmas had passed and the next one was a good ten months away.

Unfortunately for them, the snow globes were stored in a cupboard way out of their reach. Again, there was probably a reason for that, but this was yet another thing conveniently overlooked. The elves had tried a number of things, but nothing had worked. The chairs around the place were far too low and every time they tried to stack themselves they would always fall over.

So they had all set off in search of something they could use to get the globes.

And then Dingle had walked into the guest room where Jack Frost was sleeping. Again, this wasn't a good idea considering the winter spirit's reputation for freezing elves, but this wasn't a good thinking day for Dingle.

And then his eyes had fallen on the staff. The staff that was the conduit for Jack's wintery magic. The staff that Jack never let out of his sight. The staff that was the perfect size and shape for getting snow globes down off a high shelf.

Dingle took the staff.

Of course, it wasn't quite as simple as that; the stick was clasped tightly in Jack's grasp like some kind of security blanket. He'd had to slowly extract the staff while a couple of other elves (which he had called in for the challenge) replaced it with a broom handle. Jack had been none the wiser.

All they had to do now was use it to get a snow globe.

Three elves held the staff at its base, navigating it until it successfully hooked onto the cupboard handle and swung the door open. The elves onlooking cheered as they moved on to stage two. The snow globes were lined up neatly in rows, making it easy to pick one and move to hook the staff behind it. A bunch of elves got into position under the cupboard, ready to catch the globe once it had been knocked down.

At least, they thought they were ready.

The snow globe was knocked forward, rolling slowly forwards and over the edge of the shelf. The elves below scrambled about as the globe plummeted towards them, each trying desperately to get to it before it could hit the floor. So focused were they on what was above, they didn't keep an eye on where each of them were. They collided with each other, toppling over. There was the sound of glass breaking as the snow globe smashed into the wooden floor.

The elves gaped, horrified, as a portal opened above the globe, and scrambled to hold onto something as the vacuum-like force tried to suck them in. Dingle's grip on Jack's staff slipped and he could only watch helplessly as the stick was pulled into the portal. There was a second's pause before the portal collapsed on itself and silenced reigned once more.

They were so dead.