By Michael Dolan
“I come bearing grave tidings.” Suraeldor the elf swept into the workshop, clutching a candy cane-striped telescope.
Tiggles set aside a half-built jack-in-the-box and focused on his friend. “Can I guess why? Is it because you stole the big guy’s Kringlescope?”
The tall elf handed the device to Tiggles. “Fear not—I will return it in due time. But first, look to the north! What do you see?”
Tiggles stepped to the window and peered through the telescope. “Okay. Like the North Pole? There’s nothing new. You punking me?”
“No, focus on the pole itself. See anything amiss?”
Tiggles focused on the rod, which marked where all the world’s time zone boundaries met. There was nothing on top. “The Time Distortion Globe… It’s gone!”
“Indeed,” said Suraeldor. “Now displaced, the orb cannot replenish its energy from the convergence of time zones, weakening its time distortion powers. Without this aid, Santa’s mission to bring gifts to children all over the world is in grave peril. He won’t even have time to check his whole list once, let alone twice!”
“Okay, okay. No need to go into all that. I know how it works.”
“Apologies. I start expositing when I get stressed.” Suraeldor shrugged his shoulders. “My great-uncle does it, too.”
“Weird, but not the biggest problem to address at the moment.” Tiggles handed the Kringlescope back to Suraeldor. “Does the big guy know the TDG is missing yet?”
“Not yet, but he intends to use it this evening while reviewing his list. And we’ll need to plug it into the sleigh tomorrow night, of course.”
“Well, why are you coming to me?”
Suraeldor looked down. “It was my duty to keep watch over the globe this year, and retrieve it when the time came. I hoped that, as my dear friend, you would aid me on this quest to locate it.” He glanced at Tiggles with an ineffective attempt at puppy-dog eyes.
Tiggles sighed. “Fine. We have about seven hours to track it down. Maybe we’ll find some clues at the Pole.”
The two elves departed, bundled up in their elf-parkas and toting the Kringlescope, bags of gumdrops, and thermoses full of hot chocolate—because you can never be too prepared for a perilous journey across the arctic’s frozen wastes. Each time they stopped to rest, one of the elves peered north through the Kringlescope, futilely hoping that the TDG would reappear.
A couple hours after leaving the workshop, they reached the eponymous pole of the North Pole. Tiggles traipsed up to it. “Check this out.” He started running around the shaft in a tight circle. “I’m time traveling! Hello from yesterday—I mean today—I mean the future!”
“Didn’t you say we should come here to look for clues?”
“Hush! I’m hard at work.”
Suraeldor rolled his eyes, then joined in. They chased one another like a Hannah-Barbera cartoon for a few seconds before Tiggles tripped on something sticking up from the ground and face-planted into the snow.
“Help,” Tiggles gasped, pushing himself up. “I’m being attacked!”
“Not quite.” Suraeldor bent down to inspect the loop of white fabric that had snagged Tiggles’s boot. “But I think we’ve found our clue.”
He brushed aside the snow, revealing a sash emblazoned with a gold, embroidered “2020.”
The two elves looked at one another. Without a word, Suraeldor raised the Kringlescope to his eye and surveyed the horizon in all directions. He soon sighted a lone figure trudging through the icy landscape.
“There!”
The two elves set off in cold pursuit. They eventually caught up with the stranger—a doddering old man with an unkempt beard trailing in the snow.
“Not so fast, Old Year!” Tiggles barked.
“Eh? Whatchu talking ‘bout?” The ancient personification tromped forward, muttering, “Can’t a centenarian go out for a pleasant walk without being accosted?”
“Not when that walk includes theft!” Suraeldor said, drawing up beside his friend. “Hand over the Time Distortion Globe, 2020.”
“Make me.”
“Oh, we will if we have to.” Tiggles took a threatening step forward.
“You wanna fight?” The elder raised his fists. “Let’s go. I’ll deck you right in the halls.”
The elves looked at one another. They could take him, but they didn’t want to end up on the naughty list so close to Christmas.
Tiggles glowered. “Why’d you take the globe, Old Year?”
The old man stopped, which didn’t seem that different from him moving. “Think about it. You know how this year has been. Locked up all the time, the world falling apart. What kind of existence is that?” He cast down his eyes. “But with this device, I can draw out my time here. Experience life the way it was meant to be.”
The elves exchanged another glance. “We understand,” Suraeldor said. “But this is not the solution.” He held the Kringlescope up for the Old Year, pointed it south, and started tracking it to the right. “What do you see?”
“A parking lot.”
“Oh. Uh, my mistake.” Suraeldor nudged it up. “What about now?”
The Old Year paused. “Families. Decorating homes and baking treats.”
“That’s right. Because even though it’s been a hard year, it has reminded people of what’s important. Loved ones. Spending time together. Finding joy in times of darkness.” Suraeldor lowered the Kringlescope. “Would you rob them of this time of celebration?”
A moment passed. Then the Old Year shook his head. “No. I just… haven’t really been myself, is all.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a fist-sized orb with a miniature aurora borealis swirling inside. “I believe this is yours.”
“Thank you, 2020.” Suraeldor accepted the globe. “I hope you’re able to find joy in this season as well.”
“That was… surprisingly easier than expected,” said Tiggles as they turned toward the workshop.
“Indeed. Let’s return these items to Santa before the codger changes his mind.” With that, the two elves left 2020 behind and raced off to save Christmas.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Very enjoyable! The TDG is quite a clever device. Thanks for the smiles.
Thanks, SC! It was fun to come up with something that blended the month’s prompt and the Christmas season.
So clever! I loved the wordplay used throughout this tale!
Thanks, Beka! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This was great. Love this kind of story.
Thanks, Rob. I’m glad you liked it!
So cute and creative! What a fun read!
Thank you, Lydia! This was a fun one to brainstorm.
A story for our time. When else would the old year be desperate enough to try and steal from Santa?
That was fun. The two elf friends, with their VERY different voices (“I grow expository when I’m stressed” is the best line ever), were a joy to read. And the Old Man 2020 was surprisingly touching.
Well done!