Making Fantasia (KF Prequel): The Nightmare After Christmas

Chapter 14: Feliz Navigrandad

Chapter 14: Feliz Navigrandad

The Hawkins household had a multifarious relationship with Christmas.

When Jim was small and Sinbad was a lowly fisherman, Christmas held a magical charm that only children can bring. When Sinbad abandoned his family, Christmas was harrowing at best.

Once Jim met Wendy, Christmas became a celebration of their friendship....until Sinbad returned. Then, Christmas brimmed with potential. With their family mended, they could hope for a happier future.

But it never came to pass.

Sarah gazed listlessly at her Christmas tree.

Christmas felt empty. Almost pointless.

Jim and Wendy were lost beyond the Black Hole.  John and Michael had invited her to their holiday tidings, but it was so painful to watch Gwendolyn and Michaleen celebrate without their parents. Admiral Triton had monopolized Melody and Jon for years, and this year was no exception: both grandchildren were attending a Triton Christmas party.

Sarah snorted into her decaf. Triton Christmas party...that was the king of oxymorons.

Yet, all grievance aside, Sarah was truly lonely without Sinbad.

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but Sinbad took that sentiment to the next level. Much like Peter and Wendy's relationship, Sinbad was the smile to Sarah's frown. He was so affectionate, she started to forget he ever left. 

But, three years prior, they were separated again. When Melody and Jon crashed-landed, King Arthur assigned Sinbad to the Black Hole. The children had reported some sort of battle, and although he didn't state it outright, Sarah knew King Arthur feared the guardians were defeated.  

So, Sinbad had disembarked on a royal mission. For three years now, he sailed the seas, guarding the Black Hole.

Sarah sighed, blowing steam from her mug.

She pined for her husband. She wished he was here.

Well, as it happened –

"IN COMMMINNNGGG!"

BANG! BOOM! BOP! BAM!

Upon the roof there arose such a clatter! Sarah dropped her mug as bodies flopped off the roof and into the snow.

One of the flailing bodies sounded exactly like –

"Sinbad!" Sarah yanked her husband from the snowbank. Without waiting for an explanation, she kissed him as though they were under a canopy of mistletoe.

As for Sinbad, he was in a terrible rush, but no emergency was so dire that he'd refuse a kiss.

Totally different story when they eased apart.

"Jon's in trouble!" He shook North's snow globe. "I've got to get to Triton Mansion!"

"You mean – our Jon?" Sarah looked wildly between the snow globe and Sinbad's battered crew. "Sinbad what's going -- "

"No time to talk!" The portal's light colored the snow. Waving goodbye, Sinbad stepped through the tunnel and immediately transported inside Triton mansion. With an oof, he landed on a coral-pink shag carpet, and nearly poked his eye on a fork.   

Sinbad rose to his hands and knees. Shaking his head, he lunged forward two steps, then stopped.

Something was wrong. He was in a little girl's room – that was clear because everything was decorated with dreamy pastel colors – but someone was crying.